Ohm Ki-young, president of Munhwa Broadcasting Corp., barely saved his job in a reshuffle by its shareholders over the weekend. Given the tasks before him, however, it is hard to know whether Ohm should feel more pleased or concerned.
The decision by the Foundation for Broadcasting Culture, the major stakeholder of the quasi-public broadcaster, caught President Lee's political opponents off guard by keeping Ohm as its leader, refuting the critics' claim that all this is part of the administration's ``huge conspiracy" to dominate all major broadcasters.
MBC's labor union and oppositionists, however, argued the scheme remains unchanged, only turning more sophisticated by what they described as ``taking away arms and legs and leaving only the body."
Noticeable in the personnel shakeup was the dismissal of four most important executives responsible for actual production ― of critical news and documentary programs, such as the controversial ``PD's Notebook" and ``100-Minute Debate." The unionists say the foundation is trying to tame the broadcaster using Ohm as a paw, and holding him responsible if something goes wrong.
Since President Lee Myung-bak took office almost two years ago, there has been a strong suspicion about attempted media control, as the administration has already replaced two chiefs at state-run and funded broadcasters of KBS and YTN with Lee's aides despite strong resistance from organized labor, political opposition and other independence-minded media experts.
When Lee said recently that he would brave unpopularity to open the way for following administrations, he must have not meant the liberal administrations but his own colleagues of conservatives. We hope the increasing right-wing clout on media sector would not be part of such a ``grand design." Japan has gone closest to the media-politics collusion to create a half-century rule by the conservative Liberal Democratic Party, but its finale seems to be not so good. Nor the Fox TV's one-sidedly rightist broadcasting did appear to have made much of favorable influence on the U.S.'s national agenda and its people.
Choi See-joong, President Lee's broadcasting czar, has shown what the administration wants from the series of personnel reshuffle, with a phrase, ``colorless news." The chairman of the Korean Communication Commission may have meant ideologically neutral news programs, but to many it more sounded as the expression's original meaning ― tepid, lackluster news devoid of criticism and journalistic spirit.
Over the past two years or so, Korea has fallen fast into what media gurus say as the ``cartel of silence," with not just media outlets but most other sectors of society, including academic and business circles, turning notably reticent about the government's policy, a dangerous sign for the health of this country's democracy.
Whether MBC and its retained head can show something different ― not just from other, more closely state-owned media but from its own past ― will tell much about the administration's ultimate intention and broadcasters' struggle to stand alone.