바람직한 뉴스를 구성하는 뉴스 텍스트의 속성을 제시하기 위한 개념 모형으로 ‘공정성, 타당성,진정성 모형’을 제시한다. 이를 위해 먼저 언론 실천에 요청되는 실효적인 기준을 제시할 것, 한국 저널리즘 경험의 특수성을 고려할 것, 마지막으로 근본주의적 태도를 피할 것 등의 전제를 논의했다. 이런 전제를 바탕으로 사회적 선의 실현, 담론적 진실의 추구, 그리고 관계적 품위의 표현이라는 이념과 가치를 실현하기 위한 저널리즘의 수행 목표를 공정 보도, 검증 보도, 진정 보도라고 규정했다. 그리고 ‘공정성, 타당성, 진정성 모형’을 본격적으로 구성하기 위해, 공정 보도, 검증 보도, 진정 보도라는 세가지의 언론의 수행 목표를 실현하는 데 도움이 되는 실천적 규범 요소들을 제시했다. 이런 규범 요소는 결국 공정성, 타당성, 진정성을 중심으로 이루어지며, 여기에 각 요소에 대한 전제 조건인 다양성, 정확성, 시민적 예절이 요구되고, 또한 각 요소의 외연적 발전인 약자 배려, 적절성, 정상성 등이 도출된다고 본다. 이런 실천적 규범 요소들은 뉴스 텍스트의 속성으로 전환될 수 있다. 또한 그렇게 전환된 뉴스 텍스트 속성의 집합이 곧 공정한 뉴스, 품질 높은 뉴스, 품위 있는 뉴스가 된다는 것이다.

This essay presents a conceptual model of ‘desirable news’ as an answer to the question as to what should have been done in the context of heated debates over Korean journalism practices in recent years. Three presumptive considerations are discussed: ① A performative implications for journalist practices should follow from the model; ② Korean journalists’ experiences and reflections should be incorporated into the model; ③ Fundamentalist assumptions regarding ‘truth’ and ‘good’ should be avoided. Based on these considerations, we propose fair, verifiable, and sincere reporting as a performative goal of desirable news. Thus, fairness, validity, and sincerity are presented as core elements of textual properties of ‘desirable news.’ Fairness, validity, and sincerity presuppose respectively diversity, accuracy, and civility as practical preconditions and entail respectively protection of the weak, relevancy to the citizens, and normality as external conditions concerning social representation. We intend to show that this structural model embodies practical-normative conditions of ‘desirable news’ and provides a conceptual framework for assessing textual properties of news in terms of realization of social goodness, pursuit of truth, and relational decency in journalism.

This essay presents a conceptual model of ‘desirable news’ as an answer to the question as to what should have been done in the context of heated debates over Korean journalism practices in recent years. Three presumptive considerations are discussed: ① A performative implications for journalist practices should follow from the model; ② Korean journalists’ experiences and reflections should be incorporated into the model; ③ Fundamentalist assumptions regarding ‘truth’ and ‘good’ should be avoided. Based on these considerations, we propose fair, verifiable, and sincere reporting as a performative goal of desirable news. Thus, fairness, validity, and sincerity are presented as core elements of textual properties of ‘desirable news.’ Fairness, validity, and sincerity presuppose respectively diversity, accuracy, and civility as practical preconditions and entail respectively protection of the weak, relevancy to the citizens, and normality as external conditions concerning social representation. We intend to show that this structural model embodies practical-normative conditions of ‘desirable news’ and provides a conceptual framework for assessing textual properties of news in terms of realization of social goodness, pursuit of truth, and relational decency in journalism.

Media ethics, good news, news quality, fairness, validity, sincerity