hankyoreh

Yesterday, a group of angry candlelight protesters damaged the entryways of the Chosun Ilbo and DongA Ilbo and made off with their signs. They hung garbage bags where their respective company flags were , and some reporters with these papers were reported to have been physically assaulted. While surely an expression of rage at distorted and biased coverage, this physical violence is most regrettable. Not only will physical power fail to get these papers to ensure fair coverage, it could also lead to accusations it is an attack on press freedoms.

This is, of course, not to say that physical power should not be used under any circumstances. The people are the sovereign authority of the country, so if the government continually rejects their rightful demands and, furthermore, tramples on them with violence, no citizen is going to stand back and take it. The same goes for when media companies that have a financial monopoly on the public opinion market continue to lie and distort, and thereby paint legitimate expressions and actions as illegal violence. It is in this sense that it would be right to see violence on the part of some protesters as a sign their anger is reaching its limits.

The moral legitimacy of the candles must not be forgotten as they burn themselves in sacrifice while lighting up the world. When certain media outlets enact “media violence,” producing distortions and biased coverage, responding with violence takes away from the legitimacy of the candlelight. Some might contradict this, saying that people shouldn’t just be had this way while doing nothing, but the candlelight is already a sign of the victory of truth against the lies. The advertiser boycott is a symbol of how it is so. It is nothing but the old establishment media’s sense of crisis that they up the volume of their distortions and bias right now.

The Chosun Ilbo, JoongAng Ilbo, and DongA Ilbo should not be taking this incident and promoting it as proof of the violence and political nature of the candles. They should be feeling a sense of shame and engaging in introspection if they truly think of themselves as newspapers that serve society. They need to look at their coverage and ask themselves why they face such distain. The Chosun Ilbo called the citizens of the Gwangju Struggle “hoodlums with guns” and “rioters” and ignored it when they were massacred by the military there [in May of 1980]. Twenty eight years later, the paper is ignoring violence committed by police who have overwhelming strength, while exaggerating the violence of a few citizens and labeling the protests a “zone of violence.” When groups with similar political leanings as the Chosun Ilbo riot with LPG gas containers, they are ignored, but when citizens protest against police officers, the newspaper depicts them as “detaining policemen.”

We would hope these papers meditate on the meaning of their fallen signs, the garbage bags hung where their flags had been, and the garbage piled at their doors. These might just be what symbolize the Chosun, JoongAng, and DongA of today.

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