Foxification

In the 2008 U.S. presidential election, the three major American broadcasters ABC, NBC and CBS and cable news channels MSNBC and CNN supported Democratic Party candidate Barack Obama. Major dailies such as The New York Times and The Washington Post were also in favor of Obama. So much so that Republican Party candidate John McCain urged American media to remain impartial. Only Fox News, which portrays itself as the guardian of conservatives, and the Wall Street Journal sided with the Republicans at the time. News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch owns the two media companies.

Fox News wields enormous influence in the U.S. Last year, the channel attracted 2.43 million viewers in prime time, far more than MSNBC (846,000) and CNN (640,000). The strength of Fox News is in the aggressive comments of its announcers and panelists. By mobilizing political big shots from the Republican Party, including former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and Karl Rove, who is called the best Republican strategist, the network directly delivers conservative opinions to viewers.

Against this backdrop, the term "foxification," referring to clear presentation of one’s opinion, has emerged. By throwing off the value of impartiality, which seems to be impossible to achieve from the start, Fox News explains world affairs in a decisive manner based on conservative values. A professor in Boston, a city of hardcore liberals, said he watches Fox News to accurately know about the opinions of the "enemy (the conservative camp)."

In the 19th century, American newspapers stood for objectivity to attract readers and advertisements. At the time, editorials spoke for publishers and columns served as a mechanism to boost objectivity. Founded in 1996, Fox News will mark its 15th anniversary Friday. Times have changed and American media seem to be operating based on subjectivity. In Korea, campaigns for the Oct. 26 Seoul mayoral by-election have effectively begun. In an era of diverse media and channels, Korean media have no choice but to make a change in covering elections. Nevertheless, foxification, which speaks for certain candidates or parties, is not the path Korean media should take.

Editorial Writer Ha Tae-won (triplets@donga.com)