At around 3:50 am on July 15, a woman was found collapsed on the Inha University campus in Michuhol-gu, Incheon, and taken to the hospital, but eventually died. The victim is a university student, and the police are investigating an acquaintance of the victim who was with him until the end as a possible suspect. According to the portal site Naver and Daum, Yonhap News was the first to write an article. When he wrote a sensational expression in the title, many media outlets followed and poured out reports with titles that described the situation when the victim was found, such as ‘naked’, ‘undressed’, and ‘naked’.
Yonhap News/Newsis begins sensational and sexist reporting
As of 3 pm on July 15th, the Citizens’ Coalition for Democratic Press analyzed all news related to the death of Inha University retrieved from the portal site Naver. As a result, the media that wrote the most specific and sensational expressions about the situation at the time of discovery in the title was YTN. Although the expression was not used in the title, the media that reported the most related reports were YTN and SBS, which reported 4 cases each, except for Newsis, which reported 24 photo articles. YTN used expressions such as ‘naked’ and ‘naked’ in the title in 3 out of 4 cases.
Yonhap News, the national key news agency, was the first to report “A woman in her 20s, who was lying naked and bleeding on the Inha University campus, was taken to the hospital and the police started an investigation.” Then, E-Today, Cheonji Ilbo, SBS, Kookmin Ilbo, and KBC Gwangju Broadcasting followed, and all used specific and sensational expressions in their titles. Korea Newspaper Ethics Committee Newspaper ethics practice guideAccording to Article 3 of the Reporting Rules, selective reporting is prohibited, ‘When reporting illegal or unethical acts, such as crime, violence, or animal cruelty, you must not use sensational or provocative expressions, and you must not treat them in a vulgar manner’. . Even if it was intended to inform the occurrence of the incident, sensational and unnecessary descriptions such as ‘naked’ and ‘naked’ are against the ethics of reporting.
On the other hand, some media used the sexist expression of ‘college student’ in the title of the victim’s identity. After the first report by Yonhap News, the words ‘woman’ and ‘woman in their 20s’ appeared many times in the title, but Newsis, a private news agency, was the first to appear in the title. Following the report under the title, Yonhap News The number of articles using the expression ‘college student’ increased as a follow-up report was published. It is questionable whether the media poured out reports that not only described the situation at the time of discovery in a sensational way, but also added sexist language such as ‘college student’ for the purpose of ‘selling the number of clicks’. Korea Duty Free News, Digital Times, SBS, Munhwa Ilbo, Incheon Today, Korea Economic Daily, etc. used ‘female college student’ in their title.
Yonhap News and Newsis belong to the three major news agencies in Korea. As articles from news agencies are re-reported not only through the relevant news agencies, but also through many media outlets with which they have reprint contracts, they must comply with reporting ethics more strictly. In this case, when Yonhap News used the expression ‘without clothes’ and Newsis first used the expression ‘college student’, it seems that other media dictated it as it is. As news agencies’ non-compliance with reporting ethics has been pointed out several times, it is urgent to come up with an improvement plan. Yonhap News reported that in the recent assassination of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the People’s Coalition for Democracy and the Press was able to use the bloody photos without mosaic. It has been pointed out through Since Yonhap News Agency enacted the News and Communication Promotion Act in 2003, it has been receiving public support worth 30 billion won every year in the name of government subscription fee support.
Reporting without sensational language
Contrary to this, there are articles that are reported without specific or suggestive expression. SBS sent it around 7:58 a.m. In the article ‘Lan’, not only the title but also the content used the sensational expression, “He was lying naked and bleeding.” But around 9:41 a.m. The title was changed to , and even in the body of the article, specific and suggestive descriptions of the time of discovery were avoided. Again, in an article written around 10:12, expressions such as ‘with clothes off’ reappeared, but it showed that the case can be sufficiently reported without sensational expression.
Some media did not use the expression of the problem in the title, but wrote it as it is in the body of the article. The sensational language used in the body of the article is also irrelevant to the essence of the case and should be moderated as it can cause further harm to the victim and the victim’s family. In the future, all media should be careful not to use sensational or sexist expressions or use them in the naming process for incidents in additional reports.
– Links to articles have not been included to prevent spread.
– Monitor target: As of 3pm on July 15, 2022, all articles related to the death of Inha University students found on Naver
※ Media Today is publishing the ‘Mineonryun Monitor Report’ of the Citizens’ Alliance for Democratic Press in partnership. This article may not be consistent with today’s media coverage.