Korean Association for Journalism Studies "Immediate Halt Required on Forced Passage of Media Arbitration Act Amendment"

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] The executive board of the Korean Association for Journalism and Communication Studies (KAJCS), the largest academic organization in the domestic journalism field, has joined the criticism against the Democratic Party of Korea's push to amend the Media Arbitration Act.

On the 16th, the KAJCS executive board issued a statement signed by 27 former presidents, urging, "The Democratic Party must immediately halt the forced passage of the amendment to the Media Arbitration Act and engage in democratic opinion gathering."

They continued, "Although the Democratic Party claims that the amendment is a law to protect victims from 'fake news,' if this bill is passed, the Media Arbitration Act will turn into an anti-democratic law that suppresses freedom of expression and freedom of the press."

Furthermore, the statement pointed out, "Even if the purpose of the bill is to protect the public interest, the Democratic Party’s unilateral push based solely on its majority seats while ignoring the opposition party’s objections and the legitimate demands of the media, the primary stakeholders, undermines the legitimacy of the law itself."

In particular, they criticized, "It is an irony of history that the ruling party, which has so far loudly advocated for press freedom, is now trying to forcibly pass a problematic bill opposed even by international media organizations such as the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA)."

Earlier, on the 12th, the Korea Newspaper Association released a statement revealing that WAN-IFRA urged the withdrawal of the amendment, stating, "The amendment to the Media Arbitration Act risks silencing critical media and damaging the democratic tradition of the Republic of Korea."

The KAJCS executive board demanded, "If additional measures are necessary to compensate for damages caused by the media’s 'false reporting and negligence,' considering the importance of the media in a democratic country, the National Assembly should conduct sufficient deliberations with members of civil society, including the media sector, before making a final decision."

The executive board also proposed, "The Democratic Party should immediately stop the forced passage of the current amendment to the Media Arbitration Act and establish a discussion body in the National Assembly involving various citizens, including ruling and opposition parties, the media, academia, and civic groups, to comprehensively reestablish countermeasures against so-called 'fake news,' including internet personal media, from scratch."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.