(image: Yonhap)
SEOUL, Sept. 10 (Korea Bizwire) — Chosun Ilbo, a major conservative newspaper, and TV Chosun, an affiliated cable network, rank near the top of the most distrustful media in Korea, a recent survey has shown.
According to the 2019 Media Confidence survey of some 1,000 adult men and women conducted by weekly magazine SisaIN, the Chosun Ilbo topped the list at 28.5 percent and TV Chosun ranked third at 12.1 percent as the most distrustful media outlets.
In the case of the Chosun Ilbo, it topped the list for the second consecutive year, with negative ratings rising from last year’s 25 percent rate.
Ironically, however, when asked about the most trusted newspaper, the Chosun Ilbo topped the list with 16.8 percent of the vote. In other words, it is a typical political medium in which readers are extremely divided.
Public broadcaster KBS, which ranked fourth as a distrusted media at 11.4 percent last year, ranked second at 15.4 percent in the survey, raising its negative rating.
However, KBS ranked third at 14.7 percent on the most trusted media list.
The most trusted media was cable channel JTBC at 19.9 percent and YouTube at 16.4 percent.
JTBC stood at 32.2 percent last year, but it posted a noticeable drop this year. JTBC President Sohn Suk-hee seems to have something to do with the drop of credibility.
Sohn, the chief and well-known presenter of the JTBC’s main news program Newsroom, is facing allegations that he blackmailed a freelance journalist.
Meanwhile, what’s noticeable in the survey is the emergence of YouTube, which has developed into the second most trusted media outlet.
YouTube, which was not in the rankings until last year, has entered this year as a trusted media outlet. There is a possibility that the phenomenon may have affected the decline in JTBC and KBS’ credibility.
However, this high level of trust comes as a result of increased expectations and influence over so-called YouTube journalism, represented by ‘Rhyu Si-min’s Alileo,’ rather than trust in the platform called YouTube.
D. M. Park (dmpark@koreabizwire.com)
