Culture Minister Lung Ying-tai visited New York public TV station WNET on Friday to better understand how the station operates.
At a time when Taiwan's Public Television Service (PTS) is in turmoil after 14 members nominated to its board failed to acquire approval from a review committee on Aug. 20, Lung was visiting WNET to learn how another public TV station structures its board and manages its operations.
Lisa Mantone, vice president of WNET's Development and Communications Department, was surprised to learn that PTS has not had a board of directors for two years.
Mantone said that WNET has 38 board members, none of whom are government representatives. The board also establishes a nomination committee to help choose successors, and usually the committee will seek advice from managers before making the final decision, she added.
In contrast, Taiwan's PTS board review committee consists mostly of members of political parties, mainly the ruling Kuomintang and the opposition Democratic Progressive Party.
Meanwhile, Lung also took the opportunity to propose several cooperation projects between WNET and PTS, including launching fellowship or internship exchange programs, TV program content exchanges, and joint filming of documentaries.
The proposals caught the interest of WNET President Neal Shapiro, who explained that WNET's most important mission is to promote culture, the arts and children's education.