Insideview
Lunch with TaiwanPlus
The ECCT arranged a Special Lunch with the CEO and senior executives of TaiwanPlus, Taiwan's first independent English-language video news and entertainment platform for an international audience. The lunch featured presentations by TaiwanPlus CEO Joanne Tsai (蔡秋安), Sara Lin (林宜瑩), Deputy Director of Public Relations, and Andrew Ryan, Deputy Director of the News Center. Read the full event report.
Set up in the second half of 2021, TaiwanPlus employs a multinational team, offering multimedia coverage of regional issues and world affairs and sharing Taiwan's unique voice in a way that resonates globally. It produces its own content but also partners with other content providers to produce programmes.
In her presentation, CEO Joanne Tsai spoke about how her own experience as a student in the United States had demonstrated that knowledge about Taiwan overseas is limited. With a mission to present trusted and authentic perspectives of Taiwan and the region and showcase the vibrant culture, diversity and beauty of Taiwan, TaiwanPlus aims to both fill the information gap as well as showcase the best Taiwan has to offer in terms of culture and art by broadcasting unique voices and sharing untold stories.
Sara Lin stressed that while TaiwanPlus is funded by taxpayers in Taiwan, it maintains complete editorial freedom and aims to present the full complexity and diversity of Taiwan. Andrew Ryan backed this up by saying that he had never received any instructions on what to report on or pressure to promote any particular narrative. He added that TaiwanPlus takes special care to ensure that all reporting is fair, balanced and not seen as promoting partisan interests.
In order to foster diversity, over 20% of staff are from countries other than Taiwan while there is a combination of young talent and experienced staff.
TaiwanPlus provides a variety of content ranging from news to culture, lifestyle, food, travel, music, entertainment, business and sports. While initially only planned to be launched as an online platform, TaiwanPlus also produces three daily English news programmes that are broadcast on Taiwan's TV channel, CTS.
