MBC penalized for alleged political bias in weather forecast

An MBC weather broadcast shows that the fine dust concentration level dropped to level 1, with a 3D graphic in blue depicting Seoul's air quality index, Feb 27. Captured from MBC News Desk

Broadcaster MBC received a sanction for prominently featuring a fine dust concentration level of 1 in blue during a weather program. This raised concerns, among some, of potential bias toward the Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), as blue is associated with the party and its election symbol is the number 1, for the upcoming 22nd general election, according to the Election Broadcasting Deliberation Committee, Thursday.

The deliberation committee held a plenary meeting on April 2 and decided to impose the highest level of legal sanction or "disciplinary action against the involved parties" on MBC for its weather report that aired on Feb. 27.

MBC's explanation, which denied any political intent, was not accepted. Despite the National Election Commission's previous determination that there was no violation of the related law, the committee took a different stance. Media circles and civic organizations criticized the committee's decision as being biased.

During a disciplinary meeting, five of the nine committee members voted for the highest level of legal discipline against MBC, arguing that the broadcaster intentionally chose "1" despite higher average fine dust levels and prominently featured the DPK's color and number.

During the deliberation, Park Beom-su, the chief of MBC's news team, defended the weather report by claiming that it is common to use extreme values like the lowest temperature in weather broadcasting, and the number 1 was emphasized to grab the attention of viewers.

"The script for the weather report is written by a freelance weathercaster, and it's unimaginable that a freelancer would intentionally do this given the precarious employment situation," he said.

Tensions escalated during the session when Park asserted that initiating the review was tantamount to "media suppression." That comment provoked an uproar among some members, who questioned why the venue was being accused of political oppression, leading them to raise their voices in protest.

The Election Broadcasting Deliberation Committee, a temporary body set up by the Broadcasting and Communications Deliberation Committee ahead of the April 10 general elections, has been marred by allegations of bias since its formation, largely due to unilateral changes to the composition of recommending bodies and excessive disciplinary actions.

This article from the Hankook Ilbo, a sister publication of The Korea Times, was translated by generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.