Controversy Looms in Over KBS’s Biased Coverage of Impeachment

Special programs run by the Korea Broadcasting System on President Roh’s impeachment are being criticized as biased. About 90 percent of about 270 viewer postings commenting on those program said the public broadcaster incite disunity by producing these programs.

“How can a public broadcaster report just about Roh supporters’ pretests and opponents of the impeachment?” Moon Young-hwan asked in his posting. “Impeachment itself was not the best means. However, there should be reason for it,” said Lee Jin-young. “It must be known that there are many proponents of the Roh impeachment and that what they think about the president.”

The KBS’s special programs are criticized as increase public anxiety by exaggerating the repercussions of the impeachment. “The public broadcaster, which should argue for rallying national resources to overcome the crisis, is inciting the people and pushing them into an impasse.

Meanwhile, on March 13, Dong-A Il Bo was also bombarded with hundreds of phone calls over the KBS made by people ranging from their 20s to 40s or 50s in age. They said: “This broadcaster, which failed to run an emergency program against the snowstorm last week, the first March blizzard in 100 years, now ran special programs on the impeachment all day,” “It is ignoring its responsibility as a public broadcaster while it takes 480 billion won in quasi-tax viewer fees annually,” and “KBS is out to save Roh Moo-hyun.”

“We had to do intensive coverage of the suspension of President Roh’s power with urgently scheduled programs because it was a serious issue,” said Lee Dong-sik, the KBS’s chief news producer. “Since the impeachment itself a very divisive issue, viewer reaction is intense accordingly.”

“The public broadcaster should do impartial coverage to calm the people in the face of the national crisis,” said Prof. Park Seong-hee at the department of mass communications at Ehwa Woman’s University, “By airing what resembles PR programs for a political faction over the weekend, the KBS failed to fulfill its responsibility.

Jin-Yeong Lee Yi-Young Cho ecolee@donga.com lycho@donga.com