Latin American Image in Korean News Media : with Focus on 3 Network Channels and 5 Main Newspapers

Abstract

Latin American Image in Korean News Media : with Focus on 3 Network Channels and 5 Main Newspapers

Lee, So-jung

This study aims to explore the Latin American image in Korean news media, and to examine the selection process- gatekeeping factors. First, content analysis was used to ascertain the image of Latin American countries. A total of 1,302 articles were sampled during the year 2011, from 8 news media outlets: KBS, MBC, SBS, Chosun Daily, Joong-ang Daily, Dong-a Daily, Kyunghyang Daily and Hankyoreh Daily. In the case of television, bizarre or extraordinary stories, crimes, drug issues and natural disaster featuring visually enticing images were favored for analysis. The newspapers dealt with many stories about rising nations in the world economy – for example, BRICS, Korean companies' advancement into the Latin American market, and FTA issues in Mexico and Chile. In terms of articles regarding politics, newspapers with conservative political stances produced gossipy news about Latin American political figures, and tended to utilize Latin American populism as cases for criticizing the opposition party's policies. Both television and newspapers favored short articles lacking in-depth stories, and displayed negative attitudes toward Latin American countries. To supplement the content analysis, a survey questionnaire was distributed to journalists covering international stories in each of the eight news organizations. The results show journalists also have negative perceptions about Latin America: crime, drug, populism, corruption and so on. Emerging economy was nearly the only concept that was handled positively. However, many journalists answered that they acknowledged several problems in the news coverage on stories related to Latin America in Korea, such as shortage of articles, biased subjects, negative attitudes, lack of special correspondents, and high level of dependence on Western media outlets. This practical examination considerably supports the assumption that the ignorance and narrow image of Latin America in Korea has been caused by news media and journalists who produce Latin American news with ignorance and a limited point of view. Not only economic, but also social and cultural relations are tightening between Korea and Latin America. It is necessary to raise a proper level of attention and redeem the inadequate quantity and quality of information on Latin America.