[Square] A Healthy Tension Between Government and Media

Recently, there have often been cases where the government and the media have been at odds, like dogs and monkeys (견원지간, 犬猿之間). In fact, although they are targets of mutual checks and balances, it is hard to deny that they have a complementary relationship. Each government ministry distributes press releases to the media for efficient policy formulation and national administration promotion. Each government ministry has a press room (access office), and the media operates these access offices through press corps. The press corps at the access offices are responsible for joint coverage teams and press briefings.

If an excessively close relationship is formed between the government, as a source, and the media, there is a possibility that distorted facts may be reported. The source can leak distorted facts while hiding its intentions, causing public opinion to be shaped in a certain direction. For example, the government, wanting to gauge the direction of public opinion on a specific issue, uses a friendly journalist as a kind of trial balloon to float information.

This is a case where the source abuses the media for its own benefit. Sometimes, the prosecution provides false information to a journalist with whom they have a close relationship, diverting the background and cause of a case to an unrelated area, ultimately creating a smoke-screen that prevents the media from approaching the substantive truth.

However, if a negligent relationship is formed with the government as a source, the media cannot conduct proper in-depth reporting. Opportunities to form close relationships with sources sometimes come through gatherings or briefings with the press corps, and if human contact is difficult, reporting activities do not proceed smoothly. Without such opportunities, it may result in merely rewriting press releases, leading to the drawbacks of announcement journalism.

As a result, articles on the front pages of various newspapers or the first segments of multiple broadcast news programs often appear very similar. The uniformity of newspapers and broadcast news is the result of simply relaying government announcements centered on the press corps at access offices. This is also why there are many fragmentary government-supplied articles lacking on-site relevance and specificity.

Therefore, it is important to establish and maintain a healthy tension between the government and the media. How is a healthy tension specifically formed? The government should enable clear sources and citations, such as revealing the names of ministries or high-ranking officials, and provide background explanations of in-depth information so that the media can resolve even their questions. In other words, even without unofficial communication, the government should take an active stance to enable thorough and proper reporting and coverage.

The media, except in cases where there are no alternative means of coverage or for the public interest, should conduct reporting through legitimate methods and refrain from routinely publishing anonymous articles (e.g., "according to a high-ranking official") that have been used as a convention, except for the purpose of protecting sources.

Furthermore, the media must adhere to the basics. The media should report facts objectively. The word "objective" means "fairly based on facts." Here, objectivity encompasses both factuality and fairness. "Facts" are "content that meets truthfulness and appropriateness." Fairness means neutrality and balance. Therefore, rewriting "the media should report facts objectively" means "the media should report content that can be said to be true (valid), and based on facts (not false), report fairly, that is, neutrally and in a balanced manner."

Of course, fairness does not mean mechanical neutrality. It means reporting from an impartial standpoint that sufficiently introduces the positions of all stakeholders related to the issue to reveal the substantive truth without siding with any party. In other words, fairness also presupposes reporting the substantive truth.

Jae-won Kang, Dean of the Graduate School of Media and Communication, Dongguk University