Radio station's sale sparks furor over Korea Times; critics claim publisher wants to dominate the media.Jae Min Chang, publisher of The Korea Times newspaper, may have built a mini-media empire but he is now facing an uprising in Koreatown where a media war is raging. Speculation that he has acquired Korean radio station KCB-FM (93.5) has led to picketing picketing, act of patrolling a place of work affected by a strike in order to discourage its patronage, to make public the workers' grievances, and in some cases to prevent strikebreakers from taking the strikers' jobs. Picketing may be by individuals or by groups. , a hunger strike hunger strike, refusal to eat as a protest against existing conditions. Although most often used by prisoners, others have also employed it. For example, Mohandas Gandhi in India and Cesar Chavez in California fasted as religious penance during otherwise political or , canceled subscriptions and charges that Chang is monopolizing Korean-language media here. The uprising was sparked in September when radio station KBLA-AM (1530), Radio Korea, alleged that the Korea Times was behind the KCB KCB (in Britain) Knight Commander of the Bath deal. The protest spread into the community when an organization called Community for Media Justice was formed and started protesting at the Korea Times offices on Vermont Avenue Vermont Avenue is one of the longest running north/south streets in Los Angeles. Located just west of the Harbor Freeway for the major portion south of downtown Los Angeles, it starts in Griffith Park at the Greek Theatre in the Los Feliz neighborhood as a one-lane divided road (it . A protest was threatened for Oct. 30 in front of the Korean Consulate Consulate, 1799–1804, in French history, form of government established after the coup of 18 Brumaire (Nov. 9–10, 1799), which ended the Directory. and more demonstrations are threatened when South Korea's president, Young Sam Kim, visits Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. later this month. A petition with over 10,000 signatures has been sent to the Federal Communications Commission Federal Communications Commission (FCC), independent executive agency of the U.S. government established in 1934 to regulate interstate and foreign communications in the public interest. protesting the KCB sale. Judging by the media coverage in the Korean community, this is the biggest story to unfold there since the April 1992 riot. The Korea Times is a powerful publication with a 50,000 daily circulation and it is controlled by the Chang family, which owns the Korea Times in Seoul. The newspaper owns KTAN-TV, a cable television station, and was in the radio business with Radio Hankook, KAZN-AM, which ran behind KCB and Radio Korea in ratings. Kenneth Choi, a distant relative of Chang and the former president of now-defunct Radio Hankook, is now president and owner of a new corporate entity, FM Seoul Bang Song Inc., which bought KCB from a group of five partners known as Korean Communication Broadcasting. Choi's company began broadcasting Radio Seoul, KFOX, as a Korean-language station on KCB-FM's former band in September. Soon Chang Kwon, general manager of Radio Seoul, said, "Mr. Choi has no relationship with the Times, we are a totally independent company. Mr. Choi has personally invested in this. He bought the contract to operate on this FM band after the former partnership that had it, had a conflict and was facing serious financial problems. Choi has stressed he is operating the station independently of Chang and the Times. On Sept. 21 and 22, the Korea Times, in a front-page response to the protests, said the sale is legal and Chang has no connection with the station. Chang accused Radio Korea of taking a stand only because it was threatened with competition. Chang did not respond to queries from the Business Journal. But many in the Korean community believe the Times is involved in Radio Seoul. Said Kee Ha, president of Olympus Property Management and president of the Korean American Korean Americans (Korean: 한국계 미국인, Hanja: 韓國系美國人, hangukgye migugin) are Americans of Korean descent. Chamber of Commerce: "It is not right for one company to dominate the media here. The Times now owns a newspaper, TV and radio station and eventually will control the news media here. "As a business group, we are concerned about the future of advertising costs because they can charge whatever price they decide," said Ha. "We are also worried that they slant the news and, if they control everything, there is no way to fight back. If the Times had been doing a good job, there would be less people protesting now." The most dramatic protest was by Moon Kyu Yu, KCB's top on-air personality. In September he told his listeners of a Korea Times takeover, describing the acquisition as a vicious coup that would monopolize mo·nop·o·lize tr.v. mo·nop·o·lized, mo·nop·o·liz·ing, mo·nop·o·liz·es 1. To acquire or maintain a monopoly of. 2. To dominate by excluding others: monopolized the conversation. the media. He urged the station's listeners to organize to try to block the sale. After Choi arrived as the new owner, Yu was sacked and went on an eight-day hunger strike. KCB's main competitor, KBLA Radio Korea, is the most popular station in the community and its reporters have been attacking the KCB deal since mid-September. For three days in September, the station suspended its regular programming to devote all its time to the subject. A phone poll was conducted and 85 percent of the 2,800 callers said they disagreed with the deal, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. David Park
David Park (1911–September 20, 1960) was part of the post-WWII alumnae of the San Francisco Art Institute which was called the California School of Fine Arts , a section chief and senior reporter at the station. |
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