• Korean journal of communication and information
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• v.46
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• pp.280-322
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• 2009

The purpose of this study is put on the evaluation of public support for media with the case of Special Act on Supporting Local Press whose main purpose can be said to help local press in crisis intending the improvement of news quality. However, it was controversial whether public support on specific media under the governmental leadership, which is related to the disputes on its abrogation with the change of the regime. Therefore, this study tries to evaluate its achievement focused on its effect on the diversity of public opinion especially with the eyes of audience. In-depth interviews were executed to find out whether it had helped local press to improve public interest for the last three years of public support. The interviewees, the readers as well as monitors of local press, answered that there had been some improvement in news quality and diversity of local press in general. However, they thought that fund support for news gathering cost was problematic and would be negative in the long-term perspective. In conclusion, the interviewees regarded Special Act on Supporting Local Press as necessary one to help local press in crisis but pointed out also that the act might not enough to change local press because the situation they were facing is so complex. Hence, this study argues that the evaluation of Special Act on supporting Local Press should be approached Abstracts 683 not on the basis of political logics but of the public interest and democracy.

• Korean journal of communication and information
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• v.33
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• pp.227-251
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• 2006

The Law Ensuring the Freedom and the Functions of Liability of the Newspapers ("The Newspaper Law") which was passed in the National Assembly on January 1, 2005 is considered as a tremendous setback compared to "the Newspaper Bill" of civil press organizations. Of the two instruments to ensure the editorial freedom, the regulation on the newspaper company ownership share distribution was eliminated and the editorial committee (editorial codes of ethics) became an arbitrary system. That is, the Newspaper Law was criticized as a law of "half-success." However, the Newspaper Law has its own benefit by institutionalizing the establishment of the Korea Commission for the Press, the Press Fund, and the Korea Newspaper Circulation Service for Promoting Newspaper Businesses and by strengthening the criteria to estimate market dominant businesspeople in newspaper market than general markets to ensure the diversity of public opinions. As the Newspaper Law was promulgated, Donga-Ilbo and Chosun-Ilbo submitted the Constitutional Petition against "the Newspaper Law" and the Constitutional Court is expected to give the decision soon. Based on the "Supplements on the Grounds of the Constitutional Petition against the Newspaper Law" ("the Petition"), this paper will examine the main issues of the debates over the Constitutionality of the Newspaper Law.