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| British Ambassador to Korea Simon Smith, fifth from left, poses with Korea Press Foundation Chairman Min Byung-wook, fourth from left, BBC Head of Newsgathering Jonathan Munro, sixth from left, former SKY News presenter Andrew Wilson, seventh from left, and other participants during the "Future of Journalism in the Digital Age" seminar at the Korea Press Center in downtown Seoul, March 12. / Yonhap |
Trust, impartiality become increasingly important amid spread of fake news
By Yi Whan-woo
The spread of fake news in the digital era is posing challenges for journalists who increasingly face hostility and criticism across the world.
To tackle the challenges, the British Embassy in Seoul and the Korea Press Foundation hosted a seminar, titled "Future of Journalism in the Digital Age," last week and invited reporters and scholars from the two countries to share their thoughts.
"Media freedom is under attack across the world," said the British Ambassador to Korea Simon Smith during his welcoming speech at the Korea Press Center in downtown Seoul, March 12. He referred to Reporters Without Borders' 2018 report, which said more journalists were detained, held hostage and killed in 2018 than in 2017.
For instance, the number of professional journalists dropped from 82 in 2015 to 63 in 2016 and 55 in 2017, but rose to 63 last year.
The ambassador also referred to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, which said its poll in 131 countries suggested there was a general perception of declining media freedom.
He warned this was leading to a decline in public trust of news produced by conventional media while offering "all too attractive" an opportunity for proliferation of fake news.
He said this explained why the U.K. government and Canada would co-host their first-ministerial conference on media freedom from July 10 to 11 in London.
"We're calling on like-minded countries to come together to show strong support for media freedoms, and identifying actions they can take to defend and consolidate them," he added.
In a separate welcoming message, Korea Press Foundation Chairman Min Byung-wook said he was glad to host the seminar eventually after his foundation signed a relevant memorandum of understanding with the embassy.
"I hope that this seminar will serve as a forum for productive discussions about the present and future of journalism, and that it will also be a chance to establish the cornerstone of media exchange between Korea and the Britain," Min said.
The development of social media and faster access to news around the world has raised a question whether it is productive for media firms to run branch offices worldwide.
In a video message, BBC Director-General Tony Hall argued that the media situation "points to a bigger role" for the BBC "as a voice of trusted, impartial news."
He said BBC journalists were capable of reporting not just instant news but also the background and the context.
"For people to understand the bigger picture, the context is so important," Hall said.
He added that the BBC did not "owe allegiance" to any government, company or particular viewpoint.
The 200-minute seminar was comprised of two sessions.
The first session discussed freedom of expression and media independence. The participants were BBC Head of Newsgathering Jonathan Munro, Sookmyung Women's University professor Kang Hyung-cheol, KBS Director Chung Je-hyuk, Hankyoreh Shinmun research fellow Lee Bong-hyun and Korea Press Foundation senior researcher Park Ah-ran.
The second session dealt with countering disinformation and emphasized the importance of fact checking. Former SKY News presenter Andrew Wilson was joined by National Assembly Research Service Director Kim Yoo-hyang, Seoul National University Fact Check Center Director Chong Eun-ryung, JTBC news presenter Kim Pil-gyu and Hankuk University of Foreign Studies Professor Kim Min-jung.
