控制、合作與周旋：1950年代的「臺北市報業公會」

Public Sphere under the Control of Authoritarian Corporatism in Taiwan - A Case Study of the Taipei Newspapers Association (1950s)

中華民國政府遷臺後的新聞管制，延續了中日戰爭及國共內戰時期的新聞管制思維。政府得對報館及通訊社之設立，報紙、通訊稿及其他印刷物之記載，加以限制、停止或命其為一定之記載的權力；新聞紙及雜誌兩類的發行均採「許可主義」，由內政部發給登記證；各種職業之從業人，均應依法組織職業團體，而此職業團體又具有排他性及壟斷性，使得人民團體都將成為準官方組織。
「臺北市報業公會」創立於1950年，一方面，扮演準官方組織角色，提供報業、政府和社會各種服務。另一方面，當報業面臨政府的重大政策調整，產生危及報業生存的問題時，「臺北市報業公會」也落實了一種非典型公共領域的功能，為促進社會公義（捍衛新聞自由），成功地阻止《戰時出版品禁止或限制登載事項》九項規定的通過；為報業之共同利益（爭取新聞用紙），與政府進行溝通，與臺紙和中興紙業周旋。
同一時期，「臺北市報業公會」也曾為新聞事業爭取免稅，結合其他新聞事業團體向立法院請願；1958年為反對《出版法》不當修正，公然站在政府的對立面，雖然請願失敗，或需面對挑戰政府的苦果、或需轉為侍從。50年代的「臺北市報業公會」已為臺灣獨特的歷史脈絡中、公共領域的結構轉型，寫下特殊的一頁。

The 38 years of martial law in Taiwan that was accompanied by the implementation of press restrictions invariably evoke associations with authoritarian rule, the White Terror, and media control. However, the scope of freedom of speech during these 38 years did undergo changes. In the early stages of martial law, news media and social organizations faced numerous restrictions due to authoritarian consolidation. There also emerged a distinctive and atypical public sphere during that era.
Building on related research, a common finding emerges, suggesting that the development of Taiwanese news media or organizations did not enter a state of tension immediately after the imposition of martial law, but rather gradually escalated during the 1950s. According to Yang, Hsiu-Chin (楊秀菁) (2005),“in the early 1950s, under Kuomintang’s control, the freedom of speech in the media was relatively open,”and“by the 1960s, it entered a long period of political pressure.”Lin, Guo-Sian (林果顯) (2007) indicates that“the party and government departments were able to intricately intervene in people’s daily lives, and the exploratory attempts in the 1950s became the foundation for more detailed control in the 1960s.”Chou, Fu-I (周馥儀) (2018) defines the 1950s as the nascent stage under anti-communist psychological warfare propaganda (1952-1960), followed by the developmental stage under the strengthened control of the party-state (1961-1967). Wang, Jenn-Hwan (王振寰) (2014) also contends that the authoritarian rule of the Kuomintang left some“freedom”gaps, including holding local elections, the loss of control over local factions, and the influence of intellectuals and media.
These observations underscore why under the system of authoritarian consolidation, as the government gradually tightened control over the press, that there still existed a gap for the operation of a distinctive public domain. The specific actions within this context are seldom discussed in the history of Taiwanese journalism.
The present study adopts two theoretical perspectives from the literature on the relationship between the state and society: authoritarian integrationism and the public domain. These perspectives allow us to examine the Taipei Newspapers Association from 1949 to 1958. First, the study explores the legal and policy implementations of the Kuomintang’s integrationism towards the press after the government’s relocation to Taiwan. Second, it elucidates the establishment, operation, and activities of this newspaper association under the Kuomintang’s authoritarian integrationism. Third, the study presents two instances of resistance within members of the press, driven by their own interests and journalistic ideals, to illustrate the unique development of the public domain in Taiwan during the early martial law period, despite the overarching authoritarian control.
This study utilizes academic literature, historical documents of the Kuomintang, the National Newspaper Information System, relevant reports from the udndata.com, interview transcripts, and the Yearbook of the Republic of China News, among other sources, to reconstruct the unique public domain that emerged in Taiwan during the 1950s. It investigates how the Kuomintang government implemented the authoritarian integration system and the resulting control exerted on the media within this temporal and spatial context.
Under this backdrop, the study examines how the Taipei Newspapers Association played the role of a quasi-official organization, cooperating with the government. Simultaneously, it explores how this association fulfilled the functions of the media public domain, navigating its interactions with the government.
The post-relocation news control in Taiwan continued the thinking of news control during the Sino-Japanese War and the Chinese Civil War periods. The government kept the authority to regulate, suspend, or mandate specific content in newspapers, communication agencies, and other printed materials. The distribution of both newspapers and magazines followed a licensing system, where registration certificates were issued by the Ministry of the Interior. Professionals in various fields were required to organize professional associations according to the law, and these associations had exclusivity and monopolistic characteristics, turning people’s organizations into quasi-official entities.
The Taipei Newspapers Association was established on January 25, 1950 with the purpose of“safeguarding and enhancing the common interests of the industry, correcting malpractices, and serving the community.”Under the authoritarian system of the Kuomintang government, it was subject to various laws and various restrictions on newspapers publishing. Under this regime, the Taipei Newspapers Association played the role of a quasi-state agency, providing various services to the newspaper industry, the government, and society.
Newspaper industry services included organizing special lectures and inviting liberal-minded scholars to encourage journalists and media professionals. The work of serving the government primarily involved engaging in news diplomacy.
The Taipei Newspapers Association often took the initiative to receive visits from international journalists. Through interactions with the journalism community in free and democratic countries, the association expressed its anti-communist stance. Seeking membership in the International Press Institute (IPI) was also an important task. However, given the state of journalism in the Republic of China at that time, which did not meet the Western standards of press freedom, the association instead organized the Chinese Language Press Institute. This initiative aimed to connect Chinese-language newspapers with an anti-communist stance. Social services also included organizing beauty pageants such as the Miss China competition and the Asia-Pacific Film Festival. These activities were carried out in compliance with government requests.
Taipei Newspapers Association also fulfilled the function of the public sphere, standing on the opposite side of the government for the public interest and the interest of the news industry. During the same period, the Taipei Newspapers Association also fought for tax exemptions for the news industry and collaborated with other news industry groups to petition the Legislative Yuan. In 1958, in opposition to inappropriate amendments to the Publishing Law, the association openly took a stance against the government. Although the petition was unsuccessful, it faced the consequences of challenging the government, by either enduring hardships or adapting to a more subservient role.
The integrative coercion of the press was completed in the 1960s, and the Taipei Newspapers Association never presented any more petitions, leaving itself to only the role of a quasi-state agency. However, the Taipei Newspapers Association in the 1950s did write a resistant page for the structural deterioration of Taiwan’s public sphere.
During the same period, there was another highly active journalism organization, the Taipei Journalists Association. Operating within the same temporal and spatial context and facing similar controls, it would be another worthwhile research topic to investigate for how this association cooperated with and resisted the authorities in comparison to the newspapers association of this paper.