• Korean journal of communication and information
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• v.28
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• pp.171-218
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• 2005

There is a original routine on dealing the first edition newspaper in Korea. Korean national morning newspapers print about 0.5% of total circulation as the first edition and sale those only in Seoul where the newspapers is published. The dead line of first edition is even about 5 pm. According to this routine which couldn't be found in the advanced western nations, like UK, USA etc., there can be some original characteristics and problems on the contents of Korean national morning newspapers. The present study investigated what the characteristics and problems means on the quality of newspaper and the free flow of diverse informations and opinions. Content analysis comparing the first edition to the last edition of 8 national morning newspapers is used to reveal the original characteristics and problems. Major findings in the result of the content analysis are three. First, the quality of the newspapers is damaged by the early dead line. Second, Inter-media agenda setting, which minor papers follow major papers on not only contents but also tone & manner, is manifest. Third, the early time publishing of the first edition allow the reported group including government and business sorter to take time to do make some negotiations on the articles about them, in which procedure even about 40% of total observed articles are changed(eg. removed, replaced, modified).