hankyoreh

the Hankyoreh

By Kwon Kwi-soon and Lee Moon-young

South Korean journalists have ranked the Hankyoreh first in a poll to select the most trusted media source in South Korea.

Hangil Research conducted a poll at the behest of the Journalists’ Association of Korea of 300 journalists nationwide on August 11 to 13. A total of 16.6 percent cited the Hankyoreh as the most trustworthy media, making the paper No. 1. The Hankyoreh was followed by the Kyunghyang Shinmun (9.9 percent), KBS (6.9 percent) and Chosun Ilbo (6.0 percent). The Hankyoreh placed first in the same survey in 2006, 2007 and 2009.

In terms of influence, the Chosun Ilbo placed first at 36.9 percent, followed by KBS at 35.4 percent and MBC at 11 percent.

A total of 83.8 percent said that the Lee Myung-bak administration’s media policy is mistaken. Some 14.2 percent said the Lee administration is doing well.

Respondents also said the biggest problem the media sector needs to fix is “the contraction of press freedom by political influence and capital” (28 percent), “changes in the media environment, including the appearance of new media” (27.5 percent), “unstable position of journalists due to the contraction of the media market” (15.7 percent) and “the collapse of trust due to biased broadcasts” (10.9 percent).

In a poll of 1,000 specialists in a number of fields, the Hankyoreh also came out as the most trusted newspaper.

Media Research conducted a poll at the behest of weekly magazine “Sisa Journal” of 1,000 specialists in 10 fields entitled “Who is moving Korea in 2010?” Participants were asked to select their most trusted media source among broadcasters, newspapers and Internet portals (participants could pick three), and chose MBC (28.4 percent), the Hankyoreh (26.7 percent) and KBS (20.6 percent).

The Hankyoreh has been the most trusted newspaper in the poll for six straight years since 2005. Next came the Kyunghyang Shinmun (20.5 percent), Chosun Ilbo (11.1 percent), JoongAng Ilbo (7.1 percent) and Dong-A Ilbo (7.0 percent).

As for what media they look at the most, the Chosun Ilbo placed first at 23.4 percent, followed by the Hankyoreh at 22 percent. Next came Naver (17.6 percent), MBC (15.6 percent), KBS (15.2 percent) and the Kyunghyang Shinmun (12.1 percent). The Hankyoreh jumped up two spots from last year, while MBC and KBS fell. The readership rate of the Dong-A Ilbo and JoongAng Ilbo also fell for the third straight year.

As for the most influential newspaper, the Hankyoreh finished behind the Chosun, JoongAng and Dong-A.

South Korean college students have ranked the Hankyoreh first in a poll to select their preferred and the most trusted newspaper in South Korea.

The University News Network (UNN) carried out a survey of 2,001 college students nationwide through an online and in-person questionnaire from Sept. 1 to 15. A total of 28.8 percent selected the Hankyoreh as their preferred newspaper and 32.4 percent cited it as the most trusted newspaper.

In terms of trust, the Hankyoreh has been ranked No. 1 for 23 years in a row since the same survey of this paper was first conducted in 1988 when the Hankyoreh was established.

Following the Hankyoreh was the Kyunghyang Shinmun (16.6 selected as their preferred newspaper, 16.2 percent selected as most trusted), JoongAng Ilbo (12.2 percent and 8.4 percent), and Chosun Ilbo (11.2 percent and 7.7 percent).

Among South Korean broadcasters, the greatest number of college students selected MBC as their preferred and most trusted broadcaster in the survey.

Meanwhile, the Korea Press Foundation (KPF) has increased financial aid for newspaper subscriptions of the underprivileged to the three pro-government newspapers, also called the “ChoJoongDong.” KPF changed its criteria for selecting the newspapers for which individuals will receive financial aid. They shifted their criteria from reader requests to newspaper readership, a report revealed Tuesday.

According to the report submitted to the National Assembly by the KPF, the Dong-A Ilbo has experienced an 89 percent increase in government-sponsored subscription fees for the underprivileged, the Chosun Ilbo and Joongang Ilbo increased by 65 percent.

In contrast, government-sponsored subscription fees for independent newspapers Hankyoreh and Kyunghyang Shinmun were reduced by 47 percent and 21 percent, respectively.

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