한국 언론은 1987년 민주화 이후 언론의 자유를 획득했으나 그 언론의 자유를 민주주의라는 공익적 목적에 사용하지 못하고 상업적 도구화, 정파적 도구화, 사주와 광고주의 간섭에 의한 사회적 통제가 만연하는 문제를 갖게 되었다. 이것이 곧 한국 언론 위기의 본질이다. 이러한 한국 언론의 위기는 법과 제도가 민주화되었으나 시민들의 의식이 비민주적이어서 다시 정치적 혼란을 겪고 있는 남미의 후기 권위주의적 현상과 유사하다. 20세기 초 미국 언론의 경우, 과도한 상업성과 언론권력화의 문제에 대하여 허친스 위원회를 구성하고 자율규제, 기자교육 등을 기반으로 한 사회적 책임 이론을 제시하였고, 이것이 바로 언론의 전문직업인주의로 구체화되었다. 미국 언론의 전문직업인주의는 헌법적 특권을 가진 언론이 사익 도구화되는 것을 자율규제에 의해 공익적 위상을 유지시키는 제도이다. 실제로 미국 언론의 정보자유운동, 편집국 다양성운동, 공공 저널리즘 등은 언론 스스로 문제를 개선하려는 전문직업인적 노력의 일환으로 이해될 수 있다. 국내에서 전문직업인주의가 기능하기 위해 언론대학의 활성화와 자율단체의 보도 가이드라인 제정과 같은 자율규제의 구체화가 장기적이고 시스템적인 언론 개혁의 방향이 될 것이다.

Why is South Korean journalism so partisan or dependent on political parties in reporting all kinds of political issues? This study assumes that the politically unfair attitude of South Korean journalism could have been caused by their built-in problems by misusing the press freedom that was obtained suddenly since 1987 democratization in South Korea. The study, therefore, tried to find out the flaws South Korean journalism has showed since the 1987 democratization. Furthermore, the study elaborated that the establishment of journalistic professionalism in South Korean may help maintain balanced reports and contributions on deliberate democracy based on its self-regulation. The problems many researchers mentioned were that the South Korean press began to compete with each other for business profits and that they began to use journalism as an instrument of political propaganda based on enlarged civil rights. In this way, South Korea journalism became a site for hegemonic struggles according to a Gramscian term. The problem of recent South Korean journalism is clear and simple. South Korean journalism got press freedom from governmental controls, but they fail to exercise press freedom for enhancing people's right to know and squander it for their own political interests. American political scientist, Robert Gay called the unstable situations of South American counties after democratization as “post-authoritarianism” that means the institutionalized democracy without people's democratic mind. As the result of this study, the enhancement of professionalism in South Korean journalism such as the establishment of journalism schools or the creation of reporting guidelines can contribute to correct the malfunctions of South Korean journalism like severe commercialism and partisanship domestically.

Why is South Korean journalism so partisan or dependent on political parties in reporting all kinds of political issues? This study assumes that the politically unfair attitude of South Korean journalism could have been caused by their built-in problems by misusing the press freedom that was obtained suddenly since 1987 democratization in South Korea. The study, therefore, tried to find out the flaws South Korean journalism has showed since the 1987 democratization. Furthermore, the study elaborated that the establishment of journalistic professionalism in South Korean may help maintain balanced reports and contributions on deliberate democracy based on its self-regulation. The problems many researchers mentioned were that the South Korean press began to compete with each other for business profits and that they began to use journalism as an instrument of political propaganda based on enlarged civil rights. In this way, South Korea journalism became a site for hegemonic struggles according to a Gramscian term. The problem of recent South Korean journalism is clear and simple. South Korean journalism got press freedom from governmental controls, but they fail to exercise press freedom for enhancing people's right to know and squander it for their own political interests. American political scientist, Robert Gay called the unstable situations of South American counties after democratization as “post-authoritarianism” that means the institutionalized democracy without people's democratic mind. As the result of this study, the enhancement of professionalism in South Korean journalism such as the establishment of journalism schools or the creation of reporting guidelines can contribute to correct the malfunctions of South Korean journalism like severe commercialism and partisanship domestically.

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Journalistic Professionalism, Press Reform, Post-authoritarianism, Social Responsible Theory,Reporting Guideline, Social Control