Competing views of Taiwan’s position relating to China – pro-independence or pro-unification – ensure polarisation continues in the island territory, and the media has been feeling the effects. Hit by funding cuts and falling advertising revenue, the industry is waging a battle for survival by trying to deepen audience engagement and diversify business models.

Taiwan’s competitive media have long been dependent on advertising, though the rise of the tech platforms has seriously undermined this strategy. Total advertising revenues allocated to the mass media declined by more than a third (36%) between 2016 and 2023.¹ To help plug the gap, some outlets started relying on government advertising but in the past year this source of funding has also been affected by the complex politics of this island territory.

The 2024 election was won by the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party, making its candidate, William Lai, president. In the past year, however, the opposition Kuomintang (KMT) and other opposition parties, which are more pro-unification, won a majority in the Legislative Yuan. They launched unprecedented public spending cuts, promising to ‘return the money to the people’. One of the targets became government advertising, officially termed ‘media policy and public affairs promotion’. The KMT denounced it as brainwashing and called for its elimination.

The Satellite Television Broadcast Association, which represents channel operators, launched a campaign against the cuts, warning that it would devastate the industry and media workers’ livelihoods. They also called for legislation similar to Australia’s bargaining code in order to mandate revenues moving from tech platforms to news providers. The industry pleas were partly successful – the planned 100% cuts to government advertising were reduced to 60%, but came along with stricter regulations to prevent favouritism and enhance transparency in the allocation of budgets.

An even bigger battle faced the main public broadcaster, Taiwan Broadcasting System (TBS), which was accused by the KMT of bias and of distorting Taiwan’s history. Things got more heated when the main TBS English Channel, TaiwanPlus, referred to Donald Trump as a ‘convicted felon’; the KMT said it was an insult to Americans and would threaten relations with the US.

Seizing this moment, KMT lawmaker Chen Yu-jen submitted a motion to cut the entire budget – US$70m (NT$2.3bn) – allocated by the Ministry of Culture to TBS. The move gained support in this polarised society, but it also galvanised a passionate defence of public broadcasting from cultural figures who warned the cuts would devastate Taiwan’s creative industries and cultural identity.

In an intense tug-of-war, the proposed 100% funding cut was revised to a 1% reduction – US$700,000 (NT$23m) – with a freeze on 25% of the budget. Meanwhile, TaiwanPlus suffered a 20% budget cut, approximately US$6.3m (NT$200m), with an additional 30% frozen. The broadcaster responded by attempting to rebuild public trust, highlighting a 56% growth in the audience for its news website and the launch of a new children’s and youth platform, PTS XS.

As elsewhere, habits are changing. An increasing number of Taiwanese are turning to YouTube for news, with usage rising from 38% in 2021 to 46% in 2025. Most news channels now upload videos there, and some have begun adapting long-form stories into short videos for social platforms. Currently 35% of Taiwanese use Instagram, with 14% relying on it for news, while 21% use TikTok, with 10% using it for news.

Largely unaffected by political turmoil, CommonWealth and Business Weekly – two of Taiwan’s most trusted media brands – leveraged their credibility to generate new income. Both are established as leaders in financial news while addressing social issues,² and both recently launched exclusive professional networks. CommonWealth’s Talent Forum brought together business and government stakeholders, while Business Weekly’s Million CEO College – targeting top executives – charged a tuition fee of US$31,000 (NT$1m) and recruited 130 CEOs.

The Reporter, a non-profit independent media outlet, strengthened its community through impactful journalism and innovative strategies. Known for its investigations into human-rights areas such as sexual exploitation and human trafficking, it embraced multimedia storytelling, podcasts, short videos, comic-based journalism, and live events, and won numerous domestic and international awards. These helped secure annual donations of US$2.8m (NT$88m) from a variety of readers and wealthy benefactors.³

Its Junior Reporter venture, which encourages young people to participate in the reporting process and contribute to public debate, invited readers to explore international stories; it was honoured with a prestigious award for broadening teenagers' international perspectives and fostering humanitarian awareness.

Lihyun Lin
National Taiwan University

Changing media

Print media have become less significant over time, along with broadcast news. Social media as a news source have also declined considerably, with Facebook seeing the sharpest drop.

In a polarised society, the opposition has accused public media of bias and unfairness, potentially swaying some audience’s trust. However, cultural sectors, media reform groups, and citizen-led campaigns have rallied in defence of PTS. The attack on PTS peaked in January 2025, coinciding with our survey, possibly contributing to a 5pp decline in trust for their flagship channel. Overall, public trust in the news has fallen by 3pp this year.

Footnotes