Taiwan's International Cooperation and Development Fund recently hosted journalists and government media officers from around the world.

I had the opportunity to join a two-week workshop on "Writing and Reporting for Broadcast and Electronic Media Industry", put on by the ICDF.

Some 53 journalists and media-related government officers from 36 developing countries in Africa, Central and South America, the Middle East, South East Asia, the Caribbean and the Pacific participated.

All were given the chance to observe different media outlets in Taipei and Tainan.

Radio Taiwan International (RTI) is the oldest radio station in Taiwan and broadcasts in 13 languages around the world, including Thailand. It has also established an Internet centre to provide listeners with a more convenient and quicker service.

RTI was formerly founded under the name "Central Broadcasting System" in Nanjing, China in 1928 - and then became democratic Taiwan's national radio station in 1998.

Another major Taiwanese media outlet is the Public Television Service, one of five free-TV stations. Its mission is to improve the standards of local broadcasting culture and promote prosperity.

Apart from producing quality programmes, the channel also provides basic information, which viewers can access by simply pressing the remote control.

While there are only five free TV channels there are more than 100 reasonably priced cable channels.

Connie Lin, chief executive officer of the Broadcasting Development Fund, said the major concern among media critics was no longer the lack of press freedom but the increasingly confused principles concerning ethics.

"The line between press freedom and the invasion of privacy has become increasingly indistinguishable," she said.

Lin said that although the Government Information Office and some non-government organisations monitored the media, "they had no real power to halt invasions of privacy".

Andrea Ines Machain, a BBC correspondent from Paraguay, was highly impressed by the latest technology used in Taiwan's media. "However, I wish had the chance to witness journalists while they are working, or even work with them," she said.

Potchanee Potchanakorn, a reporter from Thailand's TV3, said the workshop had encouraged her to learn more about the latest technology.

Like Machain, she would have preferred to meet and observe Taiwanese journalists on the job, "instead of attending lectures that weren't directly concerned with the media".

Pai-po Lee, assistant secretary-general of Taiwan ICDF, said the purpose of the workshop was simply to share their media experience with developing countries.

"The media is very important in our globalised world. Different countries have different cultures - so we have to learn about each others'," he said.

The Taiwan ICDF has previously offered various seminars, workshops, training programmes and scholarships that have benefited more than 6,000 participants from 117 countries.

Somroutai Sapsomboon

The Nation

Taipei