The year 2001 will go down as the year of suffering for the Korean media. I do not know how future historians will assess the condition of the media this year, but certain salient facts will be indisputable. Firstly, political powers tried to choke newspapers that were critical of them by employing a tax probe. More than ten years has passed since the country began down the path of democratization in 1987, but politicians are unable to free themselves from their authoritarian view of the media and feel they cannot allow any criticism of them.
Secondly, most media companies and major shareholders have problems with tax. Almost without exception Korean media companies maintained old practices and some major shareholders were easygoing about this, giving politicians a good excuse to provoke public sentiment. The government thought that it could create a favorable opinion among the people if it mobilized a legitimate method; a tax probe; and thus avoid criticism that it was trying to suppress the media.
It is only natural that a tax probe started for political reasons ended up as an exaggerated frame up, as no company in Korea can be considered free from suspicion. A typical case was the National Tax Service deciding that the cost of free copies was entertainment expenses, and levying fines on them. In addition the government seemed to have the intention of arresting some newspaper owners even before the tax investigation, and made moves to describe them as criminal and unethical, as it did so in the past to destroy its political foes. However, not many people believed the administration's call for "justice in taxation," most noting that the investigation was politically motivated.
Thirdly, there was the shameful situation where media groups of different political persuasions attacked each other. Broadcasters and certain newspapers slandered other news outlets, destroying the fiction of unity of the press. Variation within the media is desirable, however, certain media groups justifying the suppression of other newspapers and calling justifiable reporting groundless reports cannot be called variety. It is certain that the government fragmented the media, but there reasoning seems unclear.
Fourthly, it is fortunate that the media did not succumb to government pressure, despite the arrest of several owners; the politicians' attempt to control a critical press failed. This was a miserable failure for the political powers, as they failed to predict that their use of the harshest methods would not bring newspaper owners to their knees begging for compromise. There were reports that pressure was applied to newspapers to replace critical editors and journalists, and that the government was trying to ascertain their reaction to this.
The year 2001 was full of controversy because of President Kim Dae-jung's remarks on media reform, immediately followed by the tax investigation, and news outlets suffered damage as a result.
The storm that afflicted the media has passed, but old problems remain. The job of the newspapers is to report fairly, comment justifiably and create healthy public opinion, but in Korea the media is unable to carry out these basic tasks, as there are too many errors in reports. It is time for these to be corrected so that newspapers can join the ranks of those of advanced nations. The confidence of the people must be kept by remaining free and independent while maintaining a high level of professional ethics.
Now is the time for the Korean media to reform itself through humble repentance. It should rise above the pains of this year and re-establish itself, and in this respect it should look at 2001 as a watershed in self-rennovation.
(Sungkyungkwan University Professor and Journalist - December 14, 2001)
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