Public service broadcasting in Taiwan: cultural issues and national identity conveyed in documentaries

Abstract

This article explores how the Public Television Service (PTS) of the Republic of China-Taiwan, born in 1998, has contributed to promoting the Taiwanese identity through documentaries, by conveying cultural issues in a way that could be shared by the majority of the population, independently of political opinion. Among the main cultural aspects, PTS gave particular attention to respect for other ethnic groups, ecology, traditions, and religion. The first part of the study begins with a summary of the social and political background surrounding the birth of PTS—after the first free elections of 1996—including the development of the two main political parties, their proposals about the relationship with mainland China, and how that feeling has shifted towards a more cultural dimension. The second part includes a thematic analysis (content-discourse analysis with qualitative methodology) of a selection of six awarded documentaries aired around October 2011 (and later), in the year that marked the 100th anniversary of the foundation of the Republic of China, and constituted a crucial moment to relaunch the Taiwanese identity.