The news in Korean ... in English

Despite the efforts of the Korea Herald and other media, Korean journalism is mostly fenced off from those who can`t speak the local language.

For nearly two years, Korea Beat has wedged a gap in that fence, providing English translations of articles not covered in the English language media.

Behind the site is Nathan Schwartzman, now a law student in the United States, who first came to Korea in 2004.

"I knew that when I was new to Korea and didn`t know any Korean, I would have been really interested in seeing direct translations of Korean articles," he says. "So after I had studied the language for a few years I started experimenting."

Schwartzman highlights sport and culture as the two main areas that have weakest coverage in the English language media. The stories translated by him and his contributors, however, are wide ranging.

"My bookmarks folder is always full of stories that I want to translate, and unfortunately a lot of them languish there for a long time. I tend to translate a batch of articles on a similar theme from week to week," he says.

"In general, though, I usually give a high priority to any story involving foreigners or other minorities, such as gays and lesbians, and to stories which are unlikely to turn up in the English language media.

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"Of course, stories which are easy to translate are much more likely to wind up on the blog. So I don`t usually translate long magazine articles."

"I do try to avoid adding my own editorial perspective too much, because I think there is a lot of sameness among expat bloggers` opinions about Korean politics, and while I don`t disagree with them I don`t see that I have much to add either."

There are definitely similar opinions expressed on the main expat blogs. While the more experienced bloggers don`t always agree, a common accusation is that the Korean media is racist.

"I think it`s both fair and unfair," he says. "Clearly biased articles do get published, probably because `foreigners are hurting our country` is an easy way to frame an issue.

"But it`s an unfair charge in that the Korean media in general are bad at all kinds of things, and foreigners don`t get treated any more unfairly than any other group outside of `chaebol` executives and their children."

"In fact, I`ve translated quite a few articles which are very sympathetic to migrant workers and imported brides. They depict their deprived circumstances, struggles to adapt to Korean life, and the racism they struggle against. Occasionally other articles will talk about some inconveniences that more affluent foreign residents have, too."

Schwartzman remains unimpressed. He says people who have a complaint should do more to address the situation.

"It seems that nobody who feels passionately about the issue has actually tried to do anything about it.

"A person who wants to really do something about it should learn Korean and start contacting the authors of articles they don`t like, writing letters to the editor, and so on. Some perspective would be helpful, too; most people who get screwed by the Korean way of doing things are, of course, Koreans.

"I think engaging with Koreans in their own language, in conversation and in the media, is the only thing that can be effective."

With the language barrier working two ways, you might expect writers to be sensitive about having their work translated. But Schwartzman hasn`t received any complaints from them.

"I have contacted one or two reporters whose pieces I translated to ask some follow-up questions, and neither complained about what I`d done."

The stories Schwartzman chooses to cover don`t always depict Korea in the most positive light.

"Some commentators have accused me of having an anti-Korea bias, but I don`t think there is any substance to that."

But if a stream of bad news stories gives a negative impression, then it also gives the country due credit. A common accusation against the Korean media is that it is uncritical of domestic issues, turning a blind eye to the country`s bad points. Although they are inherently limited to what the Korean media provides for translation, the posts on Korea Beat attempt to address that.

This is partly why Schwartzman is particularly proud of some of his translations.

"They showed that the Korean media are not as biased against foreigners as is often thought," he said, noting another piece which criticized the way rape victims were treated by the system.

"Translating pieces about gay and lesbian life was rewarding both because that`s a subject the English-language media doesn`t seem to treat much and because it slips the lie to the persistent myth among expats that Koreans believe there are no gays in Korea."

Despite these positives, Schwartzman says the Korean media is far below the standard of the United States.

"There`s a real lack of investigative journalism, general objectivity, and detailed coverage of issues. Most reporters seem content to rely on press releases or uncritically passing along the opinions of one or two experts or unnamed sources without providing any differing opinions," he says.

"I think in these thoughts I am in the mainstream of Korean public opinion. A lot of people are unhappy with their media."

He is not impressed with the English language media either.

"I think that the English language press in Korea has a long way to go to meet the standard set in other non-English speaking countries. For example, the Japan Times puts out an impressive product. I`ve seen English media in Cambodia, even, that impressed me more than nearly anything I`ve seen produced in Korea.

"While I couldn`t really point to specific stories that weren`t covered, in general the quality and depth of coverage could stand to go up a lot. The quality of writing could be improved quite a bit as well, which is probably due to the absence of foreign names in the bylines."

Harsh words perhaps, but if they stand out that could be because of the dearth of other media commentators in Korea, at least in English.

More commentary is one of the ways Schwartzman wants to see Korea Beat develop.

"I`d like to do more posts describing the Korean media in general terms and what sorts of things are common in it," he says.

Schwartzman also plans to write about the work and writing styles of specific columnists, and begin translations of Japanese news articles.

The much promised Daegu-based magazine, Daegu Pockets, to be published by online expat organization Galbijim, plans to put Korea Beat articles in print.

With 80 articles in December alone, it`s a lot of work for Schwartzman and his contributors, but he is clear about his motivations.

"I think a lot of expats are quite interested to see how foreigners are portrayed in the Korean media, so I enjoy providing that. It`s also been a great form of study; I`d probably never study without the pressure to keep the blog updated. And of course it`s really fun to write a post that gets a lot of attention."

By Paul Kerry



(paulkerry@heraldm.com)



Korea Beat can be found at www.koreabeat.com -- Ed.