This article is rated C-class on Wikipedia's content assessment scale. It is of interest to the following WikiProjects: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
This article is written in British English, which has its own spelling conventions (colour, travelled, centre, defence, artefact, analyse) and some terms that are used in it may be different or absent from other varieties of English. According to the relevant style guide, this should not be changed without broad consensus. |
Currently, the section Munhwa_Broadcasting_Corporation#PD_Notebook_and_allegations_of_unethical_journalism contains languages that suggest PD Notebook's coverage "incit[ed] three months of massive protests in Seoul." It also seems to cite only source materials that cast negative light on the program, and no attempts are made to present information in defense of the PD Notebook's producers nor the legal documents released by the prosecution and the court. The section also contains too much over-emotional words such as "provocative," "incite," "massive," "outraged."--Supergloom (talk) 04:24, 1 July 2009 (UTC)
I completely understand what you mean, and it might look that way if you aren't familiar with the issue, but ...
PD Notebook is indeed a highly sensationalist and "provocative" program. This doesn't mean that they don't sometimes get things right, as they did with the disgraced scientist Hwang Woo-suk. PD Notebook is, however, more akin to a Korean version of Geraldo Rivera than 60 Minutes, and like Rivera, it pursues shock value and melodrama over measured reporting (one of its recent broadcasts was called "Searching out the New Japanese traitors"). You can watch some footage yourself online, and even if you don't understand Korean, you will surely be able to pick up on the sensationalist horror movie music and editing.
No legal documents have been released by the court because MBC has refused to comply with any summons and there is no effective sub poena system here. The prosecution has disclosed private emails from one of the producers which it claims implies malicious intent, I'll try to put up a citation later, but nothing else has been released.
The protests were indisputably "massive," with maybe a hundred thousand or more protesters, you can check the photographs here[1] to guess at the size. I think they qualify as "massive."
As far as "incite" goes, it says that "PD notebook were accused of inciting," not "PD Notebook incited." Since this is a claim already made by the prosecution and many others, I think it is not in se disputable. Whether or not they "incited" is the disputed issue, and why the prosecution is involved.
The translator was indeed "outraged," and went to the press claiming that PD Notebook was shifting the blame for the show's problems onto her.
As far as only casting negative light on the program, it is fairly difficult to speak in defense of the program's claims, i.e. that American beef will cause mad cow disease, simply because there are no patients confirmed to have contracted or died from mad cow disease as a result of eating American beef. Since there isn't any strong evidence for this claim, it is more akin to pseudoscience than science, and simply isn't defensible. Likewise, for the spurious claim that Koreans have a unique genetic heritage that makes them specially vulnerable to mad cow disease, the false claim that Americans do not eat beef over 30 months old,[2] and the many mistranslations which were far more inflammatory than anything in this article. There is little to be said in defense of PD Notebook here because nearly every claim presented has been refuted as unscientific or untrue. The Washington Post has described the program as "thinly sourced," and its claims as "scientifically refuted,"[3] and I consider the Washington Post to be a fairly respectable organization that checks its facts.
What can be defended, however, is PD Notebook's right to free speech, and whether it is justifiable for the government to prosecute journalists ever, even if they propagate demonstrably false information. The article tries to address that a little by mentioning the free speech issue, but you are correct in that it should be given more weight. News sources might be somewhat reluctant to rush to the defense of a known liar.
Thanks for your comments. Jayzames (talk) 05:48, 1 July 2009 (UTC)
What happened to that section? It may have slanted... but it shouldn't have been deleted completely. I wonder if the new "controversies" section will disappear also? 175.195.33.114 (talk) 11:49, 1 June 2012 (UTC) Whoops. Forgot to login. Darkpoet (talk) 11:49, 1 June 2012 (UTC)
Hi,
I've noticed that the Broadcasting Station articles (like MBC in this case) has many controversial events written, which is mostly un-neutral (written in a way that goes against the broadcasting station itself in most cases). Also, some of the details (like 19+ Profanity issues, Kim Jonghyun getting a "gift", etc.) should be omitted altogether as it does not belong on an Encyclopedia. Please explain why these "Controversies" are needed in the article.
Thanks.
Tibbydibby (talk) 01:36, 21 December 2014 (UTC)
The following Wikimedia Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion:
Participate in the deletion discussion at the nomination page. —Community Tech bot (talk) 08:36, 24 May 2022 (UTC)
The result of the move request was: Not moved. (closed by non-admin page mover) Silikonz💬 22:03, 8 March 2023 (UTC)
Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation → MBC (South Korea) – Unlike SBS or KBS which are at least sometimes (though infrequently) referred to by their full names, MBC is pretty much never referred to as "Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation" in secondary sources Freedom4U (talk) 21:27, 22 February 2023 (UTC) — Relisting. Natg 19 (talk) 20:13, 1 March 2023 (UTC)