Three years after the four general programming cable channels were launched, concerns remain over the fairness and objectivity of their broadcasting content.

With a large proportion of their broadcasting time set aside for news reporting primarily on domestic political affairs, the conservative channels have churned out discourses that mostly represent the right-leaning social, political circles, critics argue.

The four channels ― TV Chosun, Channel A, JTBC and MBN ― are run by the country’s top conservative dailies: the Chosun Ilbo, Dong-A Ilbo, JoongAng Ilbo and Maeil Business Newspaper, respectively.

This is why critics have said the broadcasting sector will become dominated by conservative perspectives and ideas, giving audiences, particularly young people, ideologically-skewed views of current affairs.

“Yes, I have been agitated by the channels talking about politics only through the conservative prisms, which I thought would limit creative thinking and could make people develop largely right-wing views about society in general,” said Park Chan-soo, an office worker in Seoul.

“Thus, the fairness has obviously been damaged as the channels reflect the views of their dailies, from which they have originated. This has, to a certain degree, deepened our society’s ideological division ― which is, as a citizen, quite worrisome.”

The Korea Communications Standards Commission reprimanded TV Chosun and Channel A last year for broadcasting programs in which North Korean defectors claimed that North Korean troops infiltrated the South and joined the May 18 Democracy Movement in 1980.

The programs sparked intense public criticism as the families of the victims who were killed during the government crackdown said that the programs distorted history and damaged the honor of the democracy fighters.

The broadcasting regulator ruled that the programs violated the rules on public responsibility and fairness in broadcasting, noting that there was concern that the programs could undermine the social appraisal and meaning of the watershed movement.

On top of this case, the conservative channels’ current affairs and news programs have been mired in a series of controversies sparked by sharp-tongued right-wing commentators’ comments on their shows.

The general programming channels initially promised to have their news and current affairs programs account for some 20 percent of their total output.

But for some of the channels, the proportion is close to 50 percent, which failed to meet the expectations that the programmers would air a variety of programs ― in addition to news programs ― in a similar manner to the three terrestrial broadcasters ― KBS, MBC and SBS.

Yoon Pyung-joong, political philosophy professor at Hanshin University, said that the increase in the number of current affairs programs did not necessarily have a negative impact on society, although their content needs to be balanced.

“The increase in the number of current affairs programs has led to more avenues through which the public could gain greater access to current issues ― not just entertainment stories for young content consumers but those concerning issues involving the national interests,” he said.

“But in terms of the content, the programs tend to fail to present what is happening in our society in a fair, balanced way. I am not saying that they are distorting the facts, but it seems that conservative ideas are reproduced and expanded through the conservative channels.”

Amid the controversy over the cable channels’ political balance, some observers pointed out that it may not be appropriate to strictly apply fairness standards for public broadcasters ― funded by public money ― to private cable channels.

“There may be a difference in the standards of fairness for the public broadcaster, namely KBS, and the general programming cable channels,” said Kweon Sang-hee, journalism professor at Sungkyunkwan University.

“But a level of fairness should be ensured for the cable channels as well, given that a broadcaster can’t exist beyond a country’s social system. Now that three years have passed since their establishment, they also need to think about how to enhance their public role.”

Observers say that the standards of fairness for the cable programs should be raised, particularly when political circles have been discussing a legal move to allow cable channels to air election campaign programs.

Under the current law, only terrestrial broadcasters and news channels can broadcast campaign advertisements such as the announcement of a political party’s platform and election pledges during the campaign period.

By Song Sang-ho (sshluck@heraldcorp.com)