Fall and pain hidden behind fancy microphones: two tragedies facing the broadcasting industry. > News

The domestic violence victims revealed by announcer-turned-counselor Hwang Hyun-joo have once again brought to the surface the cruelty of gaslighting and violence that is rampant in our society. The marriage that started with a religious background and trust turned into hell as soon as it started, and the victim had to go through the paradoxical pain of becoming the target of domestic violence while studying domestic violence as an expert. In particular, the perpetrator's act of calculating the blind spots of the CCTV and dragging the victim to the emergency stairs and pushing her was a meticulous crime that went beyond a simple emotional explosion and was close to attempted murder. Hwang Hyeon-joo hesitated to divorce due to social and religious pressure, but was eventually able to escape from that bondage with the decisive intervention of her advisor and the help of a female police officer. This can be said to be an example that proves how deep the swamp of domestic violence is that cannot be escaped through individual will alone.

On the other hand, the application for rehabilitation procedures by some affiliates of JoongAng Group, including JTBC, represents the structural crisis facing the entire media industry. Even JTBC, which once boasted high reliability by reading the changes of the times, was unable to overcome the rapidly changing digital media environment, shrinking advertising market, and worsening external economic conditions and faced the painful reality of default on its debt. Vice Chairman Hong Jeong-do bowed his head, emphasizing that it was an inevitable choice to normalize management, but the pain of countless creditors, shareholders, and anxious executives and employees that occurred in the process remained the burden of our society. The situation in which a broadcasting company, which was considered a national asset, had to undergo legal rehabilitation procedures paradoxically shows how weak the content market ecosystem was standing on.

Another point that runs through the two incidents is ‘collapse of relationship’ and ‘loss of attachment.’ Just as Hwang Hyun-joo felt betrayed by the spouse she trusted and felt her life threatened, the ‘upset’ and ‘bitterness’ that JTBC’s first announcer Jang Seong-gyu felt when he saw his former company go into court receivership reflects the common sense of desolation we feel when the trust we had in something is broken. This pain experienced in different ways by those who share the professional identity of announcers suggests that the content we consume every day and the human narrative behind it can never be separated. On the one hand, it appears to be a problem of violence that destroys individual lives, and on the other, it appears as a management problem that threatens the survival of organizations, but in the end, all of this is a warning about how easily the social safety net we have built can be shaken.

It takes great courage for Hyunjoo Hwang to live a second life as a counseling expert and share her experiences despite suffering. This is not simply an exhibition of the wounds of the past, but is also a process of social healing that provides hope and justification for escape to those in similar situations. Likewise, through this rehabilitation process, JTBC is also being tested on how to restore its intrinsic value as a media and rebuild trust beyond simple asset preservation. Pain, whether it befalls an individual or an organization, demands correspondingly responsible handling and reflection. We should no longer simply consume their pain as interesting gossip, but develop it into serious discussions for the eradication of violence in our society and the restoration of a healthy ecosystem in the media industry.