Efforts to Tame Media Are Detrimental to Democracy

South Korea has been lauded for making remarkable progress in setting up a democracy over the last two decades. The country has also tried to promote the freedom of press, which is pivotal to an open and democratic society. This is why it's extremely disappointing that the nation plummeted 22 places to 69th in the world press freedom ranking of 175 countries, which was compiled by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), this year.

The RSF attributed the plunge to the arrest of several journalists and bloggers, and the conservative government's attempts to control critical media. The Lee Myung-bak administration and the law enforcement authorities need to pay more heed to the Paris-based organization's evaluation of press freedom in South Korea. One may think that the RSF went too far in featuring the dark side of the nation, calling into question the ranking's objectivity. However, he or she must ask first if the authorities have done anything detrimental to the press.

History shows that most rulers are easily tempted to tame or control the press in a bid to hush criticism about their leadership and government. Many South Korean leaders have not tolerated criticism from the media and failed to fully guarantee the freedom of press and the freedom of expression. Rulers, who become arrogant and self-righteous, ignore the opposition and media who are critical of their decision-making process.

For example, the late former President Roh Moo-hyun tried to set up an integrated briefing room in government buildings by shutting down press rooms at ministries and agencies. This policy caused the relationship between the Roh administration and the media to deteriorate, giving the impression that the authorities were intending to gag the press. Whatever his intentions were, his press room policy touched off a strong backlash from journalists, editors, publishers and broadcasters.

The Lee government reversed Roh's policy. But President Lee has also been blamed for controlling the media since he took office in February 2008. The appointment of Lee's campaign media advisor as the chief of the 24-hour news channel YTN and the replacement of the president of state-run KBS TV were seen as the administration's bid to tame the media. The arrest of the program directors of an MBC TV program featuring the risks of mad cow disease in U.S. beef was also slammed for trying to silence critical media.

The authorities were also criticized for cracking down on the freedom of expression in cyber space by arresting a blogger named Minerva on charges of spreading groundless stories about the government's economic and financial policies. At his trial, the blogger was cleared of the charges. Policymakers had better keep in mind that the press is the fourth estate in a democratic society.