Privatizing public broadcasters is better than not

Kim Won-bae
The author is an editorial writer of the JoongAng Ilbo.

The presidential office’s recommendation to separate the fee charged to watch the channels of Korea Broadcasting System (KBS) from electricity bills has drawn strong protest from the oldest public terrestrial broadcaster. In a statement, the KBS branch of the National Union of Media Workers criticized the move for shaking “the foundation of the public broadcaster striving to serve the public without leaning to any political or economic forces.”

Independence from the political power and capital should be upheld by the public broadcaster. But whether KBS really stayed true to the duty is doubtful. It has been repeatedly under fire for biased broadcasts.

Outspoken leftist podcaster Kim Ou-joon’s lengthy command over a radio program at Seoul city-owned Traffic Broadcasting System underscores how public broadcaster served for a certain political group. Kang Jun-man, an active political commentator and honorary professor at Jeonbuk National University, devotes a chapter in his book on Kim as a cult leader who dominates the Democratic Party (DP). He asked the liberal front if they can tolerate a Kim Ou-joon-like figure from the conservative front. “If you cannot tolerate a certain behavior of others, you also must refrain from it,” the professor wrote.

According to a survey in March by online media platform Truth Guardian and KopraLab, an institute on public opinion analysis, 59 percent found KBS news reports “biased” while only 35 percent deemed them to be “fair.” As much as 66 percent approved of the plan to separate the television licensing fees for KBS from their electricity bills.

A recent survey by online conservative media platform Dailian showed 58.2 percent approving the decoupling of the television fee charge versus 31.2 percent in opposition. Among supporters of the conservative People Power Party, 77.2 percent backed the separation while 36.9 percent of DP supporters approved it. Many viewers are also unhappy about being taxed to pay for public TV viewership when they hardly watch KBS due to the change in the media environment.

In a press conference on June 8, Kim Eui-cheol, the president of KBS, stressed the efficiency and legitimacy of the bundling charge system without specifying any measures to regain public confidence. Kim vowed to resign if the presidential office withdraws the recommendation and demanded a meeting with President Yoon Suk Yeol as if seeking a deal over the matter.

KBS can secure 620 billion won ($486 million) in annual revenue through the bundling of public TV fees for every household. But the revenue could be cut to 100 billion won, spelling a crisis for the public broadcaster. KBS must read the public discontent behind the move.

KBS must first resolve its reckless management and try to restore public confidence. After the impeachment of the former conservative president, public broadcasters like KBS and MBC have come under control of the unions. Any nonunionized members are pushed out to unpopular tasks or posts. Their employees cannot be efficiently managed under such a structure. The rule of checks and balance must be activated in the newsrooms of public TV stations to reflect the needs of diverse viewers. It is how the design of public broadcasters can be safeguarded regardless of the change of the governing power.

If the fee is separated from the utility bills, the system to charge TV fees on every household with TV receivership could be scrapped. In that case, a public broadcaster would be left on its own to raise money for operation. KBS must immediately start self-correction if it hopes to reflect its opinion in the process of the change.

Under the current ownership structure, KBS can be swayed every time the governing power changes. The public broadcaster has become elephantine since the forced merger under the past military regime in the 1980s. Since the appointment of the CEOs lies with the power who wins the presidential election, the governing powers are tempted to exploit public broadcasters.

Instead of discussing who should take command of the mammoth public broadcasters, it is better to streamline them. The government can consider subsidizing only key programs such as disaster reporting, while privatizing the rest of their functions.

Some think the privatization of terrestrial broadcasters could lead to a catastrophe. But privately-owned SBS is much freer from the bias controversy than KBS and MBC. There is no reason to maintain public broadcasters as they are today.