如此墮落的中央社

方齋

美國「自由之家」(Freedom House)研究部主任華克(Christopher Walker)十一月十四日應美國福爾摩莎基金會之邀，在洛杉磯向華文媒體簡報「自由之家」所做的「2010年世界自由報告」。

這場記者會之後，中央社發出一則標題為「扁案定讞 自由之家讚體制強化」的新聞稿，撰稿的記者是江今葉小姐。

新聞的導言是這樣寫的︰「前總統陳水扁因為貪污案三審定讞，美國自由之家研究部主任華克認為，這是艱難的一步，但能將貪污政權送進大牢，對體制改革、走向更為健全的民主體制有益。」

筆者從事媒體工作近三十年，採訪與編輯的經驗不算少，當天也是在場的記者之一。前後仔細讀這則中央社的新聞，我懷疑，該則新聞的標題與導言應該不是撰稿記者的原文，而是台北中央社的編輯所加。

然而中央社發出這則「加工」的新聞之後，台灣的藍色媒體立刻廣為刊登（自由時報網站的即時新聞也經由RSS自動登上網頁），確實達到「搶先扭曲」的功效。

當天在記者會上除了媒體記者之外，也有在南加州執業的律師、在大學任教的教授、以及航太、工程博士以及福爾摩莎基金會執行長Terri Giles等人在場。筆者當天為了慎重，也特地將華克先生記者會全程錄影並上載到YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=DEB69357920F8D46)。會後們問了多位與會的人士，沒有一個人聽到華克說出那樣的話！

（註︰華克先生也發現自己的說法遭到扭曲，11月18日英文台北時報就有他自己的抱怨與澄清：http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2010/11/18/2003488812）

相反的，華克說，亞洲國家的民主程度低於全球的平均，雖然他們是朝著民主的方向前進，但很多國家面對公平執法與言論自由的質疑，而且只有百分之五的亞洲人民享有自由媒體，有的國家在過去幾年經濟成長，但政治還是不民主，即使是民主國家，如台灣、南韓、印度。在人民的自由權上還是面對挑戰。

華克指出，台灣人民的政治權雖有提昇，但公民自由權卻退步，這是因為司法上對被告權利的保護有瑕疵。陳水扁的「貪污案」也讓人民注意到政府處理此案與他案的差異，他還特別提到孔傑榮對扁案司法程序的質疑。在總結時，華克特別指出，雖然國民黨改善與中國的關係，但卻引起人民言論自由與學術自由的關切與憂慮。

其實，11月13日的自由時報在一則「自由之家︰台灣媒體獨立性仍受威脅」的新聞中引述「自由之家」的報告即已指出「中央社和公視都受到政府介入的影響」。

遭「自由之家」年度報告點名的中央社，十四日發出這則「加料」新聞，正好讓所有閱聽人理解中央社「質變」的事實，也更讓人喟嘆這一「公器」竟墮落到如此地步！

（作者為海外媒體工作者）

2010 ELECTIONS: Director at Freedom House objects to CNA’s coverage

MISAPPREHENSION:：Christopher Walker said the state-owned media misrepresented what he said in his speech on Taiwan’s democracy

By J. Michael Cole  /  Staff Reporter

Thu, Nov 18, 2010 - Page 3

The director of studies at US-based Freedom House yesterday accused state-owned Central News Agency (CNA) of “misapprehending” his comments regarding the judicial process in Taiwan and claiming that he saw a recent verdict against former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) as positive for Taiwan’s democratic development.

The Formosa Foundation, a Los Angeles-based non-profit organization, invited Christopher Walker to give a speech on freedom in Taiwan on Sunday, in which he focused on democratic processes, institutional transparency and media freedom in Taiwan and the region.

However, a CNA report of the event released the following day misrepresented his remarks on the judicial process in Taiwan in a way that made it appear he was specifically commenting on the corruption cases against Chen, Walker said.

The Chinese-language report, which has not been translated into English by the wire service, read: “After former president Chen Shui-bian recently [on Nov. 11] received his final [guilty] verdict, Christopher Walker ... said he believes that while this was a tough choice to make, punishing a corrupt regime with jail will help Taiwan’s democratic system become stronger.”

Still quoting Walker, the report continued: “Administrations that do not pay any attention to corruption will end eventually.”

“Walker said that strong democratic systems are generally not influenced by isolated events, however, because Taiwan is a young democracy, events like the Chen case will give rise to discussions about whether Taiwan’s democratic system is strong enough,” the article added.

Those passages, Walker told the Taipei Times yesterday, misrepresented what he said and put words in his mouth.

“Freedom House places emphasis on key areas of the democratic process and does not take a position on a specific case, as was suggested in these media reports relating to the case of former president Chen,” he said.

“Rather, our assessments focus on the degree to which a country’s institutions are operating in a transparent and accountable manner, and according to the rule of law,” Walker added.