Kim Sun-woo, President of Welfare TV from Yeonggwang, Receives 'Good Reporting Award of March'

[Yeonggwang=Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Jeonseong] Kim Seon-woo, president of Bokji TV from Yeonggwang, Jeollanam-do, was selected for the "Good Report of the Month for March" award given by the Citizens' Coalition for Democratic Media for providing live sign language interpretation service during the 20th presidential election debate broadcast.

At the awards ceremony held on the 31st, Kim Seon-woo and the executives and staff of Bokji TV received the "Good Report of the Month" award and pledged to continue fulfilling the role of the media for the disabled and marginalized groups.

The Citizens' Coalition for Democratic Media explained the reason for selecting this award, stating, "During the legally mandated TV debates for the 20th presidential election organized by the National Election Commission Debate Broadcasting Committee, Bokji TV provided one-on-one sign language interpretation and subtitle services for each candidate twice, during the 2nd political and 3rd social segments." They added, "It was the first attempt to assign five sign language interpreters for the moderator and each candidate, broadcasting live with large placements of all interpreters on the left and right sides of the screen, enhancing information accessibility for the hearing impaired."

They also noted, "During the 19th presidential election in 2017, the disability rights group 'People Breaking Down the Walls of Disability' filed a discrimination complaint with the National Human Rights Commission, which in May 2018 recommended that two or more sign language interpreters be assigned during election broadcast screen transmissions. However, this service was realized for the first time this time," as a reason for the selection.

In particular, they praised, "Bokji TV solved technical issues that even terrestrial broadcasters found difficult and demonstrated the starting point of long-term change to correct discrimination against both disabled and non-disabled people," and detailed the reason for selecting Bokji TV's "One-on-One Sign Language Interpretation Broadcast for Presidential Candidate Debates" as the Citizens' Coalition for Democratic Media's Good Report of the Month for March 2022.

Meanwhile, Bokji TV, the only domestic disability welfare channel based on the Broadcasting Act and a mandatory transmission channel, provides real-time information for marginalized groups such as the disabled, youth, elderly, and multicultural families.

Additionally, Bokji TV provided one-on-one sign language interpretation services for each debater simultaneously with live broadcasts by the three major broadcasters KBS, MBC, and SBS during the 8th nationwide simultaneous local elections policy debate held on the 29th, greatly contributing to fulfilling the right to know and see and ensuring voting rights for both disabled and non-disabled people.

Bokji TV is actively utilizing the latest internet-based technology and new broadcasting environments to tackle challenges difficult even for terrestrial broadcasters, and plans to jointly broadcast live sign language interpretation with the Deaf Association for the upcoming "2023 World Federation of the Deaf Congress."

The Citizens' Coalition for Democratic Media is a representative media civic organization that monitors and checks "media power," playing a leading role in promoting media democratization through continuous citizen media movements since its founding in 1984.

Kim Seon-woo, president of Bokji TV, graduated from Yeonggwang Elementary, Middle, and High Schools, Gwangju Seoseok High School, and Korea University with a degree in Journalism and Broadcasting, and has been serving as president of Bokji TV since June 2020.

Yeonggwang=Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Jeonseong leejs7879@asiae.co.kr