New Release 'MBC-ui Heugyeoksa'
"Acting as if Monopoly on Goodness and Justice"
"MBC is acting as if they exclusively hold goodness and justice, and that siding with the Democratic Party is what broadcasting democratization means."
Kang Jun-man (66), Honorary Professor at Jeonbuk National University, sharply criticized MBC in his book The Dark History of MBC (Inmulgwa Sasangsa), published on the 18th.
According to the Chosun Ilbo and others on the 19th, Professor Kang revealed this in his book, stating, "MBC has become a monster while fighting a monster," and meticulously criticized MBC's biased reporting and behavior, including incidents like the so-called 'Just look, 1 million' and 'Biden, if you cancel'.
Professor Kang criticized former MBC President Park Sung-je for appearing on the program Kim Eo-jun's News Factory (September 30, 2019) during his tenure as news director and saying, "There is a feeling of about 1 million people. Just looking at it, that's about right," saying, "Which news director of any broadcasting station has ever made such a political statement on another broadcaster? This clearly shows that MBC is the headquarters representing the Moon Jae-in administration."
He then pointed out that MBC's status changed in relation to the Cho Kuk incident. Professor Kang mentioned the candlelight crowds, saying, "Whenever reporting that was not faithful to the so-called 'Daekkaemun (loyal to Moon Jae-in no matter what)' spirit was made, retaliatory 'boycott' measures were inevitably taken."
He added, "This was a demand to abandon being a media outlet and to serve solely as a propaganda tool for Moon Jae-in," and criticized, "The increased trust in MBC after the Cho Kuk incident should be seen as blind favorability. Even if it is revealed that the outlet’s reports are false, distorted, or fabricated, that trust will never decline."
Professor Kang also criticized MBC for "degrading into a subcontractor for YouTube channels" by releasing the so-called 'Kim Geon-hee recordings' recorded by a reporter from the online media outlet Seoul's Voice through MBC's Straight program ahead of the last presidential election.
Earlier, Seoul's Voice claimed to have recorded about seven hours of phone conversations with Mrs. Kim in January before the presidential election and announced plans to release the recordings in collaboration with MBC. Mrs. Kim filed an injunction against MBC and Seoul's Voice to prevent the release of the recordings.
The injunction court ruled that except for some parts containing private matters, the recordings could be disclosed. Subsequently, MBC and Seoul's Voice released the phone conversations between Mrs. Kim and the reporter on their broadcast and YouTube channels, respectively.
Later, Mrs. Kim filed a damages lawsuit against Seoul's Voice for leaking the conversation, and in February, the first trial ruled in her favor with a compensation of 10 million won.
"MBC and the Media Union Are Throwing Tantrums"
Professor Kang also said, "MBC and the media union are throwing tantrums, claiming their bias is 'goodness and justice,'" and pointed out, "No matter how partisan someone is, they would not accept preferential treatment in university admissions just because they support a particular political party. Broadcasting fairness should be viewed from the same perspective."
He continued, "The progressive camp is addicted to a dichotomy of good and evil, demonizing the opposing side," and added, "This is no different from drug addiction or alcoholism." Quoting Eric Hoffer, he mentioned, "It is astonishing to see how oppressed people almost without exception come to resemble the oppressors they hate."
Through his book, he warned, "If MBC rides on the resentment and hatred toward conservative regimes and takes the path of a 'public broadcaster confronting the government,' that is exactly the way MBC digs its own grave," emphasizing, "Criticism of MBC must come from within MBC, and one must ask themselves who truly loves MBC."
Meanwhile, in February, Professor Kang published Political Shamans Kim Eo-jun (Inmulgwa Sasangsa), which shed light on the problematic figure Kim Eo-jun and the 'Kim Eo-jun phenomenon' and its impact on Korean politics. He harshly evaluated the pro-Moon Jae-in fandom that enthusiastically follows Kim Eo-jun’s 'Shut up and support our side' mantra, as well as some members of the Democratic Party who highly regard him as a 'brain' and even exhibit a 'Kim Eo-jun addiction' phenomenon.
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