Public Television and Popular Empowerment in Taiwan

This paper analyses the development of public television in Taiwan. It argues that media liberalisation and political democratisation were, on their own, insufficient conditions to encourage the growth of media with links to civil society. Democratisation in Taiwan was essentially an elite-driven process (elites in power and in opposition); in turn, Taiwan's elites - political and intellectual - were the agents behind the development of Public Service Broadcasting (PSB), reinforcing the paternal characteristic of the PSB ideal. The development of PSB, promising civil empowerment and enlightenment, became a political issue, and mirrors many of the political debates that occurred over the evolution of democracy in Taiwan.