Politics

Gallup Poll indicates free press in Taiwan

Eighty-six percent of the people in Taiwan think the nation has a free press, according to a survey released March 28 by Gallup Inc. (Photo: Chang Su-ching)

• Publication Date：03/29/2012
• Source： Taiwan Today
• By  Grace Kuo

The vast majority of the people in Taiwan perceive the local media as being free, according to the latest press freedom report released March 28 by U.S.-based Gallup Inc.

Out of 1,001 local residents polled last year between June 15 and Oct. 6, Gallup said, 86 percent said they felt that the local press was “free.” Only 9 percent of those surveyed said Taiwan’s press is “not free.”

The poll was part of a global survey conducted by Gallup comparing how citizens across the world felt about the state of press freedom in their own nations and areas.

At 86 percent, Taiwan was ranked No. 17 out of 133, putting it ahead of such industrialized democracies as France and Spain, which came in at No. 23 and 35, respectively.

Finland came in at No.1, with 97 percent of Finns saying the country enjoys freedom of the press.

In its report, Gallup commented on its methodology and compared it with other press freedom surveys such as that conducted by Freedom House. “Traditional measures of media freedom have relied heavily on external assessments. While these evaluations are highly informative, the perceptions of people living in these countries are important for policymakers to consider in the ongoing discussion about freedom of the press.”

Taiwan performed significantly better than its East Asian neighbors: Hong Kong was ranked No. 19, Japan No. 64, South Korea No. 87, mainland China No. 89 and Singapore No. 96.

“Results are based on telephone and face-to-face interviews with approximately 1,000 adults, aged 15 or older, conducted in 133 countries between February and December 2011,” according to Gallup.

The results have a 95 percent confidence level with the maximum margin of sampling error ranging from plus or minus 2.2 percentage points to plus or minus 5.1 percentage points, it added. (HZW)

Write to Grace Kuo at morningk@mail.gio.gov.tw