When I first read the translation of the Joongang Ilbo article, I laughed. I wasn't surprised.
I worked as a journalist for 5 years from the age of 22 to 27 for different newspapers, all within the same company in the United States. I worked alongside people that were/are more "famous" than Mr. Yang Seong Cheol will ever be. As a fellow journalist, I am ashamed of Mr. Yang's actions. If this were to happen anyplace else in the global marketplace, he would be immediately fired. But, this is Korea.
Do journalism ethics exist here?
Is it not shameful to Koreans that there are foreigners on the island of Jeju that want to improve this society - especially as it pertains to the environment - but the reality of what we receive is Mr. Yang's actions?
As a journalist, I know his actions were deliberate. There was nothing lost in translation.
Where there are foreigners on this island that want to make a difference, what we have experienced is a reflection of society here.
I see some of the brightest and best people in Korea, but the reality is the nonsense such as this may keep Koreans "rotting on the docks" of globalization.
How can Jejudo be international if its people never learn what globalization means and ...
its tourists are forced to relax on garbage-infested beaches, smelling burning plastic from nearby rubbish piles, and the industrial mosquito sprayers eliminating pests with harmful chemicals?
A Silent Spring anyone?
-Steve
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Steve, you'd know better than me. But I wonder if maybe the journalist, Mr. Yang, wrote an accurate article but his boss or someone else "spruced" it up a little! Doesn't that kind of thing happen in journalism?
ReplyDeleteWhen we contacted Reporter Yang we hoped that he would tell us something to that effect - that he wrote an accurate article but his bosses changed it. Sadly, that doesn't seem to be the case in this instance. Sherrin
ReplyDeleteIt's just real unfortunate that a distorted view of why you all are doing this has been presented to readers of the newspaper. -Troy.
ReplyDelete