[Bbanggubneun Tajagi] Contaminated Justice, The Media Behind It

Reporter Kim Heewon 'Polluted Justice'

The media has many problems. The media environment also has many issues. "Contaminated Justice," written by Kim Hee-won, a journalist with 32 years of experience, does not only address the problems of the media. It also critiques and questions individuals such as President Yoon Seok-yeol, Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party, former leader of the Innovation Party Cho Kuk, and writer Yoo Si-min. Progressive agendas like fairness, discrimination, feminism, human rights, and basic income are also discussed. The value of this book lies in its perspectives and analyses of these issues. I found myself agreeing with many of his opinions. If you have found it difficult to understand these issues, this book will serve as a good guide. However, given my profession, I was particularly struck by certain parts related to the media, and I want to discuss those with him (from the book). This article is a long comment on that chapter.

The author cited the April 2021 Han River university student death case coverage as a tragic failure of the media. He emphasized, "It is malicious in that it framed a specific person as a murderer and victimized the victim." He pointed out that journalists formed a massive evil through mechanical execution without reflection or awakening, using excuses like "the chief told me to write it that way" or "everyone wrote it like that." He also criticized the reckless broadcasting behavior of YouTube cyber hecklers.

But aren't the legacy media, the traditional outlets, also operating cyber hecklers under names like 'digital team' or 'online team'? It was mainly these teams that indiscriminately amplified and reproduced the issue. As the author explained, if consumer preference is strong, even if the news is false, the profit gained from selling the news consumers want outweighs the loss. It likely requires less effort than investigative or in-depth reporting but generates more clicks. For that reason, they willingly indulge in this temptation.

There is an even darker problem beneath this. A bigger issue with the media regarding this matter is that companies are always ready to cut ties with their online news teams and operate them accordingly. Most media outlets run these teams with interns or contract workers. One of the country's top media companies even operates a team writing online articles through a subsidiary not registered as a newspaper business. They aim to minimize responsibility and maximize profits. The so-called regular staff journalists sometimes turn a blind eye to those who get their hands dirty instead. This internal structure is making the media even more sick.

If everyone abandoned this behavior, the media might become healthier. Even articles that spread through SNS and communities could be perfectly fine if they were carefully written in strict accordance with journalistic norms. But they will not do so because it is not cost-effective. Like the prisoner's dilemma, no one will give up because they fear someone else will not give up.

The author said, "It is difficult to implement good journalism to survive in a distorted market. Pursuing immediate profits sometimes leads to big failures, and eventually, the entire media industry loses trust. This dilemma, where commercial success and journalistic success do not align, troubles me." The current situation, where good articles do not lead to good rewards, is clearly problematic. We ourselves contribute to reinforcing this dilemma. Is there any industry that, like the media, does not think about the future and instead eats away at the present? No one else will solve the media's problems. Ultimately, we must take the initiative ourselves. I hope this becomes the common sense and principle of the media.

Contaminated Justice | Written by Kim Hee-won | Sideway | 308 pages | 18,000 KRW