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The Lemon
Joined: 11 Jan 2003
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Posted: Tue Jun 10, 2003 6:02 am Post subject: Excellent translations of Hankoryeh articles & columns |
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An ambitious blogger with good Korean skills has set up a site where he posts translations of key articles, editorials and columns from Hankyoreh and other papers.
He's been putting them on his regular blog along with his political opinions for months, but he's just set up a separate page dedicated to the translations.
Looks like he spends a lot of time doing this stuff, and it provides a perspective on what the local media's saying that we don't get from the Korea Herald, or by watching the pictures on MBC.
Have a look:
http://koreannews.blogspot.com/
His main blog, with old translations, is here:
http://marmotshole.blogspot.com/
ps. Full disclosure - I know the guy. |
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Alias
Joined: 24 Jan 2003
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Posted: Tue Jun 10, 2003 6:13 am Post subject: |
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Excellent! I've been looking for more information from the Korean media, not just the english print media. I hope to get a better perspective on events now. This site is a keeper. |
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Korea Newfie
Joined: 27 Mar 2003 Location: Newfoundland and Labrador
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Posted: Wed Jun 11, 2003 6:52 pm Post subject: Re: Excellent translations of Hankoryeh articles & colum |
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The Lemon wrote: |
...and it provides a perspective on what the local media's saying that we don't get from the Korea Herald, or by watching the pictures on MBC. |
Every time I open the Korea Herald (or as I call it, "that crazy anti-American propaganda rag") I lose more and more respect for the Korean media, so I don't think I want to know what they say in their own language... |
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Alias
Joined: 24 Jan 2003
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Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2003 1:54 am Post subject: |
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Why do you believe the Herald to be anti-American? |
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The Lemon
Joined: 11 Jan 2003
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Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2003 2:07 am Post subject: |
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I back up KN's assertion of the KH being anti-American. No question. This is relatively new - five years ago, the KH was rather conservative and pro-US. But they seemed to have acquired new staff out of university journalism departments who haven't outgrown their student radical roots.
This was especially the case during the "candlelight vigil" protests, when the KH published daily editorials that deliberately distorted the facts of the case. It also put any news that cast USFK in a negative light on the front page. It continues to display a bias that places it on the far left.
Two million people are starving in the country 50km north of the KH offices - a country that also happens to be poised to attack Seoul - but the KH editorial writer continues to prattle on about how "rude" US officials are in negotiations with North Korea, and how the US insults Korean pride. The KH rarely speaks ill of the North, and when they do it's usually followed with a much stronger attack on the US. |
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Korea Newfie
Joined: 27 Mar 2003 Location: Newfoundland and Labrador
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Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2003 4:16 am Post subject: |
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Alias wrote: |
Why do you believe the Herald to be anti-American? |
Because I read it. Seriously, open it up some time, read every single article, and see what you think. Many articles in there are taken from international news gathering agencies such as Reuters, the Associated Press, etc. Articles which suggest that the US is in any way at fault about anything are prominant, as are editorials which criticize them in any way. As for those written by Korean staffers...well, don't get me started.
It's almost comical now though. A few months ago they were blatantly anti-American. Now, with the talk of the US troop movement and/or reduction, they're trying to stress the need for the US here, while not allowing the reader to forget that they still don't like them. Really funny to watch them walk that tight-rope, actually. |
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weatherman
Joined: 14 Jan 2003 Location: Korea
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Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2003 5:04 am Post subject: |
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I have to second the http://marmotshole.blogspot.com I have learnt a fair bit from the site. It is good alternative reading. Plus, I have to give him my two cents of promotion, for I know the guy too. |
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mack the knife
Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Location: standing right behind you...
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Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2003 5:12 am Post subject: |
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let me jump right on this bandwagon, please!!
did anyone else read the article about E-Mart, which compared its performance with western chains that have opened up here? WHAT TRIPE!! E-Mart SUKKS. PERIOD.
that article should have been under the heading "SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION".
WHO THE HELL wants to give a shout-out to E-Mart? a sh*tty korean rag, that's who.
AND...
AM I THE ONLY ONE who's sick and tired of seeing the editor shaking hands with some new *sshole each and every friggin' day?!?! WHAT TRIPE!! why don't they just show a picture of what's really going on...you know, the one where the editor is on his hands and knees and the *sshole of the day has his fly open... |
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The Lemon
Joined: 11 Jan 2003
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Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2003 5:58 am Post subject: |
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Quote: |
that article should have been under the heading "SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION". |
I believe in that issue (yesterday's) their "special advertising" guys were already busy giving a tongue bath to British American Tobacco. They made it through three full pages about a foreign tobacco company without once mentioning that cigarettes might be a danger to health.
But we got to learn about how BAT sent some Korean girl to college overseas. I wonder if they fixed her up with a couple of cartons of product too. |
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Trinny
Joined: 01 Feb 2003
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Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2003 8:45 am Post subject: |
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Let's not forget, "special advertising" is one of the KH's cash cows. KH basically hires anybody who graduated from a university recently and can write a short, simple paragraph in English. Very few KH reporters are not trained in a western style school of journalism and many reporters think of their KH career as a stepping stone to becoming a spokesperson for Korean politicians or working for international media like Herald Tribune. |
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Hyalucent
Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Location: British North America
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Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2003 10:02 am Post subject: |
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It was certainly an abrupt change though. I remember when I first started my weblog, just over two years ago, and the Korea Herald had lots of stories that I found fair and well written. I linked to them everyday. They were my primary source for Korean news. Now, I second the motion that it's comedic. The only time I bother with it is when I need a good laugh and am fishing for stories of the "Kimchee Cures SARS" variety.
I'd rather read the Chosun Ilbo or JoongAng Ilbo now... though to tell you the truth I get a lot more mileage out of my good moods by not reading any Korean news at all anymore. |
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Trinny
Joined: 01 Feb 2003
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Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2003 10:31 am Post subject: |
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Oops! double negation in my previous posts, "very few are not trained." Dumm me!
hyalucent,
It is so funny.
Until a few years ago, KH was always ridiculed by Korean language media for being a pro-western puppet. A lot of my reporter friends just poo-pooed at KH reporters and didn't want to deal with them. |
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Hyalucent
Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Location: British North America
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Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2003 11:19 am Post subject: |
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Trinny wrote: |
Until a few years ago, KH was always ridiculed by Korean language media for being a pro-western puppet. A lot of my reporter friends just poo-pooed at KH reporters and didn't want to deal with them. |
Heya Trinny,
Any idea what the politics behind the change was? I felt that the change in editorial policy coincided with the move to a subscription-based online service too. When they started demanding subscriptions, I initially held back linking to them (most of my small pool of readers back home can't be bothered to download Korean character fonts so I figured they wouldn't go to the trouble of setting up an account at a Korean newspaper either-- free or otherwise). The thing is, when I set up my own account to read the stories, it was that same time that I said to myself, "There's nothing here I want to link to anymore." |
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Trinny
Joined: 01 Feb 2003
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Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2003 12:46 pm Post subject: |
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hyalucent wrote: |
Any idea what the politics behind the change was? I felt that the change in editorial policy coincided with the move to a subscription-based online service too. |
Hyalucent,
Not really. I left KH years ago as a cub reporter. One thing I can say is the editorial undercurrent of Korea being impeccable and flawless has always been there. It became more prominent of late. What bothered me, when I was with KH: The executive editor person was sort of left-leaning in Hangyere style and dragged on and on "Nogunri" or other incidents. And when she wrote about her favourite topic, she couldn't carry her logic coherently, and veered off to a totally differnt topic out of blue in the same article just to prove how terribly US wronged Korea.
What KH is actually doing for the domestic news is to have reporters sit and translate articles from Korean newspapers. And because of time pressure, the reporters do word-by-word translation and the English speaking editors often end up rewriting the whole translations. So the changes in the tunes of Korean newspapers is inevitably reflected in the KH. And it is no doubt that the Korean media is becoming more left-leaning and ethnocentric past years. |
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Hyalucent
Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Location: British North America
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Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2003 1:14 pm Post subject: |
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Informative answer. Thanks, Trinny |
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