A Special Lecture by Son Seok-chun:
"Media Reform Has to be Completed!"
2001-10-15 The Post
On Sept. 14, Son Seok-chun, a director of Opinion & Media of The Hankyoreh, gave a special lecture on press reform in the Education Media Center in Haklim Hall.During the lecture, he said that it is natural that the tone of an article depends on a reporter's viewpoint, while stressing "The problem is that the owner of a newspaper publishing company is strongly involved in editing his newspaper."He continued, "What's worse, a close relationship between the owner and politicians in power brings about distortion of the truth. This problem causes the truth to be falsely reported in the news."He suggested a series of changes, saying, "Revision of The Law on Periodical Publication and The Joint Sale System of Newspapers should be carried out." The former will overcome the present custom of the owner of a newspaper monopolizing the firm's stock shares, which makes it possible to fire reporters who do not follow the owner's instructions. The latter is expected to ensure fairness among competing newspapers."Son's lecture was a reflection of student's opinion," said Park Jeong-min, a staff member of the Student Welfare Committee. "This lecture is one of our education projects like Yi ik-hun's speech on TOEIC on Sept. 7 and Morning Glory Concert on Sept. 21."Son Seok-chun studied philosophy at Yonsei University and received a Master's Degree at Korea Graduate School on politics. He has continued to raise his voice for media reform while publishing Philosophy of Newspaper Edition, Revolution of Reading Newspaper, Red Complex, and Revival of the Dead Press.