Last chance for MBC

Munhwa Broadcasting Corp. has pledged to undergo an intensive makeover. In a recent board meeting with its largest shareholder, The Foundation of Broadcast Culture, members of the newly formed board of directors admitted to finding problems in corporate management after several sessions of examination. The company expressed its intention to correct these faults.

The board agreed to give MBC the time and opportunity to reform. Management has gained another chance. Ohm Ki-young, MBC’s president, and other executives must use the momentum to push ahead with reforms to redeem public trust.

The broadcaster’s reform is aimed largely at two goals. One is to establish a mechanism to uphold fairness in broadcasting to prevent the distortion and manipulation it fell foul of last year reporting about the resumption of beef imports from the United States.

So the company will set up a review board comprising executives to screen programs before they air. “PD Diary” has been found to have distorted information by subjective interview translations and editing while the news talk show “100-Minute Dispute” aired public opinions that had been manipulated. Until now, the company lacked a screening process or means for taking responsibility when problems occur. Nepotism is widely felt to be a problem, too.

Secondly, the broadcaster pledged to amend the labor agreement to lessen the number of strikes and walkouts. It plans to remove problematic provisions that influence the appointment of heads of programs or the one that disallows executive members from taking part in production and scheduling.

Responsible and effective management cannot take place if executives have to please the labor union more than viewers. We hope the MBC union will fully cooperate and revise the regulations so that the company can survive.

In a corporate transformation, the management and labor have to move as one. Both sides must remember that their company can slip further away from the public if they fail in this effort.