{"id":2196223,"date":"2022-05-20T06:53:57","date_gmt":"2022-05-19T21:53:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nknews.org\/pro\/?p=2196223"},"modified":"2023-04-05T16:12:22","modified_gmt":"2023-04-05T07:12:22","slug":"the-difficulty-of-reporting-in-south-korea-where-everything-is-sensitive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2022\/05\/the-difficulty-of-reporting-in-south-korea-where-everything-is-sensitive\/","title":{"rendered":"The difficulty of reporting in South Korea, where everything is \u2018sensitive\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
Anonymity in journalism is usually reserved for those who face severe repercussions for revealing their identity. A whistleblower at a large conglomerate, an insider at the presidential office, an intelligence agent, a North Korean defector. These are some people who might ask not to be identified or who are given an alias when talking to reporters.<\/span><\/p>\n In South Korea, however, even people talking on the record about topics perceived to be harmless are granted anonymous treatment. Even a K-pop fan.<\/span><\/p>\n A common reason given for not being named in an article or news report is that the subject is “sensitive.\u201d Meeting this criterion is an incredibly low bar. \u201cSensitive\u201d topics in South Korea can include, for example, talking about one\u2019s military service (even though half of the population gets conscripted), sharing opinions about a minor government policy, and even requesting additional information about a new consumer product, even if already promoted in a press release.<\/span><\/p>\n The result is a media landscape dominated by unnamed sources, blurred-out faces, and distorted audio on broadcast media. Local viewers may be amused by the squeaky voices given to a market vendor talking about something as mundane as a cat stealing fish. But international audiences, particularly trained journalists, are often perplexed by the anonymity that seems to be guaranteed to everyone, questioning the accuracy, if not the veracity, of South Korean media reports.<\/span><\/p>\n