Like many young journalists in Taiwan, 42-year-old Chen Ching-chien (陳清建) chose to work in Taipei after graduating from college. The city is, after all, the center of government, academia, and culture. It offers more job opportunities and higher pay than anywhere else on the island. But after four years with various newspapers and magazines, Chen was ready to return to Kaohsiung, his home town in southern Taiwan. Twelve years later, as the city editor for the Commons Daily in Kaohsiung, Chen is confident he made the right decision. He didn't go home for nostalgic reasons; his views simply did not coincide with those of the Taipei press. "To a journalist, job position may be important, but one's personal opinions matter more," he says. "If I didn't respect the political stance or approach of a newspaper, I don't think I would like to work there."
Over the past few decades, the Kaohsiung press has developed a style and approach aggressively distinct from the Taipei press. It is a tradition deeply rooted in the unique development of Kaohsiung politics. "Political dissidents have always been very active and influential in Kaohsiung," Chen says. "Political conflicts have been frequent, especially during elections."
Most papers in Taipei built up their reputations during the years of martial law, Chen says, either by playing up sensational crime stories and society gossip or by promoting government policies. "Inevitably, certain groups of readers were neglected," he says. The Kaohsiung press, on the other hand, entered the market from the very beginning with a special emphasis on political news, particularly the perspectives of the political opposition.
The Commons Daily became known for its radical stance and often daring coverage, qualities that apparently were welcomed in Kaohsiung. "Our newspaper developed successfully because we provided something that readers longed for but couldn't find in other newspapers," Chen says. Beginning as a small local paper in Keelung, north of Taipei, the Commons Daily moved its headquarters to Kaohsiung in 1979 and has since be come one of the city's two largest dailies. The other major paper, the Taiwan Times, has also built a reputation for liberal political reporting since it was established under another name in 1946 in the east coast city of Hualien. The paper moved to Kaohsiung and assumed its current name in 1971.
Before July 1987, when martial law was lifted, news about dissident activities was considered off limits by most news papers, especially those in Taipei. Lo Chin-yu (羅錦裕), city editor for the Taiwan Times, recalls that any time such activities took place, editors at nearly every paper would receive phone calls from government security agents warning them not to report the event.
Chen Ching-chien remembers being in charge of news on the trials of some leading dissidents arrested in the Formosa Magazine incident, a major clash between opposition supporters and the police that took place in Kaohsiung in December 1979. The Commons Daily was one of the few papers that held interviews with the dissidents on trial. "Every time I returned to the office after an interview, I got phone calls from security agents," Chen says. "They would warn me to be careful in writing my story, or worse, they came right out and told me to drop it. We would have serious discussions within the paper. Normally we would not sacrifice the news." Although in the end there were no serious repercussions for their coverage, it was a difficult time for those involved. "It was like walking a tightrope," Chen says.
At times, the paper did suffer for its radical stance. In 1985, the government closed down the Commons Daily for seven days for devoting most of its front page coverage to mainland China and a report on a group that was urging an end to martial law (which was repealed two years later). "Before 1987, there was not much freedom of speech," Chen says. "If you made any attempt to go beyond what was acceptable, you were pressured to stop."
Despite such constraints, there were some advantages in going beyond the accepted boundaries. Since most papers acquiesced when warned about printing news on dissidents, those that did not gained an edge over their competitors. "Even a little information about everyday activities by the dissidents often became exclusive news," Chen says.
Today, however, papers such as the Commons Daily and the Taiwan Times no longer enjoy this kind of competitive advantage. In the current liberalized press, even Taipei papers are actively covering opposition politics and other once-taboo topics. No subject is off-limits now, Chen says, except those that might be libelous or that infringe on someone's privacy. Still, the Kaohsiung press stands out for its extensive political coverage. In the Commons Daily, for example, five of the paper's twelve pages on national news are directly or indirectly devoted to politics, compared with two or three pages in most Taipei papers. It is also gaining islandwide influence, with local editions in cities and counties all over the island.
In addition, many of the eleven papers in Kaohsiung are still far more opposition-oriented than Taipei papers. And the Commons Daily maintains its reputation as the most radical paper of the lot. "It tends to attract people who support Taiwan independence," Lo says. Although most papers will report on the independence movement, they generally approach the issue cautiously. It remains sensitive not only because it is contrary to the government's goal of reunification with mainland China, but also because readers are sharply divided on the issue. Even the Commons Daily tends to show its support in a roundabout way. Rather than directly call for independence, for example, the paper will say, "Taiwan has the freedom of not being unified," as it recently printed in its masthead. Lo's paper, the Taiwan Times, takes a more moderate political stance. "We try to keep open to all opinions," he says. Even so, the Taiwan Times is closely associated with those not in power, particularly the more outspoken members of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).
Recent coverage of the "3-14 incident" provides a clear example of the difference in political attitudes between the Kaohsiung and Taipei papers. On March 14 this year, the New Kuomintang Alliance, known as the "non-mainstream" faction of the KMT, held a rally in Kaohsiung. A much publicized riot broke out when groups supporting and opposing the faction clashed. In covering the event, Lo says, Taipei papers showed much more sympathy for the alliance than did papers in Kaohsiung. They also tended to hold DPP supporters in Kaohsiung responsible for what happened, he says, and declared that the DPP had damaged its reputation by hindering freedom of speech. Most Kaohsiung newspapers, on the other hand, showed little sympathy for the group. "They were received on unfriendly terms here because the alliance often criticizes President Lee Teng-hui,” says Lo, who was at the scene that day, "and people in Kaohsiung strongly support the president."
The Commons Daily devoted much space to the clash, with many color photos. "It was an important event because it happened in Kaohsiung and will have wide-ranging influence," Chen says. The paper also actively questioned the motives of the KMT alliance. While some commentators in Taipei accuse the Kaohsiung press of agitating the situation, Chen defends his paper's approach.
Before the alliance arrived in Kaohsiung, he says, the Commons Daily had already expended much effort researching and reporting the group's activities in northern Taiwan. "We knew their motive for the islandwide trip," he says. "They wanted to promote themselves as a separate political group. Their speeches and seminars were only a test of the public's attitude. But to us, some parts of their speeches were too provocative. With this understanding and our long-term under standing of the Kaohsiung people, we decided to take a critical stand in dealing with this news. Many people here support what we wrote about the event."
In fact, Chen feels that newspapers in Taipei, rather then Kaohsiung, were guilty of opinionated coverage of this event. "Some of the Taipei papers may be large and reputable," he says, "but when they mix opinions with news, the public will question their stories." Lu Ming-cheng (呂明正), a reporter for the Commons Daily, attributes the clash not to provocative press coverage but to the unique character of the Kaohsiung population. "People here are more passionate," he says. "They have more sensitive emotions and are easily moved by political sentiments."
Social attitudes expressed in the Kaohsiung press can also be very different from those in Taipei. Lo remembers opposite perspectives emerging in regard to a protest several years ago in Taipei by a group called "Snails Without Shells," which represents people who cannot afford to buy their own homes. When members of the group camped out over night along Chunghsiao East Road, a main thoroughfare in Taipei, to protest skyrocketing real estate prices, nearly all the reports in Taipei newspapers were sympathetic toward the group, Lo says, while several Kaohsiung newspapers questioned their motives. There was plenty of housing available in southern Taiwan, they argued, and the local governments there welcomed people from Taipei to settle in the area. "To us, it was really incredible," he says. "We could not understand why they insisted on squeezing into Taipei. If you do insist, then that is the price you have to pay."
North-south differences were revealed by the protests in Taipei over soaring real estate prices. "It was really incredible," says Lo Chin-yu. "We could not understand why they insisted on squeezing into Taipei."
Chen also faults Taipei newspapers for looking at issues of islandwide interest from a narrow point of view, even though the leading Taipei dailies are considered islandwide rather than city papers. "Certainly every newspaper can have its own point of view," he says. "The point is that, in treating issues of general interest, such as land tax problems, neglecting people outside Taipei is not only unprofessional but also unfair." There is also a natural inclination among the Kaohsiung papers to criticize central government policies that are unfavorable to southern Taiwan. There are frequent complaints, for example, that economic development plans favor northern Taiwan.
Environmental coverage also reflects the more outspoken nature of people in Kaohsiung. Protests against polluting industries in southern Taiwan are often fierce, Lo says, because people feel businesses and government are slower to react to problems outside of Taipei. Many residents in the south also find it unfair that many companies have their factories in Kaohsiung but their administrative offices in Taipei. As a result, Lo says, the north enjoys the tax money, while the south suffers the pollution. The newspapers in Kaohsiung tend to take the side of their readers. "We side with the people directly affected by the pollution," Chen says of the Commons Daily. "We are most concerned about their feelings."
The stronger sense of local identity among people in southern Taiwan is also evident in the Kaohsiung press. Compared to papers in Taipei, the Commons Daily publishes more stories on local culture, literature, and history, with the goal of promoting Taiwan's unique cultural heritage as distinct from that of mainland China. These kinds of stories are also a way for the paper to compete, Chen says, since it no longer can offer exclusive coverage of the political opposition. In addition, he finds that the paper now feels less of an obligation to help support the opposition, which has gained wider acceptance in the last five years. "As the DPP grows stronger," he says, "we now pay more attention to local consciousness." Even this kind of coverage, however, could be thought of as having political overtones, since many DPP members also promote awareness of Taiwanese culture.
The unique character of the Kaohsiung press means that reporters must be of a certain breed. They are generally expected to meet the same kinds of requirements as those in Taipei, and most reporters in Kaohsiung have journalism or mass communications degrees. The papers prefer, however, to hire those who are natives of the area. One advantage is that they generally speak the Taiwanese dialect, which is the language of choice in the south; even the paper's writing style includes many Taiwanese expressions.
No less important is that reporters with ties to the south can better under stand the attitudes of the people there. Many of the Kaohsiung papers, in fact, pride themselves on being closely in tune with their readers. The Commons Daily even sees itself as something of a public advocate. On one of its recent masthead slogans, which change every day, the paper proclaimed: "We, the Commons Daily, report what the public thinks and feels for the government to read and to listen."
The writing style and tone of Kaohsiung papers also reflect a distinct kind of readers, with their own expectations. Only about 14 percent of the Kaohsiung population is college educated, for example, compared with 22 percent in Taipei. And, La says, the three universities in Kaohsiung playa smaller role in social, cultural, or intellectual leadership, whereas academics in Taipei are often called upon to voice their opinions.
Also, Kaohsiung residents are largely blue-collar workers, while those in Taipei tend to work in the service industries. "Generally, people in these two cities have different outlooks on life and different attitudes and values," Lo says. In general, Kaohsiung readers prefer simple, direct news reports, he says, and are not so interested in analysis or theoretical approaches. They are more sure about their political and social views, and prefer to see these views reflected in the press. "Basically, the Kaohsiung press is very straightforward," Chen says. "We say what we really think. This is our style."