Yonhap under fire for betraying public’s trust
Yonhap News Agency, South Korea’s representative semi-official wire service, has suffered a setback as it was banned from posting news articles on the country’s two main internet portals ― Naver and Daum ― for 32 days from Sept. 8. The suspension came after Naver’s news assessment committee, composed of 30 media experts and journalists, decided to take punitive steps against Yonhap for posting advertising contents disguised as news stories, on the portals. Those advertorials were found to have been written by non-newsroom employees of Yonhap’s public relations and marketing team for business purposes.
It has been routine for media outlets to produce advertorials to make money. But, in that case, they are required to clearly identify them as “ads” to prevent possible confusion among readers. Portals are supposed to categorize such advertorials as “press releases” which are posted separately from general news articles.
Despite such a rule, Yonhap sent around 2,000 paid advertorial pieces promoting diverse events and products of companies to the portals’ news category from Oct. 31, 2019, until July 15 this year, equivalent to three to four pieces a day on average. Yonhap cannot avoid criticism as its employees purportedly sent the advertorials to the portals’ news category even though they knew that this practice was illegitimate.
This was proven by a PR team document, obtained by Media Today, which described such pieces as “different from news.” The team apparently tried to make the advertorials look as if they were regular news stories to attract more readers. Also, advertisers tend to prefer the news category to the press release category as the former is more effective in publicizing their events or products than the latter. This is tantamount to deceiving readers as advertorials are disguised as news stories.
Yonhap’s unfair practice is all the more shocking, considering that it receives about 30 billion won ($25.5 million) in subsidies from the government every year. This means the agency is freer from financial problems compared to privately-run news outlets. Given this, it needs to focus on promoting the public interest, rather than seeking business profits. Yet, the agency has betrayed the public’s trust and expectations. It is astounding that Yonhap engaged in such a bad practice to earn a mere 200 million won per year.
In a statement submitted to Naver’s review committee, Yonhap argued that major internet portals had not taken any measures previously although they were aware that such practices were prevalent in the media sector. It said the portals and the committee alike had never launched an examination or issued a warning on the matter to the agency over the last 10 years.
Yonhap’s argument sounds like a lame excuse. Yet it offers an opportunity for all media outlets to reflect on themselves. Under any circumstances, news providers should put top priority on the public interest, such as social justice and fairness, by endeavoring to promote the people’s right to know and playing the role of watchdog. When its suspension ends, Yonhap will be subject to another review for future course of action from the portals. It deserves appropriate stern punishment for its unfair and unjust practice. It should pull out all the stops to be reborn as a news agency that can better serve the readers.
Yonhap News Agency, South Korea’s representative semi-official wire service, has suffered a setback as it was banned from posting news articles on the country’s two main internet portals ― Naver and Daum ― for 32 days from Sept. 8. The suspension came after Naver’s news assessment committee, composed of 30 media experts and journalists, decided to take punitive steps against Yonhap for posting advertising contents disguised as news stories, on the portals. Those advertorials were found to have been written by non-newsroom employees of Yonhap’s public relations and marketing team for business purposes.
It has been routine for media outlets to produce advertorials to make money. But, in that case, they are required to clearly identify them as “ads” to prevent possible confusion among readers. Portals are supposed to categorize such advertorials as “press releases” which are posted separately from general news articles.
Despite such a rule, Yonhap sent around 2,000 paid advertorial pieces promoting diverse events and products of companies to the portals’ news category from Oct. 31, 2019, until July 15 this year, equivalent to three to four pieces a day on average. Yonhap cannot avoid criticism as its employees purportedly sent the advertorials to the portals’ news category even though they knew that this practice was illegitimate.
This was proven by a PR team document, obtained by Media Today, which described such pieces as “different from news.” The team apparently tried to make the advertorials look as if they were regular news stories to attract more readers. Also, advertisers tend to prefer the news category to the press release category as the former is more effective in publicizing their events or products than the latter. This is tantamount to deceiving readers as advertorials are disguised as news stories.
Yonhap’s unfair practice is all the more shocking, considering that it receives about 30 billion won ($25.5 million) in subsidies from the government every year. This means the agency is freer from financial problems compared to privately-run news outlets. Given this, it needs to focus on promoting the public interest, rather than seeking business profits. Yet, the agency has betrayed the public’s trust and expectations. It is astounding that Yonhap engaged in such a bad practice to earn a mere 200 million won per year.
In a statement submitted to Naver’s review committee, Yonhap argued that major internet portals had not taken any measures previously although they were aware that such practices were prevalent in the media sector. It said the portals and the committee alike had never launched an examination or issued a warning on the matter to the agency over the last 10 years.
Yonhap’s argument sounds like a lame excuse. Yet it offers an opportunity for all media outlets to reflect on themselves. Under any circumstances, news providers should put top priority on the public interest, such as social justice and fairness, by endeavoring to promote the people’s right to know and playing the role of watchdog. When its suspension ends, Yonhap will be subject to another review for future course of action from the portals. It deserves appropriate stern punishment for its unfair and unjust practice. It should pull out all the stops to be reborn as a news agency that can better serve the readers.
Unfair practice
Source: Buhay Kapa PH
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