Independent media, social movements, and the traditional news media in Taiwan

Abstract

The subversive impact of digital technology on the traditional news industry is an increasingly common phenomenon in technologically developed countries. As for the news landscape in Taiwan, this universal phenomenon takes on an even more complex and unique manifestation. The twofold challenges of management and trust faced by Taiwan's traditional news industry are clearly signified by the surging of new types of social movements over the past decade. Social movements and independent media progress synchronously and nonetheless are mutually intertwined. Together they contribute to the construction of the emerging news ecosystem in Taiwan. Clearly emerging independent media are not only the product of new communication technologies but also the result of social transformation. It is fair to say that Taiwan's society and news industry both face “rebellion under independence.”.