hankyoreh

There has been another series of migrations from the political desks at major newspapers and straight into the Blue House. Last month, a senior Joongang Ilbo editorial writer quit his newspaper and went immediately to work in the office of the Blue House secretary for political affairs. Now, this past week, one has learned that the head of the political page at the Hankook Ilbo, is also moving to the same office at the Blue House.

This is not the first time journalists have entered politics, but with these two individuals it is troublesome. The latter was in charge of the Hankook Ilbo’s political coverage right up to the day before he submitted his resignation. Two days before leaving the Joongang Ilbo, the former wrote a political column for the paper. Both were heavyweights and were very influential within their news organizations. It makes you suspect them and their respective organizations for their coverage and editorial positions to know these two were writing articles and editorials while all along preparing to go work for Lee Myung-bak. This is not something to take lightly, since the news media is supposed to be based on impartiality and objectiveness.

There has always been the criticism that having journalists jumping into politics leads to collusion between politics and news media organizations and hurts the ability of the media to maintain a critical eye toward those in power. The criticism was especially serious during last year’s presidential campaign. There was one instance in which a reporter had been secretly attending strategy meetings for one presidential candidate’s campaign, then quit and joined the campaign outright after he was discovered. Nowhere do you see in the actions of the Joongang’s editorial writer and the Hankook’s political page director any agonizing over the ethical questions involved. Instead they defend their actions with statements like, “I didn’t write biased articles,” from one, and, “I never gave up my political independence,” from the other. You have to wonder whether that is just empty rationalization or not. It is only going to be harder for the media to earn the people’s trust if journalists act this way in spite of the criticism and concerns.

Actually, you have to assume there is a major cause behind this lack of pride and ethics as journalists. Namely, that would be a culture in which journalists are considered potential sources and bodyguards for the newspaper’s owner. When a reporter submits to his organization or the organization’s owner instead of providing conscientious coverage and criticism, he is no longer a reporter and is just a company employee. This strange atmosphere is also reflected in the way some people in journalism think of entering politics as little more than a job opportunity. If the news media want to be faithful to their social responsibilities, they need to make it so that journalists can take pride in being journalists, instead of being hired hands. This kind of change would also be in step with the decades-old media reform campaign for things like editorial independence and reporting that is self-interested.

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