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In an article posted on the Cheong Wa Dae website President Roh
Moo-hyun says he received reports that scientists were unable to
continue research due to the anguish and fear caused by coercive and
threatening reporters for MBC��s ��PD Diary�� program on research projects
by cloning pioneer Prof. Hwang Woo-suk. ��I was also annoyed by the MBC
report, but the subsequent MBC bashing was excessive,�� the president
wrote. ��The situation seems to be spiraling out of control, and if 11
out of the 12 advertisers cancel their contracts with the program,
things have gone too far.�� If even the president says threats were made, MBC must disclose
all the facts and explain or apologize for them. Reporters are charged
with applying psychological pressure on interviewees by telling them
others had already confessed and saying Hwang would soon be punished by
the prosecution. If that is true, it is a gross violation of press
ethics. One researcher interviewed by the MBC team in the U.S. said to
have been hospitalized due to the stress caused by reporters. But then there is the peculiar picture of the president
putting aside important business to log onto the Internet and comment
in detail on how a broadcasting network covers news and on the
advertisers who cancel their contracts with the show as a result.
Surely these are things that the presidential chief of staff or other
aides should handle. Talking of "group assault by public opinion" against the PD
team, Roh contended, ��The expression of divergent views ensures a
system of checks and balances whereby our society can be ruled by
common sense.�� Tell that to Nosamo, the president��s bellicose online
support club that has barged like an enforcer through cyberspace.
Nosamo habitually attacks opposition forces with abusive language and
has tried to mount a boycott of newspapers critical of the government
like the Chosun and Dong-a Ilbo. Many feel that President Roh has profited greatly by playing
on the sentiments of Internet users. It is puzzling when the same
president now warns, ��Societies where conformity is overwhelming and no
criticism is tolerated have always left only shame in history.�� In the Hwang Woo-suk scandal, scientists failed to live up to
global ethical standards, the media were rash in their coverage, public
opinion was sentimental, and government intervention silly. We have
once again betrayed how immature our society when it comes to dealing
with a delicate and confrontational issue.
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