By Bae Ji-sook
Staff Reporter
The prosecution has launched an investigation into MBC's investigative program ``PD Notebook'' for allegedly exaggerating the risk of mad cow disease linked to U.S. beef.
Prosecutors at Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office activated a team Friday to look into whether the program intentionally exaggerated the risk of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in American cattle.
The investigation came after the Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries filed civil and criminal charges against the program's directors. ``PD Notebook overstated the risks of mad cow disease and its relevance to the import of U.S. beef based on false assumptions and unconfirmed facts,'' the ministry said in a press release.
The case dates back to April 29 when the program reported that there was a high chance that Aretha Vinson, who died on April 9 from neurodegenerative disease symptoms, possibly had variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD), the possible human form BSE, more commonly known as mad cow disease. The program also claimed BSE caused ``downer'' cow symptoms.
It was later announced by the U.S. Center for Disease Control that Vinson did not die of vCJD. Moreover, experts said there is no confirmed link between cattle with downer symptoms and BSE.
In a special edition broadcast Tuesday, the directors admitted that mistakes were made in translating medical terminology and that a presenter had given incorrect commentary, but nothing was intentional.
The program ignited candlelit vigils against American beef imports and President Lee Myung-bak. The vigil began with a few hundred young students in central Seoul but after the airing, the number jumped to tens of thousands.
The media as well as opposition party leaders and citizens groups denounced the move as being political, but the governing camp urged prosecutors to set the record straight.
The Association of Producers said the investigation marks a backlash by the administration and was an attempt to ``tame'' the TV network. Its members vowed to fight against the alleged ``oppression.''
Rep. Choi Moon-soon of the United Democratic Party, who served as MBC president between 2003 and February 2008, said the prosecution's investigation of the media for one ``misleading report'' is outdated, and smacks of media suppression. ``If there is something wrong with the report, you should file a petition to the Press Arbitration Commission, not a criminal court. How can you define or verify an intention?'' he said.
On the other hand, ruling Grand National Party floor leader Hong Joon-pyo called for an apology from MBC. ``Reporting the truth is the main function of the media but PD Notebook distorted it,'' he said.
The directors and producers of PD Notebook posted an article on its Web site admitting a possible translation error, but said the allegations and lawsuits are just attempts to defame the program.