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www.groovekorea.com / October 2014 46 Edited by Elaine Ramirez (elaine@groovekorea.com) COvER STORy p erhaps there is a better way to frame the question: Is Korea’s mainstream English media as terrible as some people make it out to be? Of course, the answer depends heavily on per- spective. The problem today is exactly the same as it was at the time of Groove Korea’s founding in 2006: Expectations. Non-Kore- ans expect The Korea Herald, Korea Times and the Korea JoongAng Daily to produce high-quality, investigative, unbiased reports for the country’s domestic audience of for- eign nationals. But such expectations are not firmly based in reality. These media companies, which produce Korea’s three English-language traditional newspapers, make news for largely Korean consumption, with almost no effort expend- ed to reach the non-Koreans living here, not to mention anyone outside Korea. They also have very limited resources and ad revenue from only two places — the governments and the chaebol. That the newspapers are made in English forces their editors to limit the scope of what can and what cannot be discussed on their pages. Though they are made primarily for Koreans, those making them are sensitive andrEw salmon on journalism in KorEa Andrew Salmon made a career out of making Korea accessible to the rest of the world through his coverage for Forbes, The Times and many other publications. His Korean journalism career began in 1997, he was paid 100,000 won for his frst restaurant review and 12 years of experience later his pay remained unchanged. After listening to many publications say “times are tight” he fgured the feld might be better served by blogs than books. wHat’s going on? For years, the Korean media has been reporting sensationally negative stories about foreigners behaving badly on Korean soil — English teachers in particular. A lot of the reporting for these articles came from an online organization known as the Anti-English Spectrum Café, a group with a history of tracking the activities of foreign nationals and pushing for stricter visa regulations. In 2009, blogs such as Korea Beat and the Marmot’s Hole translated stories into English so the expat community could understand the claims and judge for themselves. EnglisH radio to cHangE your lifE On Dec. 1, 2011, TBS eFM celebrated its third anniversary since the birth of English radio in Korea, with Canadian Steve Hatherly having been one of the frst to jump on board in 2008. The radio presenter talked about bringing a little taste of home to the peninsula and how the radio station has helped to make expats feel more comfortable. “Before the station was around, there wasn’t any real opportunity for expats to hear Western-style radio programming in Seoul.” to the fact that, for many non-Koreans, their pages are an important source of information on Korean culture, business and news. For that reason, some topics that could paint Korea in a negative light are avoided, such as crime. In their place, Korean editors put glorified pieces about the Korean Wave and other trivial content, such as ribbon-cutting ceremonies, new free economic zones, is- sues over the Dokdo islets, the benevolence of His Majesty Yoon Boo-keun, the CEO of Samsung (if you read the JoongAng Daily), or His Graciousness Oh Joon-Kwon, the CEO of POSCO (if you read The Korea Her- ald), aliens from outer space (Korea Times and Herald – seriously, what’s with their ob- session with aliens?) or random and absurd crimes committed in foreign countries. In this environment, most (English-speak- ing) expats cannot be expected to get a real grasp on what’s news, and what isn’t, in Korea. After all, how can you pick up on the newsworthiness of a subject when you consume a sliver of a country’s media and do not even speak the language? The news in Korea, like everywhere in the world, is driven by national narratives and trends. What media Story by Matthew Lamers, Insight editor / Photos by Dylan Goldby, Matthew Lamers and Todd Sharp / Sidebar by Emilee Jennings KorEan mEdia, savE for groovE and a fEw otHErs, arEn’t targEting non- KorEans in KorEa bEcausE it’s not a largE EnougH group to bE marKEtEd to on a massivE scalE — and liKEly nEvEr will bE. 05.2009 08.2009 12.2011 wHy is KorEa’s EnglisH mEdia so awful?