Shadow of 'State-Nourished Media': FTV and SET Exposed for Monopolizing Billions in Government PR Tenders

On September 4, 2023, opposition legislators held a press conference exposing the dark reality of 'state-nourished media' under the DPP administration's interest-funneling system. Statistics revealed that policy propaganda and integrated marketing tenders across various ministries (including the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of the Interior) were overwhelmingly concentrated (nearly 80%) in two friendly, green-leaning TV stations—Formosa TV (FTV) and Sanlih E-Television (SET)—securing contracts worth billions of NTD, often through 'restrictive tendering' practices. The revelation shocked the public and drew fierce condemnation, with critics denouncing the government for using taxpayers' money to nurture specific media outlets for internal propaganda, destroying the media's natural duty to objectively supervise power, and reducing them to mere mouthpieces of the ruling party.