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The liberal Uri Party is scrambling for ways to push ahead with its stalled drive to reform South Korea’s media industry, which it believes is unfairly dominated by conservative newspapers.
During the party’s panel discussion held Tuesday, Rep. Kim Jae-hong underlined the need to change media conglomerates’ family-oriented ownership structure, outlining 12 media reform policies.
``Despite controversy over the constitutionality of barring media owners from having a certain share of newspapers, their ownership should be broken up because the existing family-oriented ownership structure influences or restricts the way a newspaper reports,’’ Kim said.
The lawmaker also argued that newspapers whose content is over 50 percent advertisements should pay a surtax to the government.
The firm control of print media outlets by their conservative owners has led to a tense relationship with the liberal Roh Moo-hyun administration.
Immediately after Roh was cleared of the impeachment by the Constitutional Court on May 14, the reform-driven head of state reiterated his intent to tackle press reform.
Due to the virtual monopoly of the nation’s three vernacular dailies _ Chosun, Dong-A and JoongAng _ media scholars argue that the major papers dictate the flow and angle of news.
The conservative media troika, dubbed ``ChoJoongDong,’’ are called media chaebol due to their family-oriented ownership structure.
The Uri Party’s media reform blueprints are expected to be drafted into a bill revising media-related laws and pushed through the National Assembly. The party, composed of Roh supporters, enjoys a slim majority of 152 seats in the 299-seat Assembly.
Lawmakers tried to enact a media reform bill in February 2002, but it ended in failure due to a lukewarm reaction from opposition parties and the end of the Assembly session.
After the Uri Party won a resounding victory in the bitterly-contested April 15 general elections, the ruling camp’s reform-driven legislators underlined that they will map out ways for the Assembly to establish a media reform body in which scholars, journalists and civic group leaders can discuss measures to reform the newspaper market.
The Uri Party, however, has yet to find a point of convergence over whether it will push for the ownership restriction, and the reform drive has been long on rhetoric, short on results.
The media conglomerates hold around 70 percent of the newspaper market share, according to research conducted in 2001 by the Korea Advertisers Association.
http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/nati...7541011990.htm
During the party’s panel discussion held Tuesday, Rep. Kim Jae-hong underlined the need to change media conglomerates’ family-oriented ownership structure, outlining 12 media reform policies.
``Despite controversy over the constitutionality of barring media owners from having a certain share of newspapers, their ownership should be broken up because the existing family-oriented ownership structure influences or restricts the way a newspaper reports,’’ Kim said.
The lawmaker also argued that newspapers whose content is over 50 percent advertisements should pay a surtax to the government.
The firm control of print media outlets by their conservative owners has led to a tense relationship with the liberal Roh Moo-hyun administration.
Immediately after Roh was cleared of the impeachment by the Constitutional Court on May 14, the reform-driven head of state reiterated his intent to tackle press reform.
Due to the virtual monopoly of the nation’s three vernacular dailies _ Chosun, Dong-A and JoongAng _ media scholars argue that the major papers dictate the flow and angle of news.
The conservative media troika, dubbed ``ChoJoongDong,’’ are called media chaebol due to their family-oriented ownership structure.
The Uri Party’s media reform blueprints are expected to be drafted into a bill revising media-related laws and pushed through the National Assembly. The party, composed of Roh supporters, enjoys a slim majority of 152 seats in the 299-seat Assembly.
Lawmakers tried to enact a media reform bill in February 2002, but it ended in failure due to a lukewarm reaction from opposition parties and the end of the Assembly session.
After the Uri Party won a resounding victory in the bitterly-contested April 15 general elections, the ruling camp’s reform-driven legislators underlined that they will map out ways for the Assembly to establish a media reform body in which scholars, journalists and civic group leaders can discuss measures to reform the newspaper market.
The Uri Party, however, has yet to find a point of convergence over whether it will push for the ownership restriction, and the reform drive has been long on rhetoric, short on results.
The media conglomerates hold around 70 percent of the newspaper market share, according to research conducted in 2001 by the Korea Advertisers Association.
http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/nati...7541011990.htm
Responding to bills proposing press laws introduced by the ruling Uri Party, Choi Kyu-cheol, president of the Association of Press Editors, issued a statement yesterday saying, “This is an evil law that can be only accepted by a coup and is completely contradictory to the principles of market economy and liberal democracy.”
In a statement, he said, “Restricting the market share of the three major newspapers, including Dong-A Ilbo and Chosun Ilbo, to less than 60 percent is an abuse of power that is aimed at curbing the criticism of the press,” adding, “Articles on the restriction of market share, the submission of management-related materials, the mandatory enactment of editing codes, funds for press development and so forth are particularly detrimental to protecting the freedom of the press.”
In addition, he criticized, “Subsidizing certain newspapers can be interpreted as a government attempt to tame the press and to build new connections with favorable newspapers,” adding, “The government has finally revealed its hidden intention of dividing the press and instigating social friction through this incidence.”
Meanwhile, the Korea Journalists Club also issued a statement yesterday, saying, “The proposed press laws introduced by the Uri Party are aimed at fettering the three major newspapers which have been critical of government policies. Moreover, restricting market share is an unprecedented case in the history of the press throughout the world.”
“The independence of editorial rights is not a matter that the government can intervene in, but a matter that individual newspaper companies must settle independently. Furthermore, to obligate companies to submit materials related to their management, such as advertising rates and circulation, is a revival of the previous military government’s evil laws that were abolished due to the possibility of their being abused as a means of controlling the press,” said a spokesperson of the Korea Journalists Club.
http://english.donga.com/srv/service...=2004101973188
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Hello my dearest mates on worldaffairboard.com
What do you think of this ridiculous plan in South Korea by rulling party?
Definitely South Korea has nothing different from North Korea.
South Korean government demands only sweet words and no critization from the medias and they are planning to limit freedom&fair competition of media market.
Please say some of your serious comment for this news.
Is media limitation law exist in your country too?
I think the politicians in current South Korean rulling party has nothing different from the North Korean regulators and under big silly illusion that their plan help restructuring of South Korea,but definitely their plan is against democracy,freedom and market economy.