KBS Poll May Have Been Biased

The Dongseo Research Group showed respondents six cards with two different items that are favorable to the national broadcasting system, KBS, when the research company conducted a poll titled, “The Digital Era: The Role and Resources of KBS,” GNP lawmaker Park Chan-sook found out yesterday.

Before asking question number 10: “Do you think that current TV fees should be raised so that KBS can secure resources to move into the digital era, and so KBS can play a role as a public station?” the research company presented a card that said, “With the current fee, moving into the digital era and for KBS to play a role for the public good will be difficult. In England and Germany public broadcast stations raise resources by increasing fees and in the U.S. and Japan, public broadcasting stations solve financial problems with tax money. With the current fee, KBS cannot secure the one trillion won necessary to move into the digital era and is in a difficult position to play a role as a public broadcasting station.”

Before asking the 11th and 12th questions: “Are you for or against taking into consideration the financial situation or financial demand of the public broadcaster as well as reflecting prices when determining TV fees?” a card that said, “It is difficult to consider the financial situation or financial demands of a public broadcaster as well as reflecting prices when determining TV fees since the interests of political parties and broadcasting industries are all tangled up.”

Before asking the question number 4: “What should be the public role of KBS?” a card that said, “Many commercial and for-a-fee broadcasting services, such as DMB (Digital Multimedia Broadcasting), have been introduced to the market, and this trend will only speed up in the future,” was shown to respondents, to make people believe the KBS thinks that with the influx of paid broadcasting services, TV fees need to be raised, so KBS’s role for the public good will be strengthened.

One official from Dongseo Research said, “The polls were commissioned by KBS, so showing cards before asking questions has nothing to do with responsibility.” But he also added, “The showing of cards could be misinterpreted as inducing desirable answers for KBS, but it could also be seen as letting people know the current situation of KBS.”

Journalism professor Lee Min-ung at Hanyang University said, “The cards that were intended to educate the public actually contained information conducive to making people say what KBS wanted to hear.”

ddr@donga.com