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richyli[zh] started the debate with a blog post “How to insert product ads more effectively via bloggers / journalists : using Junket“[zh]. He highlights Weblogs Inc.'s rejection of “junket” practice. (Junkets are free trips that PR firms and the companies they represent provide to journalists in the hopes of getting favorable reviews for their products.) However, he wonders if such “noble” stand really works as junket is really attractive and effective:

其次，拿人手短乃人之常情，人家招待你去外地旅遊，現在很多招待部落客的 Junket 甚至還有「車馬費」，你能不寫嗎？通常答應參加的同時就已經默認稿子會被處理了。如果參加了 Junket 之後不乖乖寫稿，除非真的夠屌，夠大牌，媒體夠響亮，否則下次絕對不讓你參加。這對於旅遊線的記者沒什麼，但一般線的記者，或者部落客，「損失」就很大 了。還有，人家的好意，你再怎麼「平衡」，老實說都是騙自己的。

It is quite normal that you would say something good about a person if that person is good to you. When they offer you an opportunity to go traveling for free, or even give you subsidy in the junket package, it is highly unlikely that you won't blog about it. Let alone if you promise to go for the trip they treat, you also tacitly promise to write something. Suppose if you join a junket and don't blog for them, they will not let you join again unless you are a A-list blogger or famous enough. This may be not so attractive for travel journalists. But for other journalists or bloggers, it is too good an opportunity to be missed. Besides, when people treat you nicely, even though you keep reminding yourself to be “balanced”, eventually you are just cheating yourself.

DearJohn[zh] holds a different opinion. In a post entitled “Other bloggers' articles are advertorials, is it your business at all?“, he argues that the ethical regulations of bloggers should not be the same as that of journalists. Moreover, readers do not pay for reading blog posts. In this sense, bloggers have the right to select what they want to say and write. It does not matter whether the posts are PR ads as long as the contents are compelling:

我的結論就是，有沒有利用部落格來寫廣告文章、部落客有沒有做置入性行銷，根本就一點也不是重點！重點是那個人的文章寫的夠不夠精采，具不具可讀性？如果一個人的文章寫的很爛、照片拍的很醜，就算勉強想做行銷，大概也根本沒人想上來看吧？換句話說，有人就算是接受了招待、拿了稿酬寫了某篇產品試用推薦文，如果寫的很棒，大家都很愛看，那又如何？根本就沒什麼騙不騙的事，一個願打、一個願挨，不曉得旁邊的人在不爽什麼？

My conclusion is that it is not the point at all whether bloggers take advantage of the blog to write advertisement or whether blogs insert product promotion! What really matters is whether these blog posts are well written and compelling. If the articles are poorly written or the photos are poorly taken, no one will be interested in reading them, even though the blogger tries hard to promote the product, right? In other words, even if some bloggers accept the treat or the remuneration for writing a product ads, as long as the article is well written and received, what's wrong with that? There is no fraud at all. If the writer and reader are fine with it, why others should be mad at it?

For the debates regarding sharing / marketing and disclosure / conceal, Portnoy used a two-dimensional diagram[zh] to “disclose” his position, with one axis from “complete disclosure” to “complete conceal”, and another one from “personal sharing” to “pure marketing”. Then, wenli writes a similar post entitled “Dear friends of blogger, I am here“[zh] to mark his position.

Apart from the discussions about the issue, some debates are directing to individuals. In the post “So many coincidences in the world[zh],” SpinalCord mentions that Tina[zh] is not just a blogger who “shares good things with her good friends,” but also a Yahoo! auction seller with more than 1,000 ratings[zh]. In response[zh], Tina and her supporters emphasize the point is, “the blogger shares good things and orders them for us.”

SpinalCord also talks about another famous blogger in Taiwan in another post[zh]. He questions it's really unusual that amarylliss[zh] has so many bottles of yoghourt drink[zh] in her fridge. He assumes the post is advertising, not sharing. TSUBASA[zh], her husband, writes a post[zh] with a list of grocery stock at home, including 15 kgs of flour, two boxes of coffee, and dozens of red wine.

In the end，Fred shares the article, why I am not good at writing advertising posts?[zh]:

也許是同樣的事情、同樣的邀請和「利用」，但這樣的重視讓我覺得自己能以專業評論者的身分寫文章，而不是背負著人情或利益壓力寫宣傳文的部落客；對於這家公關公司和他們的客戶而言，我相信多少也得到了一些金錢買不到的東西。

It may be the same situation, same invitation and the same ”utilization”, but the respect they showed made me feel that I can write articles as a professional commentator, not as a blogger who writes advertising articles under the pressure of returning a favor or making a profit. As for this PR firm and its clients, I think they got something that money cannot buy.

This post is co-translated from Chinese by GV chinese team, the author would like to thank the help from Leonard, H. Y., and abstract.

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The photo is from http://www.flickr.com/photos/davidonformosa/2352525588/

Democracy:

How wrote a letter to his younger brother [zh]. In the letter, he described the generation differences among family members and how their experience affected their attitudes towards the two presidential candidates. After explaining the social and political context, he wish his brother can understand the coming of a new democratic era marked by the transition of political power form DDP to KMT. Jill0718 also felt that this election indicated Taiwan has reached a most civilized and democratic environment[zh] among Chinese communities. Even though the supporters' candidate has lost, they were frustrated, they shed tears and complained in the phone on TV call-in programmes, on the second day, people were back to work and shopping as normal. MingWangX shed tears listening to Frank Hsie's remarks[zh] on his election failure:

選舉是我個人的失敗，不是台灣的失敗，今天不要為我哭泣，聚集我們的力量，繼續熱愛台灣。

This election is my personal failure, not Taiwan's failure. Don't cry for me. Let's gather our strength and continue to love Taiwan.

Annpo is very proud of Taiwan's success[zh] in democracy:

我 超級驕傲的啊，其實。老人家們可以毫無恐懼地談著他們的想法，可以輕鬆地面對選舉的結果，便可以感受到這個民主環境的正 向發展：包含一位非台灣出生的「外省人」在日漸本土化的現在還是被大多數選票接受，那麼，我們也可以期待未來台灣會出現「新台灣人」、「原住民」成為我們 的領導者，同時我們也可以開始省思：族群意識真的存在嗎？有必要嗎？我們也可以開始拒絕政客的分化、恐嚇與煽動。

Actually, I feel so proud. The elder generation can talk about their feelings without fear and they can face the result of the election with such a ease. I can feel that the democratic environment has been developing. This time a mainlander born outside Taiwan can be accepted by the majority who are identified with the local. In this vein, we can expect in the future, a “new Taiwanese” or “aborigine” becoming our leader. We can also start to reflect upon the existence of “ethnic consciousness”, whether such awareness is necessary. We can say no to the divide, threat and agitation created by politicians.

Subing saw the coming of media politics era[zh] in Taiwan. A touching speech or spectacular event can win more votes than substantial performance. An inappropriate speech could bring about a disastrous result. VincentChang pointed out that[zh] even though people have changed the political environment by their votes, making society from recession to improvement in the still heavily relies on people's watch, not just media.

Political Parties:

The pictures are always different for the winners and losers after the election. Although the KMT is very happy for their victory, bloggers have more expectation on them. Chet Baker asked KMT a series of questions[zh], to know how KMT will deal with these problems that DPP had faced in the past few years as ruling party:

國民黨人終於將政權取回來，完全執政的美夢也終於在馬英九先生的身上落實。我們總算可以檢驗，國民黨能不能：

「在全球化的惡夢下，遏止貧富差距日漸擴張的悲劇」
「在中國崛起的事實下，停止原物料價格飆漲的亂象」
「在中國強大的陰影下，一方面抵禦中國的利誘與威脅，一方面維持台灣的主體性及參與國際政治事務的空間」 「如何在採認中國學歷的情況下，維持台灣諸多大學的競爭力」
「如何抗拒三通的誘惑與壓力，同時又維持台灣的經濟實力」
「如何有共同市場之實，但又無矮化台灣主權之疑慮」
「如何讓中華民國與中華人民共和國平起平坐？甚至以中華民國之名義重返聯合國。」
「如何在檢察官獨立追訴的體系下，建立一個完全廉能的政府」

過去八年，國民黨反覆攻擊民進黨這些問題。所以我在等著看，相信許多人也等著看。

Finally KMT takes the political power back. Mr. Ma has accomplished the dream of being a complete politician with ruling power. Now we can examine if KMT can:
“Eliminating the tragedy of polarization between rich and poor under the nightmare of globalization.”
“Stopping the chaos in skyrocketing prices of raw materials under the rise of China.”
“In the shadow of a strong China, resisting temptations and threats from China on the one hand, and maintaining the mainstay of Taiwan and the space for participating international political affairs on the other.”
“Maintaining the competitiveness of universities in Taiwan after admitting the academic qualification from China.”
“Resisting temptations and pressure on cross-strait direct transport, and keep Taiwan's economic strength at the same time.”
“Letting Taiwan join the common market with China without dwarfing Taiwan's sovereignty”
“Making the Republic of China (ROC) on an equal footing with the People's Republic of China (PRC), and even return to the United Nations in name of ROC.”
“Establishing a completely clean government by the Prosecutor-independent prosecution system.”

Over the past eight years, KMT repeatedly attacked DPP with the above set of problems. Now I wait and see, and believe that many people wait and see, too.

Subing wrote a long “open letter for President-elect Ma[zh]”, hoping he can treat Taiwan and all people living on this land well, firmly sustain Taiwan's sovereignty, don't be seduced by the immediate short-term economic interests and sacrifice the long-term interests, implement transitional justice and realize social justice. Portnoy hoped that[zh] the new president has the courage to reflect, the strength to resist the coercion of authority, and the heart to be more tolerant on people and things.
In the next four years, you must be happy [zh], Ginciao doubted if Taiwan's economic problems would, as Mr. Ma said, be resolved soon after he become the president. Munch worries[zh] the victory of KMT will make those old-era-powers come back again after eight-years of hibernation.

In respond to the defeat of DDP, bloggers call for reflection and evaluation:

Tyc[zh] and SpinalCord[zh] criticized DDP for blaming others for its defeat rather than reflecting on its past. gaidhlig [zh] also agreed that DDP should have self-reflection and give up the strategy of “differentiation”, let everyone love Taiwan in their own voices.

「分別心」，只有拿掉分別心，才能真正看見彼此。不是挺民進黨才是挺台灣，不是投民進黨才是愛台灣。台灣是大家的，可以用各自的價值來愛台灣。

“Differentiation”, only by giving up differentiation we can then see each other. Not only those vote for DDP love Taiwan, those who don't vote for DDP also love Taiwan. Taiwan belongs to everyone, we can love Taiwan with our own value.

noorman urged DDP to say goodbye to old politics[zh] and not to use deep green as its fundamental principle. Naoshi, in DDP disappointed Taiwanese[zh], also urged DDP to reflect upon its past 8 years performance as a ruling party. He suggested that the party should have a new generation of leaders. Timo criticized[zh] that DDP has turned Taiwan into a pure symbol for getting votes, now Taiwan is getting back its blood and flesh.

DDP's supporter phopicking evaluated the party's defeat[zh] and urged for internal reform rather than waiting for the future possible failure of KMT:

民進黨要認清楚，現在就是要一切歸零開始去想。要回到沒有資源只能全省走透透辦演講的民進黨，要想辦法靠論述，靠你的想法與行動去感動台灣人的心。 最重要的是，就不要想說要是國民黨做的爛個四年，他一定會做的很爛…這種心態去思考。 要是要用台灣人民生活的苦痛去換民進黨的成長，這一世人撿角啦。 我們可以好好監督馬英九所開出來的支票有沒有兌現，可是民進黨在思考策略時，必需放棄馬英九執政失敗所以會讓你們重起的這個想法。 我也希望跟我一樣支持綠軍的朋友，在發言時可以思考這一點的不同。

DDP has to recognized that everything has to be back into zero. We have to return to the old days when the party didn't have any resource. Our success demands on our talks all over the province. We have to think deep about our discourse, we have to touch people's heart by our action and thought. More importantly, we shouldn't wait and see the poor performance of KMT in the coming 4 years…. If the only way to make DPP improve is by making people in Taiwan suffer (from the poor performance of KMT), then we shall fail… We can monitor Ma Ying-jeou and check if he has failed his promise. However, DDP has to give up the thought that the failure of Ma Ying-jeou would be the revival of DDP. I hope that friends who support green army like me can consider such difference in strategy.

Relation with China:

During the election campaign, the greatest difference between two candidates was their attitude towards China and the future relation with China. Wandeln agreed[zh] that Ma Yingjeou would bring changes to the across-strait relation, however, whether such change would increase Taiwan's position in the international society is still unclear.

國際社會是現實的，也是短視的。馬英九接 受一中各表，在台灣喊中華民國不等於中華人民共和國，但是在國際上，就是只有一個 China一個已經由將近全世界 包括聯合國承認的China。沒有人有興趣瞭解ROC和PRC有什麼不一樣，除了台灣和「在與台灣談判時的中國」。關起門來和強盜進行談判，會有什麼後果？未來在國際上，恐怕也只有中國的「賞賜」之下，才有可能增加生存的空間。

The international society is very realistic and short sighted. Ma Yingjeou accepted the difference expressions of one China. “The Republic of China” is not equal to “The People's Republic of China” in Taiwan. However, in the international society , there is only one China being recognized by the whole world, including the United Nation. Nobody is interested to know what is the difference between ROC and PRC, except when Taiwan is negotiating with China. What will happen if we negotiate with the robber with a close door? In the future, I am afraid that only if China is kind enough to “give”, Taiwan can have more space in the international world.

Others:

In addition to the comments on election result, Taiwan bloggers also have other perspectives:

The election reminded Sun Qiong-Li of election songs in the past[zh], the bloggers then analyzed the background and elements of those songs.Phopicking and BillyPan want to hold a “warm” party for the netizens[zh] for the friends who support DPP so that they can comfort and cheer up each other.

BillyPan discovered that the rate of votes is very closed to the ratio google search results with the names of two candidates. He therefore concluded that google is an accurate predictor of voting result[zh].
PipperL recorded the progress of vote numbers reported by different press[zh], and discovered some interesting phenomena at different points of time. Yorkxin also performed a similar observation[zh]。

Yeanhan launched a ” nude-photos linking programme for the celebration of victory”[zh], and let netizens share their own nude photos for the celebration of victory. Katejane, who support DPP, also launched a similar programme[zh] in order to condole the defeat of DPP with nudity.

The author would like to thank GV chinese team and Oiwan for data collecting and translation.

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On June 3, all migrant workers gathered to celebrate. By announcing the first photo book published, there were also some dances and other activities volunteered from other groups. In addition, all the 19 photographers staged on to give a short talk for their excitement and deep gratitude. Grace, who previously had basic trainings in art in her home town the Philippines, indicated that she is very happy to express her true feelings to others via those photo works. Another photographer, Gonzalez was first amazed at himself as the only male who had attended and said, “Photography is great! I want to show my works to all my family and friends when I am back to my home town!”

影像出處：台灣國際勞工協會

The self-report from the minority

In Taiwan, we always have the stereo type on migrant workers of being black, dirty, noisy and in crowds because of the gap/barriers of languages and cultures. We resent them as we believe they are robbing our work opportunities. Also, in the press, they are shown as very poor and pitiful or hateful. The chief business assistant and director of photo workshop, Wu Jing-Ru, criticized, “In the past few months, we heard of Thai workers from High Speed Railway fighting against violence and Vietnamese household workers killed her employer. In these incidences, no one has asked them of what they were thinking at the moment they did the behaviour. So why did it happen anyway?”

Jing-Ru also expressed, ‘Voyage 15840′ is to let migrant workers interpret, face up to and express what they feel and how they think by photographing. These migrant contributors always take efforts for Taiwan massive construction, but ignored from the public and the media. By this opportunity, migrant workers and Taiwan citizens can real 'see each other'. During the interview of one radio program, Watch Media, the host Benla mentioned, “I do not know what these workers were thinking when being pictured, but perhaps by the picturing themselves, they are trying to tell us something…”

One staff for the photo workshop, Chiang Ching-Fang, expressed that members from the course were quick learners. They can master the ability in photographing and drawing in a short time. However, in two workshops of each lasting for 6 months, it is not only teaching the photo skills but discussing on all the art works with each that matters. When migrate to Taiwan, under the severe circumstances, all the migrant workers were “trained not to talk on everything”. And this is the most challenging.

Again and again we asked the students: “What do you want to say?” and “how do you wish to go about saying it? …” Gradually I realized, it was not easy to say “I” (i.e. “I see, I feel, I think, or I want…”) given that the principle of their job is mainly to cater to other people's every need.

Though it is not easy to show the courage to open themselves to others under the sun, gradually, they finally crossed the line. Jing-Ru recalled, “Facing our emotions needs courage and the more when facing other general people. They are potentially the actors in the pictures. At first, these migrant workers could merely stand in a far way to take shots. After several months testing and trying, they could go to the pictured for a short talk. Like Vangie, she had her photos on the old man who sells ice cream. Ellen had hers on the police and their cars.

Still stressed by Jing-Ru, every migrant worker has her/his own story and identity. They are not just workers, but daughters, mothers or wives at the same as well. They are indeed the heroines to keep up the economy for their home town. By working abroad, their souls are eroded with the deplorable living and work conditions. By discussing and being listened, they start to piece up again…

The strike and the touch

Few getting touch with the migrant worker issues, Akiyama was attracted by the poster of “Voyage 15840”. She shared the strike and the reflection in her mind after visiting the exhibition:

When sitting with a migrant worker from the Philippines, Thailand, or other places of South-East Asia, we always are alert to or start to feel uncomfortable. However, s/he is from Japan, America or the Europe, we may not have such feeling toward them even they are actually bastard of nature! Is not it unfair? Is not it?!

Cultural critic, Kuo Li-hshi, indicated in the introduction of the photo book, naming “They Must Represent Themselves!”, that as we know many migrant workers live and work with the deplorable conditions in Taiwan, still, we can not see their complaints in the art works. They made themselves calm and bravely face. He said, “As a reader, we should be sorry and ashamed.” Li-Shi Kuo was astonished at social observations from those migrant workers. In the mean time, they also see the toils of the local workers, such as the betel nut salesgirls , or the plumer who works on Sunday. In “The Sunday Broom” and “NT100 and Filipino Flag”, they used a sign metaphor and sarcasm to project. Kuo sighed, “They made us embarrassed as intellectuals.”

Ma. Belen Batabat also has a series of images about Taiwanese society: the red-shirt troops, the political graffiti by BBrother, the chemotherapy room for cancer patients, and the shoelace-selling old man who dresses in a suit an works with dignity. With her keen observations of thesociety, and sensitivity to people, her works are so admirable that they put to shame many college photography students who have poor real life experiences and are ‘lacking subjects to photograph’.

Bad Mouth has a 'sister' from Indonesia at home, thus she is much compassionate toward these people. As a reporter, every time interviewing migrant workers, she feels with them at ease. She sobbed out, “As long as I think of their encounter, I can not help but start to cry…” Bad Mouth saw the differences from ordinary life. She has her inner change since then…

Another lady who accepted my interview, Ellen, told me that because of picturing, she started to feel in a different way for the foreign land. The most important of all, the feeling in picturing, she feels freedom within her. “I have the freedom to express my feelings. I have the freedom to fight for my rights…” From their photos, we saw what they saw and viewed in their eyes.

This article is contributed by foolfitz and Ivy Shiue, both are members of GVLingua (Chinese).

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The fabricated news caused public outrage. Muser, who wrote three articles to criticize TVBS, pointed out that it was not the first time TVBS invented news. He indicated that the bias reports in daily life were more difficult to cope with than the dramatic pseudo news:

今天 TVBS 繼瀝青鴨捏造新聞事件之後，又爆發 TVBS 自導自演捏造「歹徒持槍嗆聲」新聞事件的醜聞，如果不是這個新聞牽涉到刑法，引起警方調查，這個新聞絕不會被閱聽人知道是經過自導自演、刻意捏造的新聞，而其他不涉及刑法、不曾被你仔細檢閱且注意過的新聞、甚至無法追究這些新聞人員相關新聞責任的報導，你又該怎麼辦呢？

Seeing the mistake of TVBS, other media blurred the footage immediately and criticized TVBS for inventing the news without any self reflection. Long-term media observer Benla condemned such attitude:

其它新聞台有什麼資格爽！昨天播周政保播的很開心，今天大家都在打馬賽克，沒什麼比這個更無恥的了！

Bad Mouth, the reporter in PTS, was soothed by the modest decision of PTS. Instead of following the trend to show the footage, PTS reprimanded news stations for broadcasting it. She advised other news stations not to hit TVBS when it was down, because “is it not all of you who got the footage and helped the gangster to threaten others by broadcasting it?”

Facing the critiques all around, TVBS decided to take them up without defending themselves. The call-in TV show Speaking on Your Mind at 2100 hosted by the general manager Lee-Tao(李濤) prolonged its runtime from one hour to three hours, receiving all the criticisms without interruption until the audiences hung up the phone themselves. They even arranged news director Pan Tzu-yin(潘祖蔭) appearing in the show to take the blame. Sarcastically, the “self-criticism” of TVBS resulted in a dramatic rise in audience rating. Tenz said deridingly, “What a genius to condemn its own employee on one hand while earning both audience rating and advertising fee on the other!” The cartoonist Mr. Zeng drew a series of comics for on What the hell? Everything’s gone after the apology?

NCC (National Communications Commission), which is in charge of the management of cable television, decided to fine TVBS and TVBS-N each for one million dollars (total sum of two million dollars) and asked TVBS to replace its general manager Lee-Tao (李濤). The general manager finally resigned and made an announcement that he hoped his resignation could “stop vicious attacks on TVBS.” The statement provoked more criticism.

Regarding NCC's decision on the fine, some thought it overdone while others consider it not enough. Both media-reform NGOs, Media Watch and Campaign for Media Reform, criticized that the punishment was “insufficient but over-exaggerated at the same time.”

They indicated that the supervising office should not interfere with internal affairs of the media; the request on the alteration of management staff was merely a stopgap measure which could not solve the structural problem of dog-eat-dog competition in this business. Besides, the scandal revealed the loophole and deficiency of the relevant law. Responding to these problems, NCC should make amendments to the law as soon as possible and take the blunder of TVBS into consideration when renewing the broadcasting license in the future.

Compared with the harsh attacks on TVBS management staffs, the two reporters fired in this event received many support from their colleagues. Having been a journalist for seven to eight years, An Ping Ke (安平客)wrote an article “We Can Do Nothing” to lament the severe working environment of media, where reporters have to betray their souls in order to earn a living. To attract the public attention, distortion of the news becomes the SOP (standard operating procedure) for news processing. What should reporters do when all the media become another “TV Bull Shit”. For An Ping Ke the answer is “We can do nothing.”

In his blog, Benla quoted a remark from a former TVBS reporter, who thought that these two reporters did make an unbearable mistake, but they had contributed lots of exclusives to the company. “The company gets benefits by broadcasting those exclusives, but when they get into trouble, where is the company? Does it pay the bail and hire a lawyer for them? I don’t think so. However, it is the news values internalized by the company that makes them violate the news ethics.”

In “Lee Should Apologize to Shi”(李濤，該向史鎮康道歉), press reporter HJB quoted a line from the film Infernal Affairs(無 間道), “If I can choose to be a good people, why being a bad guy?” He pointed out that the structural factor which sank media workers into depravity was “the anxiety driven by market competition, which gnaws media workers’ insistence on news ethics.” In letters-to-the-editor column, senior reporter Caroline Lin (林照真)also indicated that advertising system was to blame for such a media chaos. She said that the overcrowded TV channels in Taiwan and the extremely low audience rating, accompanied with improper advertising system, together shape a distorted media environment where news stations are subject to audience rating which the advertising fee is paid upon. Attracting the audience’s attention becomes the top principle prior to the quality of the news. When audience rating rules and producing sensational news is the easiest way to pursue it, journalists can do nothing but slaved by audience rating, sacrificing their dignity as well as professional ideology.

As audience, quite a number of internet users decided to improve media environment by their own effort. The net users in News100 made a list of advertisers with phone numbers who paid to Speaking on Your Mind at 2100 on March 28th and 29th. They launched a campaign to boycott the advertisers and protest on the phone. Besides, adopting the idea of a previous activity “Rejecting Bad Media, Count Me In,” Tenz started a campaign “Articulations: Skip News Channels Together,” in which he and other net users worked together to teach people how to set TV in the mode of automatically skipping particular channels.

“

The scandal of pseudo news had resulted in a big public reaction. However, as the media reformers suggested, it might be another turning point:

這並不是單一的偶發事件，而是整體惡質台灣媒體文化的縮影。然而，若是新聞台能因此深刻反省，主管機關ＮＣＣ為所當為，記者也開始團結反抗惡質的組織文化與媒體老闆違反新聞專業的無理要求，並且民眾一起對抗媒體暴力，那麼這起新聞史上集體的可恥事件，也將開啟新聞環境脫胎換骨的新契機。

This article was written by fool fitz and nausicaa, both are GV Chinese Project Team members.

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Bloggers' actions:

In addition to discussions and collaboration over their blogs, several bloggers decided to take actions in the real world.

Several bloggers walked into the sanatorium, taking a lot of pictures for those have never been in the sanatorium. As kovis said:

家和房子是不一樣的
家是心情上的認同
而房子只不過是個容身之處
所以說「家」是心之居處

To clearify if the reservation of 90% of the area is applicable, nooorman asked his friend who works in the Rapid Transit System, and compared all approaches proposed by the Department of Rapid Transit System (DoRT), Dr. Ke-Chiang Liu (劉可強), and Dr. Chao-Chin Yu (喻肇青). By illustrating the design (with the help of wenli's hand-made schematics) and discussing pros and cons of each plan, he explained the proposals one by one to his readers. He also decided to turn his blog into a platform specializing in technical issues of Lo-sheng reservation.

In the mean time, HOW visited Dr. Liu, asked his opinion about the controversies among those proposals, and put voice records and a sketch of the interview on his blog. He concluded that there is still space for negotiation:

捷運局的方案與文建會的方案基本上是有討論空間的。而捷運局保存40%的方案根本上並沒有真的保存到樂生療養院，也不願意和文件會的案子進行工程技術上的討論。這個案子是很有機會找出一個具體可行的解決方案。

The bloggers then initiated a joint action and got more 200,000 (TWD) to advertise their appeals on Appledaily news. The ad revealed information of 90% reservation, and emphasized that Hsinchuang city may also benefit from the reservation. Another joint action was also organized to make T-shirts with words “Saving Lo-sheng” on them. Benefits from selling these T-shirts will be donated to the campaign.

Macdog created a service called “Losheng Walker”, allowing users to recommend resturants and places near the sanatorium. Benla called for a meeting to talk about “what bloggers can do in the social campaign”. Representatives of “Youth Lo-Sheng Union” and other organizations, together with several bloggers and those interested in this topic, shared their thoughts for this issue.

Yao contacted the owner of the Gundam-like lantern that attracted many discussions during the Yuan-Hsiao Festival. With permission from the owner , Yao and several bloggers placed the lantern inside the sanatorium - “Gundam is protecting the Lo-Sheng”.

Public attention:

The Taiwan Public Television Service online produced a program by inviting members of the campaign, local residents and representatives from Hsinchuang city, specialists of the rapid transit system, and representatives from the administrations (including the DoRTS, the CCA, the Department of Health, the Transportation Bureau, etc.). In this show, the specialist He-Yuan Cyue (闕河淵), who is also the ex-vice director of the DoRTS, revealed that the technique issue can be resolved if the DoRTS re-evaluates their regulations. From his points of view, the schedule may even not be delayed once the 90% reservation proposal is applied. His words were then quoted and discussed in the blogosphere.

Many other organization and individuals also cosigned for the reservation, together with the calls from more than 180 scholars (they posted an ad on Chinatimes, too), medical workers, media students, and culturologists. The IDEA, which is an organization under the UN, also epressed their great concern for this issue.

On March 21, two of the possible candidates for president 2008, Mr. Xi-Kun You (游錫堃) and Mr. Frank Chang-ting Hsieh (謝長廷) claimed that they would support the reservation of the sanatorium. Two days later, the Executive Yuan Premier Mr. Tseng-Chang Su (蘇貞昌) also asked the Public Construction Commission to negotiate with the DoRTS and try to find a way to reserve the sanatorium as much as possible. So far, they have been working on it.

Debates and Different voices:

There are opposite opinions for the “Saving Lo-sheng campaign”. MOTCT posted his comments, explaining that the regulations cannot be modified, otherwise safety of the train might be compromised.

Subing expressed his observation on the so-called “Lo-sheng compaign”:

支持樂生保留的人獨缺我那群長期從事社運的朋友們，他們毫無例外的告訴我，樂生保留訴求的正當性不足，很難說服社會，作為一個專業的社會運動者，他們必須選擇戰場，他們甚至質疑現在還選擇樂生當作戰場的人，要不就是判斷出問題，不然就是別有用心。

In March 31, Mr. Hsi-Wei Chou (周錫瑋), as the Taipei County Commissioner (where the sanatorium is), participated a demonstration entitled “We want MRT for our survival!”. The demonstration was staged by the local representatives of Hsinchuang. They opposed the reservation of Lo-sheng sanatorium because it may lead to the construction of the Mass Rapid Transportation (MRT) behind schedule. Mr. Chou stood on the float, asking the Executive Yuan do not postpone the schedule of the demolition:

各位鄉親，我們捷運為了樂生，我們願意等，但是已經等了三年，我們還要再等一年以上，再等下去嗎? (群眾大喊) 不要~~~~

He also told the crowd that he will proceed the demolition on April 16, unless the Executive Yuan asks the government to postpone via formal documents.

In the Legislative Yuan, Mr. Chia-Fu Tsai (蔡家福) , the legislator who was elected from Hsinchuang city, obstructed the legislating procedure of “Hansen's Disease Compensation Act”. Although the draft of the act have been proposed and negotiated during the past two years, Mr. Tsai, together with the other two ligislators, boycotted the cross-party negotiations right after they arrived. This will cause the efforts via the legislation facing a dead end before April 16.

The upcoming events:

On April 15, the day before the scheduled deadline for demolition, another demonstration will be held by more than 50 organizations in front of the Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall. Protesters will voice their support for the reservation, and ask the government to cancel the order of demolition and protect human rights of the leprosy ex-patients.

Last minute update:

In April 12, the Executive Yuan Premier announced that the demolition of the Losheng Sanatorium will be postponed and the reservation of 90% is going to be considered. Later the Taipei County Commissioner confirmed the announcement and claimed that he will follow the Executive Yuan's decision. But he also insisted that the Executive Yuan has to take the full responsibility if the construction is delayed.

The author would like to thank the GV Chinese translation team for the help with preparation for this article.

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BoF was first held in 2005, and named for “Birds of a feather”. In 2006, hundreds of bloggers participated in the 2nd BoF, in which a talk was given by Rebecca MacKinnon, co-founder of GVO, to share her experience in the media, why she left CNN and joined the family of Global Voice Online.

In the upcoming 3rd meeting, Leonard, the acting coordinator of Global Voices Chinese Team, will give a briefing at the session: Citizen Journalism(zh). He will introduce what GV Chinese is and how bloggers in Taiwan can take part in this project. Other organizations such as Peepo (a platform organized by Taiwan Public Television Service) and Wikinews will introduce their status, too. Several international bloggers in Taiwan will also be invited to provide their points of view at this session.

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This service allows users recommending featured food, drink, and snacks near the Lo-sheng sanatorium. The idea is to demonstrate that the community around the sanatorium may benefit from the reservation of Lo-Sheng Sanatorium, and to alleviate the resistance from the local residents in Hsinchuang City, where the sanatorium is located.

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Losheng Sanatorium is a hospital for lepers which is located in the suburbs of Taipei. Since 1930s, this hospital is the only public sanatorium for Hansen's disease (leprosy) patients in Taiwan. In 2001, due to the construction of Taipei mass rapid transportation, the authorities planned to transform Losheng to a community hospital, thus put an end to its dedicated hospitalization and care for the leprosy ex-patients. Many students, urban planners and NGO tried to save this sanatorium from that time. After five years, they finally got a chance to make the government reconsidering a new version which reserves 90% of the sanatorium, instead of the original plan, 41%.

However, just two days ago, the Department of Rapid Transit System (Taipei) asked all the leprosy ex-patients remained in the sanatorium to move out before March 13th, or the enforcement will make that happened by the strong arm. In this morning (March 8th), 200 policemen dispersed 50 people who were gathering in front of the residence owned by Executive Yuan Premier, Mr. Su Tseng-Chang. Yao, a blogger who was there on that time, called it as a dark day:

我看到警方拖著一個阿伯的身體，但阿伯無力抵抗，他的義肢因為被拉扯，掉落在地上，而旁邊的學生不捨的哭喊著：警方不要用暴力！然而卻換得了甚麼？一次一次無情的進攻。

After talking with his friend who was also there on that time, DarkBringer described the brutal force on these old,

Brutal Force。毫不掩飾的暴力。這是為了即將到來的強制拆遷作預習嗎？還是今天多打倒一個老人，來日就少搬一個老人？

Although the protest is to ask the government to keep his word that convenes a conference to discuss the new plan in public, news media prefer putting their focus on the conflict itself rather than the statement of the protesters. PipperL wrote down his observations:

看看那些電子媒體的報導，大多集中在「衝突」的場面。是的，就是衝突，有拉扯的鏡頭，有尖叫哭喊的鏡頭，有推擠晃動的鏡頭，這才是那些SNG車和記者們想要的鏡頭。緊張緊張緊張! 刺激刺激刺激! 這樣才有收視率，這樣才能讓拿著搖控器一直轉台的觀眾停在這一台。而當衝突的鏡頭播完了之後，今天去抗議的原因呢? 這個事件來龍去脈的追蹤呢? 各方團體的立場和角力呢? 未來事態可能發展的走向呢? 管他的，進下一則政治人物參選登記的新聞吧。

In the mean time, Ancorena revealed in his blog, that he decided to give his vote for anyone who can help Losheng:

「如果有任何政治人物，尤其是總統大選候選人，能為樂生全區保存採取行動，並且產生實際效用的，在選舉時只要涵蓋到我的選區，就會獲得我的支持。」

Ancorena also made some stickers and suggestions for the people who want to join this protest.

In Taiwan blogosphere, many bloggers are now collaborating their articles, photos, videos and even podcasts together, seeking for support from the society. To step out from the actions in blogoshpere, these bloggers decide to extend the movement to the real world. If the news media report their move, more people may know what's going on. Like the words wenli speak out loudly:

「是該採取攻勢的時候了。」

Written by Swpave, edited by PipperL and abstract. All are GV Chinese Project Team members

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