Ahn Soo-Chan is a veteran reporter who has built upon his 17-year journalism career with various experiences. In 1997, he joined The Hankyoreh Newspaper, and until recently, he worked as a team leader in The Hankyoreh 21. He majored in sociology as an undergraduate, because he wanted to raise an insight for understanding the society. Currently, he is enrolled in the doctoral course in Journalism and Mass Communications at Korea University Graduate School as part of a training leave of absence to study how to professionally convey his insights to others. He has made a name for himself among society by standing on the podium of the journalism academy, giving various lectures regarding his professional field, and writing books. He has stayed busy as a reporter, but he says he still experiences a sense of dullness. What is he felt dullness about? And out of this dullness, what is the word that he wants to say for us? The Ajou Globe (AG) meets him and pays heed to his passion as a journalist and his honest advice for Ajou University’s students as a guide through life.
Surprisingly, he experienced great anxiety about his job after joining the newspaper. Only after becoming a journalist did he start to agonize about improving the quality of his reports and his methods of kindly conveying complicated information systematically to the people, who did not necessarily express interest in serious news regarding pertinent social problems. Therefore, despite his busy schedule, he attempts to communicate with people in various ways, such as lectures and writing. While working as a journalist, he participates in a variety of departments, such as the Civil Rights City Desk, the Department of Athletics, the International Department, the Political Desk, and the Culture Desk. He gained expertise for each field by reading through related books and speaking with specialists in each field. He also modestly added that, during his university days, he pored over humanities and social science books; wrote many pieces, such as poems and social scientific reviews; worked for a school magazine; and discussed political and social issues with numerous people. Through those holistic experiences, he increased his socio-scientific knowledge, which has allowed him to be of great help to the newspaper. He is also concerned with foreign news media and sometimes watches their evolving trends. These steady efforts to resolve the slump he experienced in his novice year have contributed greatly to his growth as a journalist.
When he reminisces on the most impressive news stories of his 17 years as a journalist, two stories come to mind. He emphasizes that a real journalist communicates with society, and in reality, he has spoken out against several people. In the previous six years, his news coverage has primarily focused on labor. In 2009, as a society team leader for The Hankyoreh 21, he joined forces with four team members and several people from the labor class to conduct an in-depth report. For five months, he gained firsthand experience from poverty-ridden labor sites. This project contributed to alleviating the societal issues regarding poor labor conditions, labor unrest, and contingent employment. The second project occurred early last year, when he was an incident team leader in The Hankyoreh Newspaper. The story dealt with intervention in the presidential election of the NIS (National Intelligence Service). He said the project involved very challenging reporting, which lasted six months, but it also held deep significance, because it enlightened society to the truth about the incident and brought to light the issue of governmental power.
Recently, he wrote an article about the press’s untrustworthy attitude in connection with the Sewol Ferry incident. As he pointed out in the article, public trust toward the press diminished after the incident. AG asked him what the university students required in this situation to accurately understand important societal issues. He responded that when students approach the existing press, an effort should be made to draw a division between what is accurate and what is not to find the needed trustworthy articles. Society should not consume news via portal or mobile, which often edit commercials and sway people’s interests to particular articles. It is best to compare news stories across multiple news media outlets, rather than rely on only one source, which will only leave the consumer with a single understanding. Society also should make ceaseless efforts to read and learn media outlets to find trustworthy articles. However, deciding which media outlet to trust is not the real solution. The ultimate solution involves reconsidering how we create good media. In reality, a few people can establish their own press to spread their meaning to the world; this has been accomplished with The Hankyoreh Newspaper, Ohmynews, Newstapa, and Kukmin TV. Some people actively report through personal blogs, which free them from the constraints of the establishment press’s methods. Ahn Soo-Chan added that any world do not come to us if we do not set our foot on the world in the flesh. University students should take the initiative to discover and consume good press.
In his first book Reporter, the Attractive Name, a reporter is described as a person who lives a tiring life, is poorly paid, and even lives a shorter lifetime due to high amounts of stress. Considering that, why would he claim that “reporter” is an attractive name? He said he is very cautious to use the word “reporter” and that “journalist” is the preferred name in this situation. Many press groups are publicly criticized because of the Sewol Ferry incident. He said a career in journalism does not provide enough economic compensation or free time to ensure that many people actively seek rewarding journalism careers. However, compared to other professions, it is the only job that provides opportunities to approach sites of irrationality and conflict in the flesh, which are existent worldwide, and spread information as well as their own opinion about the site to the public, based on their name and honor and at such a relatively young age. So it is still an attractive career. He feels that there is no other job that allows one to realize their lifetime dreams. Many people are influenced by greed when considering career options. He says that through his choices, he has been given the opportunity to comprehend the meaning of his life, and he has been provided with honor and social meaning.
The interview takes over a half hour, but it is worth the time to seek the true meaning of real journalism. Ahn Soo-Chan is a thoroughly good reporter, because he embodies what society desires from a journalist; he informs society of important news, attempts to improve society for the better, and tries to discover the most efficient way to communicate with society. However, he still aims to better himself as a reporter. Amidst the monotony of people who do not try to read, discover, or spark interest in good news, he tries to construct his own form of journalism. It is a great honor to meet and speak with someone who is not merely satisfied with his position and situation and consistently aims to advance. AG hopes that the reader of this article can be a worthy, autonomous endeavourer for the world. To achieve this, seek your own way to discover yourself and your world, as he did.
iams3@ajou.ac.kr