• Korean journal of communication and information
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• v.73
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• pp.7-34
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• 2015

This study attends to the effects of political entertainment as a newly emerging television genre on citizens' political talk. Particularly, this study suggests audience involvement and political information efficacy as key psychological factors that mediate the relationship between political entertainment and political discussion. More specifically, audience involvement was deemed as a conclusive concept that consists of such sub-dimensions as audience identification and parasocial interaction with program characters and transportation into the messages. Among 317 participants in an online survey, a total of 273 subjects, who had at least some viewing experience with political entertainment TV programs, were included in the final analysis. According to the findings, softer programs that piggyback political information on top of their entertainment content were more likely to increase viewers' identification and transportation. The viewer experience of identification further heightened the level of political information efficacy, which in turn positively contributed to one's willingness to participate in political talk and to hear the other side. It also appeared that political information efficacy significantly mediated the relationship between political entertainment viewing and political talk.

• Korean journal of communication and information
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• v.32
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• pp.369-405
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• 2006

The purpose of this paper is to examine the usefulness of the concept of political efficacy and political trust as a way of explaining the development of political participation in the young people under the new age of the Internet. From the survey in which 221 university students participated, there were several findings: first, overall political efficacy has a predominant effect on political participation in both offline and online; second, political trust has little impact on the political participation of the youth; third, there showed up two interaction effects between political efficacy and political trust for the online conventional and unconventional participation in politics. It is found that in high efficacy group people with low trust are most likely to participate, while in medium efficacy group people with high trust are most likely to participate. In low efficacy group, however, political trust didn't make any difference in political participation. There are more factors that may predict political participation, such as political interest, political knowledge, political ideology, and demographic variables. For future studies, it is necessary to examine the effect of political efficacy and political trust in combination with these other variables to explain political participation by offline and online.

• Korean journal of communication and information
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• v.22
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• pp.211-247
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• 2003

This study explored how Korean immigrants education, length of stay and English fluency affect their political socialization, mediated through traditional news media and the news Web use. Political socialization included political knowledge, interest, and participation. The media usage patterns included U.S. news media, U.S. news Web, Korean news Web, and Korean news Media use by Korean immigrants in the United State. This study found as follows. First, education, length of stay, and English fluency indirectly increased political socialization(political knowledge, interest, and participation) through their relationship with U.S. news media use. Second, U.S. news Web played a potentially important role in Korean immigrants' political socialization by increasing their political interest. Third, Korean news media partly contributed to Korean immigrants' political socialization by increasing their political interest. Fourth, Korean news Web use did not contribute to Korean immigrants' political socialization in terms of political knowledge, interest, and participation at all. In conclusion, this study found that traditional news media's role was more important than news Web's one in the process of immigrants' political socialization to the host society.

• Korean journal of communication and information
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• v.16
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• pp.207-254
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• 2001

This study is focused on forecasting the future of tole-democracy. Many Scholars expect that internet provides technological space needing realizing the tole-democracy or deliberate democracy. Especially in Korea, this expectation is higher than other nations because of political corruption and inefficiency. Therefore internet is intended to considering as new technologies reforming political process. In 16th the general election period, many candidates established home page and used as election campaign tool. And a little of home pages is payed attention to among voters. In spite of using internet as political medium, many political communication researchers have a doubt that internet will realize ideal direct democracy. It's reason is that internet is open and anonymous space. At anonymous space, communication participators is tended to be irresponsible and non-serious. Therefore it is hard that cyber-politics will be ideal type of democracy. In this context, this paper analyzed how pauicipators communicate with others at cyber bulletin board establishing candidate's home pages. Main research questions is how do discussions at cyberspace fulfill the conditions of deliberate democracy. Therefore, concrete questions include; who are participators at candidate's cyber bulletin board; which pattern do they communicate; what is the theme of communication; which effects do the anonymous character of cyberspace influence. To that purpose, this study conducted content analysis on 4,210 written matters at 82 cyber bulletin boards of candidate's home page establishing during 16th the general election period. It can be found that cyberspace in Korea still is not deliberate democracy space and not will be. Firstly, discussion patterns at cyber bulletin board is "candidate with supporters communication space. To be exact, it is said that candidate's home page is "the space of self-convincing among supporters." Secondly, the main themes of discussion are simple emotional expressions; "I support you!" "fighting" "Be vigor" etc. By contrast, real political contents'-central or local political matters - is relatively few. In the mode of expression, real political messages are more positive, logical than simple expressions, candidates private matters. Especially this characteristic will make cyberspace as "mutual slander space" consolidating anonymous characteristic of cyberspace. finally, Cyberspace in Korea still is not real "public sphere" realizing deliberate process. Therefore to be real public sphere, it is needed to participant's ethical maturity and political citizenship. In conclusion, it is difficult that cyberspace will reconstruct the Athene's Agora. On the contrary, Cyberagora will like to be irrespectable area fulfilling the sweeping. Making the deliberate space, technological possibility and ethical condition will have to be balanced together.

• Korean journal of communication and information
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• v.45
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• pp.187-219
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• 2009

Under the pressure of the selection of topics and the presentation rules of mass media, politics in media society increasingly resort to professionalized forms of theatrical staging as a means of self-portrayal. Although these staging methods are not contradictory to what is actually going on in politics, they strongly advantage the tendency to focus exclusively on the staging of an event. Through their competition for public attention, politicians have been developing sophistication regarding placement and staging of events as well as regarding factual information. In the process of this transformation, politics that are issue-related and based on binding decisions are being gradually transformed into symbolic politics. Moreover, through their appearance on TV, politicians first of all need to possess presentational skills which are not necessarily related to their political achievements. Still, presentational skills decide over the success in politics of those politicians. The reason is that a politician who possesses presentational skills is still being perceived as being successful even if his political achievements notedly lag behind. On the other hand, political achievements are being underrated if a politician lacks the talent to present himself in front of the media. “The staging of politics, “politainment”, on the stage of mass media is evolving into a key structure which is responsible for a new coinage of politics in all different kinds of dimensions: the selection of staff, the role of action programs and their impact for the legitimation of political acting, even in relation to therole of pivotal political institutions such as parties and parliaments in the political process. The TV debates during the Bundestag elections of the year 2002 and 2005 are being analyzed and judged as “staging of politics”(politainment). Self-dramatization in media society concerning media discourses about politics and political self-portrayal has become a basic principle of political communication. Self-dramatization is a vital challenge for adequate political communication and content-based orientation in our present media democracies.

• Korean journal of communication and information
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• v.62
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• pp.159-178
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• 2013

The current study examined the effects of the voters' perception of television news coverage of election poll results on their political participation intention. 700 voters participated in a telephone interview three weeks before the 2012 Korean presidential election. A structural equation modeling with the nationally representative sample was performed. The findings indicate the respondents were more likely to evaluate television news coverage of election poll results negatively when the news coverage presented that the candidate they supported was behind in the race, and the negative evaluation was linked to a greater third-person perception. The third-person perception, in turn, had an indirect effect on political participation intention through negative emotional responses. The results imply that voters' political position influences their perception of the television news coverage of election poll results, and this perception can have indirect effects on political participation.

• Korean journal of communication and information
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• v.22
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• pp.39-75
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• 2003

This essay begins with the following questions; "What is a fundamental source of media power?" and "How can the media power dominate market?". This essay aims at answering the questions. I made my selection of countries such as Venezuela, Italy and UK for this article with a political economic approach. This analysis found evidence that an enormous conglomerate ownership, and alliance or convergence between media and political power are two fundamental source of the media power. With the integration of newspaper and television the media monopoly increased their supplies and political influences as I have shown. Despite the growing threat of media monopoly power to democracy and public interest, in recent years, governments worldwide have chosen to ease regulations.

• Korean journal of communication and information
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• v.45
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• pp.77-110
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• 2009

This study explores the academic development of the Political Economy of Communication, which is pursued by reviewing academic characteristics, research subjects, key scholars, formal and informal institution as an academic hub, key articles, major academic associations and academic journals. In addition, this study examines important theoretical limitations and tasks to deal with in the future, which have been exposed through several heated debates with other research traditions such as Cultural Studies and Post Modernism.

• Korean journal of communication and information
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• v.33
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• pp.193-225
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• 2006

This study attempts to reconsider the significance of political economy as a theory of knowledge and/or a method for explaining the convergence of broadcast and telecommunications. It is going to suggest what the domains of political economy should be in the future by both highlighting the characteristics and blind spots of previous studies and drawing some distinctive features of a new media environment. The principals and recent research trends in political economy are reviewed in order to make clear that the historical totality as a meta-framework of political economy needs to be reexamined in the era of convergence. Although the scope of political economy has been limited to criticize the structure of media ownerships, the study emphasizes the importance of media consumer theory. It also discusses the problems of free market theory, distortion of active media audience theory, and limitations and creative tension of audience commodity. Finally, this study stresses the significance of audience-oriented policies in order to make approach to practical sides of media politics.

• Korean journal of communication and information
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• v.45
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• pp.7-48
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• 2009

The recent crises of Marxism do not mean Marx’s crisis. Marx said that he was not a Marxist. The purposes of this essay explore (1) the modern identity of the political economy; (2) the possibilities of mutual understanding between neoclassical economics and Marxist economics; (3) problems of the political economy in media and communication industry. I have begged for analytical Marxists, because of their good fruits. They accepted the methods of modern social science and they constituted a tremendous advance in the application of the scientific methods to the study of society. In insisting on micro-foundations(methodological individualism), analytical Marxism distinguished itself from structuralism and functionalism. I appreciate that analytical Marxism has reduced a theory to practice. But the works didn’t listen to everyone(from Marxists to un-Marxists), and explain everything. Making theory with production/consumption, macro/micro, and structure/behavior is a road to the political economy in the long run. It also applies to media and communication industry. The realm of media/communication is broad, which in philosophy, humanities, politics, economics, sociology, and engineering. And media policy is more complicated by politicians who look at the same situation from different angles. By the aid of interdisciplinary research, the political economy of media/communication shall explain at full length.