Democratic news transforms S Korea

South Korea's sudden swing from conservative pro-American gerontocracy to a more liberal and youthful democracy last December (2002) has been partly attributed to the influence of a single news site.

Nearly 70 per cent of South Korean households are online, and during election time one online newspaper, Ohymynews, was receiving 20 million page impressions a day - in a country with a population of only 40 million.

Ohmynews was started with just four employees three years ago by Oh Yeon Ho, a longstanding contributor to underground publications during the dictatorship.

Unusually, the site relies heavily on content written by ordinary people around the country. Each story is graded according to content, and those classed as being straight news stories are fact-checked by editors.

Even though the site now employs 41 staff, only 20 per cent of the content is written by its own journalists.

"My goal was to say farewell to 20th Century Korean journalism, with the concept that every citizen is a reporter," Mr Oh told the New York Times.

Following the crushing to death of two Korean schoolgirls by a US armoured vehicle last summer, Ohmynews was instrumental in forcing the conservative mainstream media to cover the story, leading to a series of demonstrations against the presence of US troops in South Korea.

The campaign is thought to have been instrumental in aiding the election of 56-year-old Roh Moo Hyun, a reformist lawyer and hitherto relatively unknown candidate.

Mr Roh returned the favour by granting the news site his first interview on election.

Source:
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/06/international/asia/06SEOU.html?pagewanted=2&ei=5062&en=f606272a18f2dbf7&ex=1047531600

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