[NB] Why do the opinions of the netizens bear so much weight on the KPOP industry?

[HappyMaknae]

So I was looking at Jay Park tag on NB when I saw this Editorial by NB. I started using that site in early 2013 (when CL's solo debut came out) and this editorial was posted in late 2012, so must have missed it.

 

I thought it was an interesting read, especially cause there are a lot of accusations of media play nowadays. So I'll leave it here in case you havent read it :P

 

 

You don't even have to be around in K-Pop for that long before you realize that Korean reporters are a piss poor example of journalism. Every single Korean entertainment article you read, whether translated or not, basically comes directly from the mouths of the companies involved. By now, you're aware of select entertainment companies manipulating the media or even paying up certain outlets to release articles in their favor, but what you don't probably realize is that it's not only those select companies, but everyone. 

In my experience working for a Korean media outlet, I've come to realize that the entertainment media is completely controlled by the upper-ups, and reporters/journalists are only that in name because they really function as nothing more than the ctrl and c+z keys on your keyboard.

What essentially goes on is that Korean companies, big or small, basically draft what they want written about their artists down to every fine detail. They send these out as elaborate "press releases" directly to the inboxes of reporters, and what the reporters do is copy and paste the content and release it into our feeds. That's fine, that's how press releases work. Where the issue lies is that these reporters don't check the information they're being fed, nor do they question it. The company can basically make any statement, far-fetched or not, they want and it'll make it to the news simply because Korean journalism is crap.

How do I know this? I've had press releases come into my inbox, and in no more than 30 seconds - I kid you not - I see the article already out in my news feed from a competing outlet without a single edit from the original copy sent to us. There are variations of this laziness: some outlets will leave out paragraphs while others rearrange the paragraphs, but at no point in between do the reporters think to edit or cross check the information they're being handed.

There are two problems with this.

One, this has allowed companies to get away with controlling and manipulating the media to their favor. The companies that you're all probably familiar with have fine tuned this down to an art. What I mean by this is that it's not just the information that's being handed over. Companies will also include three to five titles they specifically want used as well as netizen comments they completely made up themselves to give the image/idea of positivity associated with their artist.

Two, they can get away with whatever BS they want in the actual content and it's going to make it to the press whether it's true and relevant or not. You think those sel-ca articles you see all the time are just fillers from bored reporters with nothing better to do? No. They were specifically sent out by the companies. Before the picture is even uploaded to the artist's Twitter, we'll receive a press release regarding said picture along with the titles and netizen comments they want used. They're essentially creating their own hype for the purpose of keeping their artist in the headlines and relevant.

That's manipulation, is it not?

Their control doesn't end there, though. For a few extra bucks, companies can buy out entire outlets, like what Kim Kwang Soo/Core Contents Media did with Newsen, and just pay them to constantly release positive press about their artists. Another fun example I like to use with anyone that asks is Park Jin Young/JYP Entertainment paying up Asia Economy to release back to back, nonstop onslaughts of editorials slamming Jay Park back when his scandal was at its height. Sidus HQ releases something good about Jay Park? Asia Economy follows up two seconds later with the release of yet another negative editorial to try and steal the spotlight.

Some companies go even further by buying out the entire portal itself. Netizens are already well aware of companies paying Nate to push articles regarding their artists into the top 10 whether netizens vote it up or not. Every once in a while, you see an article that jumps from rank #698 to #2 in the span of a second, and you know right then and there that the company paid its way up.

The company, in turn, can then go and brag that their artists are the top searched or the top ranking - all those key terms that K-Pop fans love to hear - and in turn write up another "press release" saying their artists are top ranking, therefore continuing the cycle...  It doesn't take much to turn a nobody into a top ranking artist provided that your company has the money for it.

So where do netizens come in with all of this?

Because there is no filter in the system at any point in the process, netizens have no choice but to take the role of the bad guy and QUESTION everything. Companies are trying to brainwash everyone about the images they're creating for the artists through all of this manipulation, so do you expect netizens to just sit there, nod their heads, and take it?

Can you see why netizens can't be anything but cynical?

Read an article about a group ranking first on so and so? Question it. Read an article about a solo gaining attention for some stupid nonsensical reason? Question it. Netizens have taken it upon themselves to be the filter and go the extra step that reporters skip by cross checking everything they're being fed and making sure that it's not just hype because 9 times out of 10, it's hype, and a lot of it too.

Remember that whole KARA issue and their Dokdo scandal? Netizens caught on pretty fast when they checked that it was released by Newsen and that reporters at the scene had purposely manipulated the question so that one, KARA wasn't even given an opportunity to answer before they were cut off and rushed along, and two, to create negative press to deflect T-ara's scandal.

I'm not defending netizens. Yeah, there are a lot of extremists that try and push rumors that don't even make sense, but I do think it's important to see where netizens in general are coming from and why they're always so negative or cynical in their view of the articles that international fans generally take at face value.

International fans miss all of the inner investigations that netizens take with each piece because they have no reason not to believe it. Their bias group's comeback was the top ranking search term for the week? Wonderful! (But psst, where is that information coming from?)

Netizen comments play such a huge role in the entertainment industry for this sole reason. They're the ones that do all of the real work - the work that reporters should be doing. The average reader will believe the best reply over the article if contradicting information is presented. It's come to a point where if there are no best replies on a given article, someone is bound to comment, "I clicked on this article to check the best replies but there are none", and that will become the best reply because other people thought the same.

This is the context where terms like "media play" get thrown around because it's just so unfortunately prevalent in the industry that nearly all of the articles you're going to be reading are a form of media play.

Reporters don't just sit around drafting up original content or investigating stuff on their own because they don't have to. Their inboxes are always brimming with articles to copy and paste.

The only outlet that I've seen do any kind of original investigation is Sports Seoul, and they've received a lot of flak from entertainment companies for that. Sports Seoul isn't afraid to fly out reporters to exotic resorts overseas to catch celebrities in the act or get down and find the hardest witnesses to interview to create a case.

Dirty? Yeah... But I don't think the other media outlets are any better for playing it safe and keeping their slates clean.

 

Cr: http://netizenbuzz.blogspot.mx/2012/08/editorial-why-do-opinions-of-netizens.html

 

 

So yeah, what do yall think?

 

Have you read this before? :O

 

Should I question this article credibility, just like NB said above? lol

[peach]

too long

[Regality]

too long

Im sorry. but this really is alot. I read 4-5 paragraphs tho lol.

[Kuu-sus]

because their entertainment industry is small but has a shit ton of celebrities plus Korea being the most connected country in the world is probably why netizens can make or break celebs since they are so many idols/actress/actors waiting to take their spot as the media's new darling and since it is so small of an industry, your career is really dependent on being squeaky clean 

[Tiramisu.]

i'm not going to read all that because it's way too long, but to answer your question.

 

Opinions of netizens are basically like the demands of you to someone who's working for you. We do glorify idols and all i'm not saying we shouldn't, i myself glorify and stan everyone, but the truth is, they work for us, our entertainment, and our support to gain the money they live by. If it weren't that way and netizens opinions were casted away, the whole industry would drop, flop, and fail.

 i hope that answered your title question properly because i went a little out of topic

[BingeulBingeul]

too long

[Catlixle]

lol i still remember the mess between jay park and jyp thanks to the mediaplay that jyp did

[i_apologize]

tldr sorry i won't read it. please shorten it to the scandalous part.

[Witch Nose]

Yet she translates shitty comments in response to those articles and in turn ends up brainwashing young fans

[Keijiro]

because their entertainment industry is small but has a shit ton of celebrities plus Korea being the most connected country in the world is probably why netizens can make or break celebs since they are so many idols/actress/actors waiting to take their spot as the media's new darling and since it is so small of an industry, your career is really dependent on being squeaky clean 

[pr0chicken007]

cool

[dullldell]

NB is a trash who love to trans mostly negative responds among milions positive responds though, what is her goal by posting these paragraph?

[Catlixle]

Yet she translates shitty comments in response to those articles and in turn ends up brainwashing young fans

lol this is so true

[peach]

NB is a trash who love to trans mostly negative responds among milions positive responds though, what is her goal by posting these paragraph?

 

Same

[haku]

i've read this before. and it's true, though many won't believe it.

[ToujoursSistar]

with anyone that asks is Park Jin Young/JYP Entertainment paying up Asia Economy to release back to back, nonstop onslaughts of editorials slamming Jay Park back when his scandal was at its height. Sidus HQ releases something good about Jay Park? Asia Economy follows up two seconds later with the release of yet another negative editorial to try and steal the spotlight.

 

 

what an asshole glad jay parkleft jyp

 

Because there is no filter in the system at any point in the process, netizens have no choice but to take the role of the bad guy and QUESTION everything. Companies are trying to brainwash everyone about the images they're creating for the artists through all of this manipulation, so do you expect netizens to just sit there, nod their heads, and take it?

 

I aways say this . A powerful company can brainwash easily the netizens .

[jennaayy]

I was thinking about this specific article when I saw tons of Seolhyun fans defending her mediaplay by saying the journalists were the ones that wrote it and not FNC themselves.

 

 

To be honest, the only time you know when something ISN'T mediaplay is when only one news outlet releases the news vs. 50+ releasing it at the same time. 

[Ellla]

 

too long

 

[NiNiBear]

Yet she translates shitty comments in response to those articles and in turn ends up brainwashing young fans

bloop ^^

 

Sometimes she will translate negative comments that has btw 100-500 upvotes, but if the reader goes to the said article  maybe 10 mins later and it has 5k-1k+upvoted positive comments. I understand where she's coming from because I'm sure its true after I read it all BUT at the same time she STILL translates the negative things for clicks and traffic so its like "why are you telling us this, if in the end your only going to feed people the negativity?"

[yosomono]

Being a kpop fan for 9 years I can say for sure we are being played and manipulated a lot.Not only by the company but by the fans too.

"Read an article about a group ranking first on so and so? Question it. Read an article about a solo gaining attention for some stupid nonsensical reason? Question it."  

I even question dating news for being a business transactions.

[HugeBoi Minos Wife]

Even selcas are actually sent by companies? lol and its scary how they sent their contents along with comments already made up by themselves...shows you how they know what they´re doing and how far the manipulation can go. Everything is planned...damn.

[swiftswitchsurf]

I mean, that explanation is all fine and good.

 

But, when the original article remains untranslated and the top comment amounts to "nugu"... Well, that's no more critically analyzed than your average youtube section and is just as spin worthy as what she accuses the media outlets of doing.

 

If NB really wants to show us the contrasting opinions  of knetz, then she should be just as willing to provide the particular articles that they oppose in some actual detail and the relevant comments. Otherwise we're getting something that's just as abridged as what the k-netizens are, but in the opposite direction.

[iljinspirit]

Ummm Sports Seoul is one of the worst ones when it comes to releasing false accusations about people :/
People call them dirty because they're legitimately dirty 

[Reiz]

I was thinking about this specific article when I saw tons of Seolhyun fans defending her mediaplay by saying the journalists were the ones that wrote it and not FNC themselves.

 

 

To be honest, the only time you know when something ISN'T mediaplay is when only one news outlet releases the news vs. 50+ releasing it at the same time.

Hmm. First, Im Seolhyun fan but I actually dislike FNC. So I want to know the fact.

 

So, you believe whats written in this article is the truth, not something made up by NB to brainwash i-fans?

 

And youre saying if only one news outlet releases the news, then its not mediaplay. But when alot of news outlet releasing it at the same time, then its a mediaplay?

 

I understand the logic behind it (based on whats written by NB) just want to make it clear. But if its true, then the journalism in korea is really sucks

[A random user]

Interesting, although the meaning and content of this article is summarized on netizenbuzz's FAQ and About a long time ago. This article just added examples and some new info (Deam! At the copy&paste thing; Seoul Sports? Really? They were the Dispatch then; H*ll* cr*p at entertaiment companies owning news portal; Deam! Even selcas are provided before they are uploaded!? I wonder if this practice stiil alive; Sajeagi on trend's charts...)