Dangwai magazines’ role

國

立 政 治 大 學

‧

N a tio na

l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y

60

Sometimes commercial objectives would go against political interests.” But Taiwan’s mainstream media seldom spoke out for the anti-KMT political opposition before the lifting of martial law. The Chungli Incident in 1977 and the Kaohsiung Incident in 1979, demonstrations for democratic development which turned violent and were dealt with violently by the government, were critical moments for Taiwan’s democratization. During these and other periods of upheaval in the 1970s the big media either kept silent or showed no sympathy to the opposition (Roy 2004).

The media effectively became accomplices of the persecuting party. The opposition group collectively called the Dangwai, which literally means political forces “outside the party” (that is, outside the KMT) could only voice their discontent and challenge the authority through alternative and marginal media. These media included the Dangwai magazines in the 1970s and the 1980s, cable television (known as the “the fourth channel” in a reference to the big three broadcasters mentioned above) in the 1990s, and underground radio stations thereafter.

4.1.4.Dangwai magazines’ role

Taiwan’s influential small media can be traced back to the 1950s. the Free China Magazine, a bi-weekly journal initially sponsored by the KMT government, became a political forum that actively criticized Chiang Kai-shek’s authoritarian rule.

It promoted ideas like democratization, civil rights, freedom of the press, reform of government organization, release of political prisoners and legalization of opposition parties. Free China incurred the wrath of the authority and was forced to close in 1960.

But the journal had a great influence on subsequent small media outlets.

‧

立 政 治 大 學

‧

N a tio na

l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y

61

In 1971, the Republic of China on Taiwan Government lost its United Nations seat (including Standing Seat of Security Council) to mainland China, and the legitimacy of the KMT’s rule in Taiwan became increasingly questionable. The KMT government used the carrot and stick approach to meet this domestic challenge. On the one hand, it introduced the “10 Major Construction Projects” and other programs that actively improved people’s lives. As the purchasing power of the people expanded, so did their demands on the media. The United Daily News and the China Times replaced older KMT- and government-run newspapers, such as the Central Daily News, the Chinese Daily News, and the Taiwan Shin Sheng Daily News, as the main forces of public opinion. On the other hand, the KMT’s heavy-handed authoritarian rule did not soften at all; the people of Taiwan still kept quiet out of fear and did not dare to speak publicly about change. Toward the end of the 1970s, however, the opposition increased in force and the authority’s oppression became less and less effective. In August of 1979, almost 20 years after the closing of the Free China Magazine, Formosa Magazine was established by opposition leaders, and the decade-long golden age of Dangwai magazines began.

Taiwan’s experience is an example of print magazines acting as the mechanism for political organization in lieu of a formal party. In its heyday, Formosa Magazine had 11 branches throughout the island. It organized 13 mass assemblies and demonstrations in the 1970s before the eruption of the Kaohsiung Incident in December 1979 (Yoo, 2006).

After that incident, Formosa’s publisher, Huang Hsin-chieh, was sentenced to jail by a court martial. During the trial, Huang said the aim of establishing the magazine was not merely to publish news from the Dangwai movement, but to

‧

立 政 治 大 學

‧

N a tio na

l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y

62

develop an organization to actively attract supporters for the opposition. Another famous opposition leader and political prisoner, Shih Ming-teh, said during the trial that the goal of Formosa Magazine was to form “a party without a name (Shih, 1988).”

In addition to this organizing function, Formosa Magazine was also an effective Dangwai propaganda tool which broke down the KMT’s political mythology and publicly challenged the restrictions established by the state.

There was a common saying at the time that the KMT had the organization but not the masses, while the Dangwai had the masses but not the organization.

Before Formosa Magazine, that was true. but after the magazine’s emergence that was no longer the case.

However, the Kaohsiung Incident resulted in expanded authority for the Taiwan Garrison Command, a military body with the mission of domestic state security (and the government’s main tool against the political opposition), which began to make increasingly arbitrary arrests and judgments against individuals and publications. It clamped down on Dangwai magazines more frequently. Antonio Chiang(江春男), editor in chief of a Dangwai magazine called The Eighties, recalled that every time the members of the Taiwan Garrison Command came, they had blank documents already signed with the authorizing seal. The reason for closing down a publication could be filled in on the spot, with general terms like “undermining public morality” listed as reasons for banning the publication.

At that time, the authorities offered rewards for confiscating Dangwai magazines and informing against them. Thus the publishers would deliberately print a certain number of early copies of the magazine intended for seizure, and would tell

‧

立 政 治 大 學

‧

N a tio na

l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y

63

the printing house to inform the authorities. After the Garrison Command took away these copies, the printing house would continue to print the rest. Because of the curiosity of the public, any banned issue of a magazine would sell well. In a 1985 article titled “Taiwan Magazines Play Mice to the Censor’s Cat,” the New York Times reported on the Dangwai publications and their special ways of surviving during the period of martial law.

As more and more Dangwai magazines began to appear in a limited market, intense competition for circulation and market share naturally began. In order to attract readers, some magazines deliberately defied taboos, and many the writing in many were ethically questionable and represented substandard journalism. Later, when newspapers were finally deregulated (January 1, 1988) and restrictions on speech were gradually removed, Dangwai magazines lost their importance and thus disappeared.

The Dangwai magazines had at least two major influences on the development of Taiwan politics and the media. Firstly, different Dangwai magazines gave their names and followers to political factions in the new Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which was 6 On July 23, 2006, the DPP general assembly passed a resolution requiring the disbanding of all factions.

The factions have since publicly stated that they will comply with the resolution.

But in reality the original factions of the DPP still exist under the surface. founded in 1986 and legalized in 1991. The DPP’s New Tide faction, Formosa faction, Justice Alliance faction, and Welfare State Alliance faction are all named after Dangwai magazines (Chi, 2009).

‧

立 政 治 大 學

‧

N a tio na

l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y

64

Secondly, Dangwai magazines influenced the journalistic style and attitude of Taiwan’s mainstream media. They set the pattern for cutthroat competition and extreme partisanship. This trend has only increased since the Dangwai era; after the KMT lost the presidency for the first time in 2000, Taiwan’s media fully embraced commercialism and plunged into aggressive political commentary. In many cases, the media have degenerated into mouthpieces of political parties and are more interested in advertising than in journalism.