The resolution of the agenda was put on hold as the Broadcasting Communications Standards Commission was unable to determine the level of sanctions for popular show host Jeong Yoon-jung’s home shopping profanity broadcast.
The Security Guard held a plenary meeting on the 10th, and 9 members could not come to a conclusion about the Hyundai Home Shopping broadcast on January 28, in which Mr. Jeong cursed, and decided to ‘suspend the decision’.
On the 28th of last month, the archyde news Deliberation Subcommittee held a meeting and decided on a ‘warning’ and ‘discipline for related persons’, saying, “It is a serious matter, so legal sanctions are inevitable.” It was decided to review the follow-up measures of Hyundai Home Shopping, which made the decision to permanently withdraw, and similar sanctions in the past by the Security Guard.
Commissioner Kim Woo-seok said, “There shouldn’t be abusive language on the air, and I couldn’t understand it. Of course, there is no disagreement about the need for strong sanctions,” he said. It is true that the matter is serious, but the abusive host was not a show host hired by the broadcasting company, but was hired by a partner.”
In May 2020, Commissioner Hwang Seong-wook commented that there was a precedent in which film director Hwang Byeong-guk appeared and cursed at TBS FM’s “It’s not Joo Jin-woo in the middle of the night,” but stopped at administrative guidance in the 4th CPA. Commissioner Hwang said, “During the live broadcast, Hyundai Home Shopping made a gesture to correct it.”
Commissioner Jeong Min-young said, “The show host’s swearing was something that could be accepted as if he was looking at the viewers head-on, so it seems that the viewers’ displeasure was great.” It is an unusual case, but strong sanctions are needed for this kind of issue.”
Commissioner Lee Kwang-bok said, “Honestly, I think that this issue should go beyond simply ‘discipline’ and ‘warning’ and pay a fine.” I have a hunch that strong sanctions will be imposed, so I wonder if such measures were belatedly taken. We need to make other people know that we shouldn’t do that on air. I am of the ‘penalty’ opinion,” he said.
The committee members were in an atmosphere of sympathy that Chung’s profanity broadcast was a serious issue and the need for severe punishment as it faced a great deal of criticism, but it was an atmosphere of contemplation over the level of sentencing.
Chairman Jeong Yeon-joo said, “Abusive language is also a problem, but the response after that was very insufficient. Although there were several opportunities to apologize for this matter, I missed them all.” “The current opinions are ‘penalty’ by 1 person, ‘discipline and warning by related persons’ by 5 people, ‘warning’ by 2 people, and ‘caution’ by 1 person. A number of comments came out. However, there is a need to review past cases in more detail, and there are also data from the last discussion process, so I will suspend today’s decision.”
Jung Yoon-jung banned from appearing in ‘Hyundai Home Shopping’ indefinitely
On January 28th, during a live broadcast on Hyundai Home Shopping, where she appeared as a guest, Jeong spat out abusive words like “XX”. It was the reason that the broadcast could not be ended early even though the sale product was sold out.
Mr. Jeong said, “I can’t receive travel broadcasts early. Travel products are only broadcast for a set time. Mr. Lee, why are you traveling again?” he couldn’t hide his excitement. At the same time, she expressed dissatisfaction, saying, “I was going to go play.”
When the production team, who recognized the problem internally, asked for correction, Mr. Jeong said, “What should I do to correct it? I’m good at correcting,” he said. “Ah, inappropriate language for broadcasting. what did you do? I forgot” and “I’m sorry that I sometimes use inappropriate language while broadcasting, but please treat it like entertainment. Home shopping shouldn’t come in the entertainment era,” he said.
As the controversy grew, on the 17th, Mr. Jeong said, “I admit that I used inappropriate expressions, more precisely, abusive language during the broadcast on January 28th, and I sincerely apologize to the customers who must have been hurt by this and to all the broadcasters who had to endure a lot of damage.” posted a statement of content on Instagram.
Mr. Jeong said, “I was in a position where I met a good product and received undeserved love, so I always looked back at myself and thought about returning the love I received, but I ended up saying something I shouldn’t have done.” A lot of people pointed out my mistakes, and I also realized how big of a mistake I had made by repeating the contents of the last broadcast countless times.”
He then apologized, saying, “I apologize again for the delay in even a sincere apology,” and “I will carefully listen to the scolding of many people and look back.
Hyundai Home Shopping made a decision to permanently evict Mr. Jeong. It is the first time in the industry that a particular show host has been banned from appearing on air.
On the 3rd, after internal deliberation, Hyundai Home Shopping decided to ban Jung from appearing on its home shopping broadcast indefinitely.
An official from Hyundai Home Shopping told the Seoul Shinmun that the decision was made as “part of an inevitable measure to fulfill our public responsibility as a broadcaster.”
● “Show hosts should be directly sanctioned”
Even if a show host causes a problem, the Korea Communications Standards Commission has no way to directly sanction the show host in question, so it was pointed out that improvement measures are needed.
On the 29th, according to the data received from the National Security Council by Rep. Kim Young-sik of the Science and Technology Information Broadcasting and Communications Committee of the National Assembly, a total of 757 complaints were received in relation to home shopping show hosts from 2020 to February of this year. done. By year, there were 402 cases in 2020, 167 cases in 2021, 158 cases in 2022, and 30 cases in January and February 2023.
In case the contents of the home shopping broadcast, such as show hosts and subtitles, are judged to be in violation of the ‘Regulations on Deliberation of Product Introduction and Sales Broadcasting,’ the Commission can determine appropriate sanctions against the broadcasting company in accordance with Article 100 of the Broadcasting Act.
The problem is that the subject of sanctions is limited to broadcasting companies, so the show host that caused the controversy is avoiding the sanctions.
Regarding performers such as show hosts, each broadcasting company includes the results of measures taken against performers, such as warnings and restrictions on appearances, in accordance with Article 100, Paragraph 4 of the Broadcasting Act, and reports them to the Korea Communications Commission. It is a situation where the surveillance committee cannot directly sanction performers.
Rep. Kim Young-sik said, “Recently, moral hazard among some show hosts is at a serious level. Rather than delivering accurate information about the product to customers, they are deceiving viewers by focusing only on the so-called ‘sold out’ (all sold).” ”he said.
Reporter Kim Min-ji