[Inside Chodong] The Essence of the Conflict Between Media Companies and Major Portals

Media Companies Relying on Major Portals
Struggling to Devise Survival Strategies Amid an Uneasy Coexistence

Media companies are raising their voices in criticism, citing Naver's 'unfair attempt to change terms and conditions' as a pretext. After ups and downs, Naver decided to withdraw some newly established terms that were at the center of the controversy, but with major media companies followed by the Korea Newspaper Broadcasting Association, Korea Journalists Association, Korea Women Journalists Association, and Korea Internet Newspaper Association stepping forward, it is expected that the issue will not easily subside.

The conflict between media companies and major portals is not a matter of a day or two. It has been repeatedly occurring with similar themes. Media companies have raised their voices whenever they had the chance, accusing Naver and Kakao of leveraging their dominance in the search market to enter traditional information markets such as real estate and shopping, thereby destroying the ecosystem. Last year, one media company even ran advertisements more than 20 times on the front pages of other media outlets, calling for the establishment of a 'Naver Republic.'

This time, a presidential advisory committee was established under the pretext of 'national unity.' So far, the political sphere has attempted to regulate the news editing functions of portals by arguing bias from their respective perspectives regarding news content editing algorithms, but no consensus was reached. The Yoon Seok-yeol administration formed the 'National Unity and Media Special Committee' under the Presidential Committee on National Unity, which will operate for three months and plans to present an implementation plan in July concerning the social responsibility of news portals and the accountability of emerging media. This reflects the intention to check the influence of major portals and increase the level of regulation on emerging media growing through portals.

Behind the repeated conflicts with major portals lies the concern of media companies that have helplessly surrendered news content distribution platforms. Traditional media companies had little room to enter the news content distribution market dominated by rapidly growing portals, and it was even more difficult to attract readers who had left back to their own websites. Eventually, they found themselves in a position where they had to undergo portal screening just to have their names appear on the main pages of major portals.

Above all, since 70-80% of news content consumption occurs through portals, media companies faced survival issues, having to rely on portals even for various online advertising revenues. Dependent on portals, media companies turned a blind eye to extreme breaking news competition, split articles, abusive articles, and sensationalist content production if it helped increase page views. Naver's recent attempt to change terms covering comprehensive use of news content was an incident that once again confirmed this power dynamic.

There have been moves by major media companies to break away from major portals and change the news content distribution structure. They have united to create separate platforms, attempted to establish equal content supply contracts, and sought to expand influence by increasing investment in online news content and strengthening newsletters to escape the portal distribution structure. However, due to differing calculations regarding operating separate platforms, these efforts did not deepen and failed to establish themselves as definite alternatives.

Even today, media companies are repeatedly struggling to devise survival strategies amid an uncomfortable coexistence with major portals. How much weight to give and how to blend content distribution strategies such as in-links, out-links, and verticals is a pressing challenge. Additionally, they must also check emerging media growing based on YouTube. They are in a position where they must take a path never traveled before.

It is uncertain whether portals, which have taken a comparative advantage to the extent of attempting unfair changes to terms once again, and media companies can find a balance of power. Although the government has joined in to check major portals, as in the past, there is a possibility that it will fail to gain public and reader consensus and end up as a storm in a teacup. The government has raised the banner of 'national unity,' while media companies have labeled it as 'unfair.'

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