TBS members officially criticized the city’s announcement that it would cut more than 10 billion won in TBS contributions from the Media Foundation in 2022. The TBS PD Association issued a statement on the 1st and demanded that Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon “stop the brutal media oppression”. The Korea PD Association also issued a statement on the same day, warning Mayor Oh not to criticize the mayor of privatizing the mayor’s budgeting rights for political gain.
The TBS PD Association said, “TBS did not stand on the side of the market. As a faithful observer of the citizens, he viewed the government and power critically. It was a firm will as a media organization not to repeat the old habits of broadcasting the mayor’s marathon events in the form of government broadcasts in the past or broadcasting speeches as it is,” he said. The first step toward TBS was to cut 12.2 billion won in donations to TBS from the previous year.”
The TBS PD Association said, “If this continues, all broadcast productions on TBS will have to be stopped. The 95.1MHz TBS FM channel, the main source of income for TBS, cannot legally advertise, nor can it receive broadcasting development funds like other broadcasters. In a situation where they know that there is no way, they will cut even the contribution in one day.”
On the same day, the Korea PD Association also demanded, “Immediately withdraw this absurd policy and bow your head in front of the people to apologize.” The PD Association said, “It is a well-known fact that Mayor Oh has regarded ‘Kim Eo-jun’s News Factory’ as a thorn in his eyes. Since the early days of his inauguration, he has been carrying out a disruptive political offensive against TBS by taking issue with Kim Eo-jun’s appearance fee, and recently took advantage of the fact that some opposition politicians objected to Kim Eo-jun’s ‘remarks in support of Lee Jae-myung’, and he drew the sword of oppression of TBS again.” claimed that
The PD Federation said, “I am not saying to defend ‘Kim Eo-Jun’s News Factory’. Some people like this program and some don’t. However, if you think that it is not fair, it is the right procedure in a democratic society to appeal to the broadcasting deliberation system and the re-licensing system based on penalty points. It was a riot that ignored common sense and principles.”
The PD Association said, “Mayor Oh responded by stopping the advertisement when the Hankyoreh newspaper verified and reported his remarks recently. Mayor Oh, do you believe that money can solve anything?” After asking, “Stopping advertisements is a typical means of repression that successive dictatorships have used to tame the media. Mayor Oh, please do not make the mistake of violating the Broadcasting Act by destroying TBS’s programming by unfairly reducing contributions.”
