報業變遷中的地方記者—新聞工作的困境與生存策略

Abstract

台灣報業走過了三個重要時代，分別是西元一九八八年，報禁解除之前的戒嚴時期，與之後到兩千年的風光辦報日子，以及兩千年之後，政黨輪替、蘋果日報加入競爭市場，還有報紙停刊潮。 報業的起落當中，地方新聞的版面日漸縮小，隨之陸續減聘地方記者，尤其兩千零八年六月，中國時報轉型裁員事件喧騰一時，更讓地方記者的工作世界顯得危機四伏。不只中國時報必須開源節流，其他報紙亦然。自由時報、聯合報也都有類似動作，各家程度不一。 三大報不免調整人事支出，被認為各報編制最大的編輯部地方中心首當其衝。地方新聞分版逐漸變少，從早期各自大張旗鼓，變成鄰近地區一再併版共用。版面異動幅度深深影響著地方記者的工作操作條件，產生了前所未有的困境，例如，跑線轄區過大超過常態負荷，無法顧及新聞質量；受限版面空間，多數在地消息不幸夭折；台北觀點強勢干擾，地方新聞不被看重，地方記者的主觀想像恐怕無用武之地。 本報導論文由地方新聞工作的變遷軌跡說起，接著討論地方記者的實際挑戰與相關回應，並點出獨有的難題，以及報社組織結構如何影響基層地方記者的發展，其中包含權力資源分配不均導致的後果，最後敘述地方記者的何去何從。採訪所得希望反映地方新聞工作的問題，也記錄地方記者的努力與生命力。

In an evolving newspaper industry, local Taiwanese reporters went through three important historical stages: the highly restrained era before 1988 and the following emancipation, the political transition in 2000 and the arrival of the new, fierce competitor, Apple Daily. As the newspaper industry going under, local news has decreased dramatically in volume. The number of local reporters also takes a huge toll, especially after the China Times laid off in 2008. With all the newspaper publishers, including China Times, United Daily and The Liberty Times, struggling to stay afloat, local reporters continues to be the victims of financial cut-backs and program reductions. The resulting setbacks on local news have made the job difficult for the assigned reporters. Without much resource, the work load proves to be too much for anyone to handle while local reporters often are discouraged by the limited attention from their supervisors. Sometimes, local reporters are even restricted in their point of views for they must obey certain protocols which force them to coincide with Taipei viewpoints. This paper is intended to describe the history, the transformation and the challenges of local reporting. Furthermore, it will specifically discuss how the past and existing authority has significantly downsized the local reporters affecting individual development within the system in the press. Finally, this study depicts the career plan of local reporters and hopefully reflects as many existing problems as to the achievements of local reporting.