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Staff Reporter
Roughly a month after assuming the top post of the nation's largest public broadcaster, KBS President Kim In-gyu has come under increasing fire for undermining the investigative function of broadcast journalism.
Critics claim that Kim is pushing to abolish a team of reporters and producers, established under the leadership of former KBS chief Jung Yun-joo, which has been in charge of producing reports on corruption scandals involving those in the highest levels of government.
President Lee Myung-bak handpicked Kim to bring a conservative tenor in its news broadcasting, according to sources. Its rival MBC is also undergoing a major reshuffle over its news team.
Last week, the state-run broadcaster announced a re-organization plan, which is seen as a move to scale back the staff of the investigative team. The team has produced a weekly news program.
A group of former and present staff members of the team issued a statement on Dec. 24, protesting what they call a "unilateral decision by the KBS leadership to abandon the investigative function of broadcast journalism."
Former KBS President Jung, a veteran liberal journalist, who was dismissed from his post in 2008, founded the investigative team with the aim of producing news programs with more substance.
Its signature weekly segment gained favorable reviews from within and outside the media.
However, the team has been the victim of a series of personnel cuts in recent years.
There are currently only four reporters charged with investigative and research duties.
"The re-organization plans will hurt our system of investigative reporting, which is based on long-term planning, meticulous collection of evidence and fact-checking," a representative of the team said in a statement. "The field of investigative journalism is highly admired by reporters. Undermining such reporting can only be construed as an effort to side with the government by sacrificing the integrity and spirit of journalism."
Kim has been one of the most visible advocates of President Lee and assisted in his election campaign in 2007.
A former KBS director and chairman of the Korea Digital Media Industry Association, the 59-year-old was named to the post by President Lee in November. Kim will serve in the position for three years until November 2012.
A graduate of the Department of Politics at Seoul National University, Kim entered KBS as a reporter in 1973.
His nomination as president of KBS generated strong criticism within and outside the company.
The KBS labor union and opposition parties have called his nomination a "conspiracy" concocted by the government to secure a tighter grip on major media outlets.
Woo Wi-young, spokesperson for the minor opposition Democratic Labor Party said, "It is a state-backed crime to steal the control tower of the nation's most influential media outlet."
jhdo@koreatimes.co.kr
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