Korean Job Discussion Forums

[EFLtrainer]

The following is a good example of something I've noticed over the ten years I've been in and out of Korea. Journalism seems incomplete. News articles routinely fail to: give background information needed to fully understand the article, discuss the full range of implications, discuss the full range of causes or potential causes, etc. For those of you that read Korean fluently, is this the result of watered down language in the English versions of stories, an artifact of being an on-line publication, or just the way journalism is here?

In the following article it is stated that students are returning from their studies due to adjustment issues. Bam. That's it. However, if you look at the numbers they give they seem to flow in a way mirroring the economic slowdown, too. And, in terms of adjustment issues, so many never get outside their Korean community, how could they adjust? Living in one community but working and studying in another is not easy, as we all know.

And, strangely, the authority in the article is a lawmaker, not a psychologist, social worker or school administration official/teacher. So, where does the supposition come from?

But these issues are not addressed in the article. What do you think?

[Ya-ta Boy]

I agree. There have been frequent comments over the years at the poor quality of news reporting in Korea. No one seems to know if the causes are those you listed or not. It would be interesting to hear from those fluent enough to read Korean and report in.

My gut reaction (with nothing whatsoever to back it up) is that we see pretty much what the Koreans see. Little more than a headline. No depth or sign of critical thinking, investigating or putting stories in a context. A great deal of reporting only what supports the preconceived notion.

[in_seoul_2003]

...

[On the other hand]

[Moldy Rutabaga]

[....]

[mithridates]

Usually the news that comes in directly from Japan is pretty good, and conversely on the other side as well. Translating from one to the other is a snap for people that know both languages well.
In general there does seem to be a bit of a sloppy attitude over here though - I've had things I've written be hacked up twice now because the editor didn't seem to understand what it was I was trying to write and it came out totally different. That being said, I'm not sure if an editor in another country would ask before doing something like that.
There's not as much making fun of the president here though - shows like the Daily Show just don't exist here. I suspect there's a market for it though once somebody figures out how to do it right.

[rok_the-boat]

If you've been here ten years and still read Korean news then something is wrong. I had it figured after my first week English news in Korea is worthless drivel.

[in_seoul_2003]

...

[EFLtrainer]

[mithridates]

Quite often it is, yes.

[EFLtrainer]

[mithridates]

Oh God, not that. My favourite newspaper here is the ��ȭ�Ϻ�. �����Ϻ� is pretty interesting too because it's owned by a religion (I think). As far as I know every newspaper but the �Ѱܷ� is owned by a larger company or religion. �Ѱܷ� is the one that first exposed the acts of the Korean soldiers in the Vietnam War in slaughtering villagers for example, the so-called ����л�.

[mithridates]

If you're working on your Korean and have a tutor, take this with you next class for material. There's a huge difference between the attitudes of people whet they're talking among their own kind and don't feel like they have to prove anything or compare themselves.

[On the other hand]

In Seoul wrote:

[in_seoul_2003]

...