變遷與挑戰：解禁後的台灣報業

A Historical Experiment with Deregulation: The Changes and Challenges of the Press after the Lifting of the Press Ban in Taiwan

1988年台灣開放報禁，但開放後報業問題頻仍。有鑑於此，本文檢視報禁開放的歷程及開放後的報業變遷。本文認為，在長期的威權統治以及管制者的保護與放任下，報業的結構是扭曲的。報禁開放時，管制者卻被動、不作為，放任它持續變形。在缺乏合理的規範下，大報擴張，夾殺小報；大報內部又缺乏民主機制，老闆將報紙作為參與政治的工具；後進的財團報也模仿此種競爭策略，並變本加厲。台灣報業在惡性競爭中內耗，面對外來競爭時更難以抗衡。從本文的分析可知，在長期威權體制的脈絡下，台灣媒體早已扭曲與失衡。未來在媒體政策上必須建立秩序，才能有健全的傳播體制。

Amid Taiwan's political transition, the press ban was lifted in 1988. It was aimed at enhancing free competition, avoiding monopolies, and creating a healthy media environment. Since then, new problems have emerged, while old ones remained unsolved. Among these concerns, the questions of this paper include (1) how did de-regulation take place and, (2) how did the press change afterwards.According to the historical analyses of the paper, the press had been protected under the authoritarian regime and its structure, distorted. In lifting the ban, the government was inactive and favorable to the incumbents; however, deregulation has buried the seeds of crisis for the press. Without any regulation concerning concentration of ownership, internal democracy and market practices, the big newspapers soon won the competition by unfair practices. Owners of some big newspapers even used the press to express their political interests. The new comer, with its business backgrounds, also followed this kind of strategy by price-cutting and conducting prize-drawing campaigns. As the competition became tougher, the press became weaker and eventually started declining. Therefore, it can be concluded that in the political transition process, it is vital to lay out a regulatory framework in order to build a sound media environment.