Opposition lawmakers visited TBS and said that they would consider institutional support to prevent political power from interfering with the media.
On the 28th, MPs Jeong Pil-mo and Kang Min-jeong of the Democratic Party of Korea and independent lawmakers Min Hyung-bae had a meeting with TBS executives at the TBS conference room in Mapo-gu, Seoul. On the TBS side, Kang-taek Lee, CEO of Strategic Planning Department, Seung-hoon Lee, Hyeon-cheol Lim, Head of Reporting Division, Won-seop Song, Head of Radio Production Department, and Woo-jong Bong, Head of Broadcasting Technology Department, were in attendance.
Rep. Jeong Pil-mo strongly criticized the proposal to abolish the TBS Ordinance promoted by the People’s Power Seoul lawmakers, calling it “a provocation against freedom of speech and expression under the Constitution and an anti-democratic treatment.” Rep. Jung said, “I was not able to demand the abolition of the program, so now I have come up with an ordinance that is the basis for the existence of broadcasting companies.
Lee Kang-taek, CEO of TBS, responded, “There are many complex and urgent issues, but thank you very much for finding them in person. A year and a half ago, traffic broadcasting was reborn as TBS, the Seoul Media Foundation,” he said.
CEO Lee said, “A fairly one-sided and violent argument that does not match reality has emerged that completely destroys our actions and efforts with just a few words.” “We cannot yield to such a move. “Social discussion should be properly initiated based on actual facts, and accordingly, TBS can move forward as a meaningful institution only by considering what responsibilities for TBS are properly set and whether the institutional status it can carry out is properly guaranteed.” .
The previous ordinance proposed by the People’s Power Seoul lawmakers on the 4th (abolition of the TBS Ordinance) is to abolish the ordinance containing the city’s TBS ordinance, and if TBS employees wish, priority will be given to hiring new or operated or newly-established institutions in Seoul.
Regarding the ordinance on the same day, TBS said, “It is a historical regression to mention privatization and neutralize the efforts of civil society organizations, academia, and TBS members who have tried to make TBS a ‘citizen’s broadcast’ rather than a ‘Seoul City Broadcasting’ over the past 15 years.” . TBS became independent as Seoul Media Foundation TBS in 2020 from tbs Transportation Broadcasting, which was a subsidiary of Seoul Metropolitan Government.
In response to the ordinance bill stating that the purpose of the ordinance was ‘a rapid change in information and communication technology development and demand for traffic information,’ TBS said, “Providing traffic information is only a part of TBS’s many tasks, and it plays a de facto general role.” It is of course possible to revise the relevant provisions, but the complete repeal may constitute an abuse of authority.”
The lawmakers who participated in the interview saw the ordinance as a strategy to press and push TBS. Rep. Jeong Pil-mo said, “The removal of broadcasting companies is not something the Seoul City Council can decide. It is the authority of the Korea Communications Commission that gave permission for the Seoul Media Foundation,” he said. Rep. Jeong also said, “If you look at the bill to abolish the ordinance, the provisions for manpower and asset reorganization were included in the supplementary to the abolition of the ordinance. It also implies that it will be implemented through the ordinance, but rather than that, it means that they will remove the current management and specific programs by applying pressure,” he said.
Rep. Min Hyung-bae said, “What we can do is to fight together to prevent the city of tyranny. The employees also need to gather their internal will, and the city of Seoul must find a political approach and countermeasures in the direction of dismantling.” “If the resistance is strong and the strength to try new things is gathered, then Mayor Oh Se-hoon and the Seoul Metropolitan Government will not be able to do it recklessly,” he said.
After hearing this diagnosis, CEO Lee also said, “In the past, some media said that (the ordinance bill) was a kind of ‘rabbit driving’. It has to be done properly and rationally.”
TBS emphasizes performance after tailoring… Commercial advertisements and the need for public funds
On the other hand, TBS announced the achievements and tasks of TBS after cutting through an explanatory material on the same day. Specific achievements include △Providing transportation and living information through broadcasting △General of the broadcasting business such as providing information related to the region △Providing information and promoting communication for foreigners △Coexistence and coexistence through citizen participation in the media △Climate crisis and climate crisis for citizens’ safety He emphasized that it has been producing public interest programs such as the role of quarantine and disaster broadcasters in the metropolitan area, discovering popular culture and emphasizing culture and art.
He also said that since TBS was launched as an independent foundation as a ‘citizen participatory public broadcaster’, it has achieved contents, platforms, civic cooperation, and regularization of non-regular workers. Following this, TBS 2 radio’s ‘Kim Eo-jun’s News Factory’ listening rate topped the list for 4 consecutive years, and TBS FM’s channel share ranked first among 20 channels in Seoul and the metropolitan area. In the case of TBS TV, it was also emphasized that it ranked first in the public PP viewership rating even though it was ranked second in the channel number.
TBS also argued that as future tasks, it was necessary to diversify financial resources and secure financial independence by allowing the Korea Communications Commission to broadcast advertisements, and to revise the law for situations in which it was impossible to support the Korea Communications Development Fund or the local Broadcasting Development Fund. He also said that the ‘Public Broadcasting Special Committee’ within the Seoul City Council, which had been previously proposed by the National Press Workers’ Union, should be formed at the same time as the opening of the Seoul City Council extraordinary session in August.
In this regard, CEO Lee Kang-taek said, “We set our own social responsibilities and are moving forward with citizen participation-type local public broadcasting, but there is little institutional status to support this. “In terms of financial resources, when it was established as a foundation, the Korea Communications Commission (KCC) originally planned to grant a two-year grace period to allow broadcasting advertisements, but it was put on hold. Therefore, there is an aspect that the diversification of financial resources is not well done.”
Rep. Jeong Pil-mo said, “It seems necessary to revise the definition of regional broadcasting under the Broadcasting Act and use the Broadcasting Communication Development Fund or the Regional Broadcasting Development Fund as public sources.” He suggested the possibility of improving the legal system.
