Choe Mun Sun has been chosen as the next president of Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation (MBC). There are great expectations in this "young" new choice for MBC president, someone who was once head of the union there. In him you are able to read the strength and will to make reform happen. Of course, some are concerned. His so-called lack of executive experience is seen by some as something that makes him vulnerable. Those concerns, however, are about momentary phenomena brought about by the destruction of the status quo.
Even well beyond the company itself, there is intense interest in what kind of reform Choe will initiate there. It will likely be about elevating the status of MBC with its somewhat depressed internal situation. That is probably why some are interpreting his selection as reflection of the company's internal sense of crisis. We believe he will find a solution by achieving organizational reform and qualitative innovation in programming. Answers are easier to find when people share in the belief there is a crisis.
There is something that will be even more important and difficult. That will be performing his duties as the manager of the "public airwaves," which are public assets," to the fullest. The role of broadcasting in the era of change and reform is a truly important one. It would be no exaggeration to say broadcasting has the power to determine whether reform succeeds or not and to control the course of it. Broadcasting has moved out from the dark era in which it was the "lady in waiting" for government authority, but there are still voices of criticism saying that it has yet to truly be "liberated." It has yet to be free of the ties of the establishment and the "old system." It is of significant symbolic significance that he has promised to negotiate a 10 percent wage reduction with the union. That in itself is reason enough to watch him closely, since in 2000 he was the first head of the National Union of Media Workers. His unconventional proposal appears to be loaded with philosophy and a determination to share in the country's difficulties.
Since Jeong Yeon Ju is president over at the Korean Broadcasting System (KBS), we now enter an era where two people who seek reform are leading major broadcasting companies. We hope to see some "beautiful competition" between the two companies as they seek healthy change with the times.
The Hankyoreh, 24 February 2005.
[Translations by Seoul Selection (PMS)]
[Editorial] Hope in the New Head of MBC |
