Local commentators have generally been positive about how the Japanese media have handled reports about the recent earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crisis.

The commentators have praised the Japanese for their dispassionate coverage, as they have shown restraint in their use of close-ups and in interviewing victims. They thought that Japanese news anchors have been calming and comforting for the public, avoiding fights to get the scoop.

These positive comments are a stark contrast to the local media's performance. On March 16, the National Communications Commission demanded that Taiwanese television stations restrain their sensational reporting about the Japanese earthquake.

Analyzing the results of the last World Values Survey, which polled 48 countries, Taiwan ranked at the bottom of the list in terms of confidence in television. I know many Taiwanese do not have much confidence in television, but I did not know that their confidence level was so low. As many as 87 percent of Taiwanese lack confidence in TV news coverage compared with only 30 percent of the Japanese.

A majority of the public in most democracies don't trust TV news very much. For example, 75 percent of Americans also don't have confidence in TV news. In contrast, people in countries that keep a tight control on the media generally have higher confidence in television. For example, in China, Vietnam and Egypt, less than 30 percent of respondents said they had no confidence in TV, with the figure dropping to a low of 5 percent in Vietnam. However, Taiwanese respondents' lack of confidence in television is the highest, not only among democracies, but among all the countries in the survey.

Aside from a lack of confidence in television, Taiwanese also distrust the legislature. The survey shows that respondents' lack of confidence in the legislature was the fourth-highest in the survey at 86 percent. Only in Argentina, Peru and Guatemala is the lack of confidence greater.

Just as with the public's distrust of television, distrust of the legislature is also higher in democracies than in other countries. Eighty percent of Americans distrust the US Congress, while 77 percent of Japanese distrust the Diet. In authoritarian countries, the percentage is extremely low: Only 1 percent in Vietnam and 8 percent in China lack confidence in the legislature. Once again, Taiwan ranks near the bottom.

Although public confidence in the media and the legislature is low in most democracies, it is particularly serious in Taiwan. On one hand, we need to actively and effectively boost the public's trust in these two important social systems. On the other hand, we need to thoroughly examine the foundations of our democratic system and its operation in order to find a solution to these problems.

Chiu Hei-yuan is a research fellow at Academia Sinica's Institute of Sociology.

TRANSLATED BY EDDY CHANG

March 24, 2011 Taipei Times