hankyoreh

When Hong Seok-hyun, the head of the JoongAng Ilbo, appeared at the office of the prosecution in central Seoul for questioning in connection with the ongoing investigation into the Samsung Group scandal, the behavior of some of the reporters working for the mass-circulation newspaper was enough to make other reporters feel ashamed. A former Samsung Group worker, who had been fired, arrived in time to protest Hong’s appearance but was immediately shoved by a reporter with his camera; the reporter currently works for the JoongAng’s video team. When Hong returned home, around four to five JoongAng reporters blocked a group of other journalists from him, engaging in a physical scuffle. Their behavior makes them seem more like Hong’s private body guards.

By using the privilege reporters have to access a scene, the JoongAng reporters served as a shield for their employer. They even hampered the work of their colleagues, who were trying to get a glimpse of Hong for their stories. This is tantamount to negating their raison d’etre. Photo and television journalists, who are covering the Samsung investigation for other newspapers, issued a statement, asking for an official apology and a promise that this kind of thing would not happen again.

This is nothing new. Reporters from the JoongAng have done similar things whenever their boss has appeared for an investigation by the prosecution. In the so-called “X-File” scandal, a JoongAang photographer pushed a member of the progressive Democratic Labor Party as he protested against Hong, who was on his way into a building for questioning. In 1999, around 40 JoongAng reporters lined up to show their support for Hong, who had just emerged from a tax evasion investigation. We don’t think that Hong has directly ordered his employees to do these things, but he is at least suspected of tacitly agreeing to their behavior considering that such things have happened over and over again. Hong seems to think of the media as a private asset, not a public one, raising questions about his qualifications to be the owner of one of the nation’s largest newspapers.

These days, people are losing trust in the media, though the media itself is not free from blame. Think about newspaper owners who are bent on making money and journalists who behave just like ordinary employees. Who can have trust in this kind of media? It is not unusual for a reporter who is covering the presidential office to move to a government post overnight and a person who contributes columns and articles apply to be nominated for elections the next day. It is time for those in the media to make an effort to change themselves.



Please direct questions or comments to [englishhani@hani.co.kr]