{"id":2199201,"date":"2022-10-19T10:17:27","date_gmt":"2022-10-19T10:17:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nknews.org\/koreapro\/?p=2199201"},"modified":"2023-04-05T16:11:08","modified_gmt":"2023-04-05T07:11:08","slug":"the-cost-of-south-korean-medias-obsession-with-vows-promises-and-pledges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2022\/10\/the-cost-of-south-korean-medias-obsession-with-vows-promises-and-pledges\/","title":{"rendered":"The cost of South Korean media\u2019s obsession with vows, promises and pledges"},"content":{"rendered":"
South Korean journalists are far more likely to uncritically reproduce political statements, press releases and earning reports than their peers in other countries, rather than doing original reporting and investigation, <\/span>Korea Pro<\/span><\/i> analysis of domestic news coverage shows.<\/span><\/p>\n Due to an environment in which the government and corporations have outsized control when it comes to setting the news agenda and an environment in which quantity counts over quality, former newspaper staffers and commentators say there\u2019s little incentive for ROK journalists to dig below the surface of what\u2019s going on around them.<\/span><\/p>\n Data uncovered by <\/span>Korea Pro<\/span><\/i> shows that a majority of news stories in popular South Korean media outlets focus on three key categories of coverage: political statements, business earnings and various metrics that compare the ROK favorably to other countries. Much of this lacks pushback against or investigation of institutions’ claims, and often reads not dissimilar to press releases.<\/span><\/p>\n What this means is that in the Korean news ecosystem, the subjects of thousands of articles published each year are effectively being decided by politicians, government agencies and businesses rather than by journalists themselves.<\/span><\/p>\n