By Cho Jae-hyon
Staff Reporter
GYEONGJU ― The newspaper industry is suffering from falls in ad revenues and circulation, and so media companies need to retool themselves to survive the changing environment. However, divided between conservative and progressive editorial policies, they have been busy fueling an already acute social and ideological rift, leaving their fate uncertain.
A seminar among former and current journalists discussed ways for easing the strife between the newspapers and offered some suggestions for steps to overcome challenges facing the media industry they said is in a crisis.
Rep. Chun Yu-ok of the governing Grand National Party, a former KBS reporter, likened the current newspaper industry to a sinking ship.
``Newspapers are no longer as influential as before. They are being replaced by star bloggers,'' Chun said. ``They are struggling to take a bite out of a smaller pie. The conventional job of journalism is doomed to disappear ahead of others.''
The journalist-turned-politician said newspaper companies and reporters are refusing to change themselves, taking onlookers' positions. ``They don't seem to realize the fact that they are in a crisis. Or they are refusing to admit it.''
Chun and other presenters pointed out that newspapers are degrading themselves to becoming representatives of specific organizations, attempting to represent these groups' interests as a means of survival.
Rep. Park Young-sun of the main opposition Democratic Party, a former MBC reporter, said many news reports are out of balance amid the widening ideological rift. ``We should go back to basics. There are too many unbalanced news reports,'' he said.
Park said many people complain that it has become difficult to get the truth without reading both conservative and liberal newspapers at the same time.
``Some newspapers report only policeman being beaten by demonstrators and another only demonstrators being clubbed by policemen. News reports should restore the sense of balance,'' Park said.
Rhee In-yong, the executive vice president and chief communications officer of Samsung Group, asked reporters to leave no stones unturned.
``News reports should be based on facts that are verified via thorough scrutiny,'' said Rhee, a former MBC reporter.
However, media firms are taking a selective approach toward news reports ― picking what's beneficial to their own organization, while ignoring or criticizing opponents with different values, Rhee added.
Professor of journalism Son Tae-gyu of Dankook University said that ``Korea's journalism is dead.''
He said reporters lack ``identity as journalists'' and don't know the value of labor.
``Reporters are not creating economic value with their reports. Their ability to break news has weakened as they are dependent on information flowing on the Internet.''
To make the current difficulties an opportunity, all presenters said that the media industry needs a completely different paradigm.
Rep. Chun said that reporters should sharpen their knowledge and professionalism in the fields they cover.
``In the future, only those reporters who are highly professionalized will survive. On top of writing, they should be multi-tasking reporters ― taking pictures, making audio-visual materials and be well-versed with the Internet.''