hankyoreh

Choe Sang-hun (second from left), the New York Times Seoul Bureau chief, speaks during a panel on “Conditions of Trusted Journalism” at the 13th Asia Future Forum on Nov. 10. (Kang Chang-gwang/The Hankyoreh)

In an environment where hostile attitudes toward the media have become commonplace — and even hatred and attacks directed at people working in the media — how can the media overcome the current crisis of trust?

The Hankyoreh assembled experts for a forum to assess the causes and context behind consumers’ distrust of the media and to seek out alternatives in response.

On Nov. 10, the Hankyoreh held the 13th Asia Future Forum at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Seoul’s Jung District. The theme of this year’s event was “An Era of Division and Exclusion: Seeking New Trust.”

In a session that afternoon titled “Conditions of Trusted Journalism,” Korea University media studies professor Min Young and New Mexico State University communications studies professor Sangwon Lee said consumers’ attitudes toward media today cannot be explained in terms of a “lack of trust” alone. In their view, negative attitudes toward the media establishment — which sometimes take the form of extreme disparagement — have already reached a stage that is closer to cynicism than distrust.

In a presentation titled “Beyond Distrust to Cynicism: A New Perspective on the Media’s Trust Crisis,” Min observed that a “sense of disappointment in the overall shoddiness of the media has manifested in attitudes of cynicism.”

“If distrust arises, when normative or practical expectations for journalism are not met, cynicism may reflect the attitude that the media are actively looking out for their own interests,” she said.

Min also suggested that if the media hope to restore their relationship with consumers, they will need to create a “new, independent survival model” based on a full-scale examination of the current journalistic model. She stressed that now is a time when media will need to seek out solutions for practically transforming the media-consumer relationship, taking bold steps to uncover the problems prevalent throughout their industry and ushering in a public discussion on ideas for reforms.

* Frequent use of anonymous sources and passive voice

* Consumers’ cynical attitudes toward media

* Distinguishing fact-based and opinion-based articles.

* Being transparent about the investigation and reporting process.

The keywords that become the focus here are “transparency,” “diversity,” and “usefulness.”

When cynical consumers question the ways in which the media business operates and the factors that go into producing the news, the media need to be able to provide more transparent explanations on the motives and process behind their investigations and reporting, Min explained, adding that they can achieve recognition for their legitimacy and win out in the competition with other forms of information by creating news that is “representative of consumers” and “useful.”

While Min and others focused on consumers and their distrust and cynicism toward media, Korea University media studies professor Park Jae-yung suggested approaches that people working in the media can use right now to restore trust in their investigations and reporting, namely “distinguish fact-based and opinion-based articles” and “improving the accuracy of fact-based articles.”

Pengsoo, a beloved character from broadcaster EBS, speaks on a panel with figures including Kim Hyun-dae, the president and CEO of the Hankyoreh Media Group, at the 13th Asia Future Forum on Nov. 10. (Kang Chang-gwang/The Hankyoreh)

In a presentation titled “Balancing Values, Partisanship, and Fairness: How UK and US Newspapers Report on Presidents and Politics,” Park took a critical stance on the practices of South Korean media, where the boundaries between “articles” and “columns” or “editorial bureaus” and “editorial boards” are less clearly defined than in the cases of UK or US newspapers such as the New York Times, Washington Post, or the Guardian. In the process, he stressed the importance of rigorously distinguishing fact from opinion.

“While most Korean newspapers have a section for ‘desk columns,’ it would be unimaginable for a US newspaper company to have editorial bureau members writing columns,” he observed.

“There isn’t any kind of rule saying they can’t write those columns, but there also isn’t the attitude that the people who investigate the news should be writing columns about it,” he added.

Boosting the accuracy of fact-based reporting means establishing a balance of content, reporting on the “policy process” rather than bickering and political battles. Park also said that the media need to make use of more named sources, while representing different perspectives by including sources from among the general public rather than experts and university professors.

“People often talk about ‘hiding behind subjects’ and ‘hiding behind predicates,’” he noted. “In Korean newspapers, you often see anonymous sources and passive sentences talking about something ‘has been commented.’”

“They need to talk to more members of the public and stay away from ‘experts’ as much as possible,” he urged.

Commenting on the normative values of “factual reporting” in the media, discussion participant Youn Sug-min, a professor of communication at Seoul National University, said, “I’m aware that it’s good to be writing those kinds of articles, but when we focus our attention on questions of why they aren’t happening— why Korean newspapers still use so many ‘anonymous sources’ and articles fail to achieve a mechanical balance — we might be able to bring about more meaningful forms of change.”

Youn also remarked on the public’s distrustful and cynical attitudes toward the media.

“I’m aware that there are problems with the media, but the media constitute a representative social ‘merit good,’” he stressed.

“It isn’t appropriate for the discussion to proceed in a way that pins all responsibility on the media,” he suggested.

By Choi Sung-jin, staff reporter

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