| Open letter to Gavin O’Reilly,
Acting President of WAN
Dear Gavin O’Reilly,
Let us kindly introduce the Citizens’ Coalition
for Democratic Media. CCDM is an organization that was formed in 1984 for the
purpose of democratizing the media. In 1984 Chun Du Whan led a military
dictatorship. Since its launch, CCDM has played an active role to win freedom of
the press and more democracy in the media landscape. Since 1990, CCDM has
focused on monitoring distorted and biased reports, illegal acts in the media
market and also pushing for the establishment of democratic media policies.
CCDM and other civil society groups that focus
on democracy and human rights in Korea have made best efforts to gain press
freedom and freedom of expression over decades. Hence, the Press Bill that
recently got passed by the National Assembly is also a result of our efforts
even though a small one.
However, we have to inform you that at the
recent conference of WAN you made some inappropriate comments about Korean media
as follows:
You have misconstrued the article of the Press
Bill that is related with market share into “restricting a readers’ right to
subscribe to the newspapers of their choice is unusual” and then you concluded
from this that ”the road towards - and evolution of - freedom of expression and
the free-flow of information was a long and arduous one here in South Korea.
Comparatively speaking, the closing stages of that long journey here in South
Korea has only really come to bear in recent times - and yet it is still not
flawless.” Also you commented “(There are problems, as the Korean Government is
aware, with other proposed law revisions - that appear to us) to constitute an
unwarranted interference in the freedom and autonomy of publishers and their
editors.”
We believe that you and the other participants
do not clearly understand the Bill. According to ‘Ohmynews’, the largest online
newspaper, one of attendants of the World Editors Forum asked “Doesn’t the bill
forcibly restrict those media that have significant market share from being
subscribed more?” and then s/he followed up with the rhetoric question “Does it
make sense that a political party be limited just because its supporting rate is
over 50%?”
All statements by you and others on the bills, we judge, were
based on a misconception, and that leads us to ask you following questions.
How much exactly do you understand on the state
of the Korean media?
It beats us that the statements by you and the other
WAN attendants are exactly in accord with the logic of the ‘family-owned’ media
who used to be all powerful and who consistently opposed the bills.
Currently, the ‘monstrous family-owned media’
have been turning to be untrustworthy among the readers. And do you know why?
It’s because those media publish biased and distorted reports, neglecting the
facts. The readers have doubted that media's reports have been aimed to
accomplish their own interest in conspiracy with some particular ruling elites.
The family-owned media have defended their
market share practicing all kinds of illegal acts including the distribution of
promotion products such as the bicycles, fans, bidets, and other high-cost
products. And further there has been on-and-off violence. As you already knew,
in 1996 there was even a murder case between two biggest media outlets. The big
market share of a few major newspapers is the result of these illegal acts.
CCDM has campaigned that the illegal promotion
activities by the major media should be rooted out and people get the right to
choose their media in line with their judgement. The Press Bill reflects some of
these long-term efforts. Also there is no article to decrease the market share
of major media by force or to violate the editor's freedom in the Press
Bill.
Therefore, what you mentioned about the
government schemes which is to diminish the influence of those media and limit
readers’ options is obviously far from the facts.
How well are you informed about the KAN (Korean
Association of Newspaper)?
KAN was formed in 1961 and has been known as
‘government fabricated organization.’ Since then it has never resisted against
the oppression on the press by the military dictatorships, but rather it had
been either catering for the dictatorship, or it had been silenced.
And it
has never raised its voice against illegal acts by the major newspapers - on the
contrary it has denounced all efforts to democratize the media as ‘oppression on
the press’.
Today, the KAN has thoroughly degenerated into a
tool that protects the vested rights of the big media. It is well-known that
democratic decision-making has been often neglected in KAN. Here’s one example:
On October 2004, the KAN submitted a statement that contained its opposition to
‘the normalization of the media market’. The submission was drafted by one of
the big family-owned media without any KAN council involvement or any process of
consulting with its members.
We are ashamed of the owners and editors of the
family-owned media.
The Noblesse Oblige must be today’s pertinent lesson to
the KAN and its president Jang Dae Whan.
Some owners of the media are accused of having
villainously evaded tax with the help of more than 1,000 bank accounts under
false names. Also there have been media owners who were meant to become
high-ranking government officials but who have failed the “verification process”
due to their immoral records such as evading donation tax, misuse of their
children’s names for land ownership fraud, getting preference with loan grants,
etc. Some of them even ruined their media companies by gambling abroad.
What do you, WAN, think of this corruption of
the owners of the press who should be clean-handed? What would you comment if
the owners of the press of your country had given themselves up to illegal and
corruptive matters? Can you say it a gag on the press when family-owned
newspaper companies that committed illegal acts are punished by the law? Korean
major newspapers, which are all family-owned, have unscrupulously claimed that
these proper remedies to stop media's illegal acts are oppression on the
press.
We are aware that the WAN members are the owners
of the media. Subsequently, it would be natural that WAN is inclined towards the
arguments of the owners. Nevertheless, don’t you think that, for the sake of
keeping your authority, you should have verified the facts in your statement?
The Korean media market has been already
killed-off by the illegal acts and the evasion of the law by the big media.
Civil society has created an ‘award system’ for the people who report illegal
acts of media. The civil society has campaigned for the Press Bill which
includes ‘the establishment of newspaper distribution agency’ for small
newspaper companies. The Bill also contains an article which allows the law to
punish media when the media are engaged in illegal trade.
We hope that in the future the people involved
in WAN verify their information before they comment on the Korean media. It’s
clear that the biased statements in favor of the media owners exceedingly damage
the authority and prestige of WAN.
Thank you.
May 30 2005
Citizens’
Coalition for Democratic Media (CCDM)
https://www.ccdm.or.kr E-Mail
ccdm1984@hanmail.net
| 
