The relationship between the major market-based media and the government in Korea

한국의 민주화와 미디어 : 정부와 시장 주류 미디어의 관계

This study attempts to examine the relationships between the major market-based media and the government after closing military regime era, 1961-1987. After the military regime was collapsed, while the mass media in Korea obtained independence and autonomy from government, they have been confronted with the terrible competition not so much comparatively as before. The watchdog role in the traditional liberalism, which is regarded as normative relationship between the media and the government would be transformed in accordance with the market condition and the maturity of democracy. Thus, the watchdog metaphor has been variously deviated in rower-centered society; lap dog, guard dog, attack dog. liberalists argue that the primary democratic role of the media is to art as a public watchdog overseeing the state. Social democrats, however, criticize them as simplistic conception which could be only applied to the government. They argue that the media should be seen as a source of redress against the abuse of all forms of power over others; the home, the economy, and the civil society. The lap dog view is that the media is overwhelmingly dependent on the established power structure contrary to the watchdog. While the guard dog perspective is a means to preserve the power structure alarming with playing 'conflict role', the attack do8 aims to the private interest of the media in intruding into the politics. The attack dog perspective by T. Patterson could be composed of the interpretive style of report, the game schema report over the policy schema in the election, and the negativism against politics and government. The market-dominant press has been likely to transform from lap-guard dog into attack-guard dog. In Roh Tae Woo government(1988-1992), while the press was a lessened lap-guard dog before three parties merger in 1990, after merger the press had been transformed as the reinforced lap-guard dog because this merger entailed joint, party-to-party negotiations, and the formation of the new party preceded by dissolution of the ruling blot. In the early stage of Kim Young Sam government(1993-1997), the press has kept in pace with the reform movement drive-forced by the government. However, the press withdrew the support of Kim's reform in reaching the level of threat to ruling bloc. The press coalesced only circumstantially with government and was interested in preserving some margin of independence. The failure of Kim's reform proved the political muscle of the press in post-autho-ritarianism. In the middle stage of Kim Dae Jung government (1998-) that resulted in the shift of power structure as once-opposition party leader, the stress has been a manifested attack-guard dog owing to the anti-cold war policy, the realignment policy of power, and the minority-base of Kim's government. The press has endeavored to hold political communication within limits relatively less threatening to the established order.