The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has confirmed a new government advertisement operating system that replaces the paid copies of the ABC Association and includes the credibility of the media as an indicator of government advertisement execution. The direction that trust can lead to profits has been confirmed, and it has many implications for the media industry. Media companies have no choice but to pay attention to the deliberations of the Press Self-Regulatory Organization and recommendations for correction by the Media Arbitration Committee, which had not had much influence until now.
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism suspended the policy use of paid publications, which fell into a swamp of distrust on July 8, and deleted the provisions related to ABC supplementary works specified in the Government Advertising Act Enforcement Decree and the Special Act on the Development of Local Newspapers last month. At a briefing at the Seoul Government Complex today (1st), the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said, “The government advertisement improvement indicators are based on core indicators (effectiveness and reliability) and basic indicators in consideration of the purpose of enacting the Government Advertising Act, which is to improve efficiency and public interest (Article 1 of the Government Advertising Act). A new government advertisement execution system was unveiled. Last year, government advertisements amounted to 1.893 trillion won.
The key indicators of government advertising include the utilization rate in terms of effectiveness and social responsibility in terms of reliability. The Korea Press Foundation recently conducted a survey on the use of newspapers and magazines among 50,000 people, and the results are expected to be released in December. In order to increase the reading rate, some newspapers distributed free newspapers to subway stations and gas stations. Social responsibility consists of three areas: the number of mediation committees’ ex officio adjustment (correction information, etc.) and correction recommendations, the number of cautions and warnings by the Newspaper Ethics Committee and the Advertisement Self-Reviewing Organization, and the establishment and operation of the editorial committee and reader (rights and interests) committee of individual media companies. is composed of
In addition to the key indicators, basic indicators were also established. It consists of four areas: whether the media company has issued a normal publication, whether there is a violation of related laws, whether or not the tax is paid, and whether or not employees have subscribed to or paid in full for the four major insurances. Here, the relevant laws are the Media Relations Act, such as the Newspaper Act, the Broadcasting Act, the Media Arbitration Act, the Information and Communications Network Act, and the Labor Standards Act. In the plan presented by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism at the time of the briefing, the items that were reference indicators were changed to basic indicators, and the portal partnership included in the reference indicators was deleted from the final draft. This is a result of the high opinion of exclusion from inside and outside the media.
The Korea Press Foundation plans to reorganize the Government Advertisement Integrated Support System (GOAD) and operate it as a pilot operation for advertisers, including government agencies, from January 1, 2022, and officially operate it from January 10. This improvement indicator will be applied from print media, and other media such as broadcasting will be applied from 2023. The improvement indicator is that government advertisers customize the reflection ratio for each indicator and use it as the primary criterion when selecting an advertising medium, or the media foundation will use it to support customized counseling so that the optimal media strategy can be established according to the characteristics of the advertisement. . The reflection ratio for each indicator can be set voluntarily within 100% of the total (100 points), and the basic indicator can be voluntarily set by adding or subtracting points.
However, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism explained that “the ratio is set voluntarily by advertisers, but in the case of general advertising campaigns, the weight should be considered in the order of effectiveness > social responsibility > basic indicators, taking into account the meaning and distribution of each indicator.” In the example provided by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the percentage of reading rate was 60 out of 100 (60%), divided into sections 1-5, with 60 points for the 1st section and 5 points for the 2nd section, giving 40 points for the 5th section. In the case of local newspapers, if they are eligible for preferential support, the reading rate section will be raised by one level.
In the case of mediation by the Media and Arbitration Committee ex officio (correction information) and corrective recommendations, 0 to 1 cases are 20 points, 2 cases are 17 points, and 3 or more cases are 14 points. Participation in the Newspaper Ethics Committee pledge is given 6 points, and non-participation is given 4 points. As a result of the newspaper ethics committee deliberation, the number of cautions/warnings is 4 points for 0 to 1 cases, 3 points for 2 to 24 cases, and 2 points for 25 or more cases. The result of deliberation by the self-advocacy review body is 4 points for 0 to 14 cautions/warnings, 3 points for 15 to 58 cases, and 2 points for 59 or more warnings. Media companies that are not yet subject to deliberation will be given three points first, and the scope of deliberation will be expanded in the future. 3 points are given if the editorial committee and the editorial rights and rights committee are established and operated normally, and 2 points are given if they are not installed.
Minister Hwang Hee said on the same day, “In the case of government policies that target young people in their 20s and 30s, if you want to use the reading rate of that age, not the overall reading rate, to select the media mainly used by young people to promote or execute advertisements in a specific area. It is possible to analyze the usage rate of the region and select a match that is specialized for the region.” Lee Seon-yeong, head of the Media Policy Division at the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, said, “Advertisers can set the readership rate at 100% or, conversely, set the reliability index at 100%. The advertiser decides how much to use the indicator,” he explained. In a question-and-answer session at the briefing on that day, the Chosun Ilbo reporter expressed a negative stance on what the editorial committee included in the key indicators, saying, “The government is driving the establishment of an editorial committee.”
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced that it would disclose to the public the details of the government’s advertisement execution. Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Hwang Hee said, “We plan to support government advertisers to rationally execute advertisements through government advertisement improvement indicators, while transparently disclosing government advertisement execution details such as advertisers and advertisement contents, media name, and publication date.” We expect the government advertising system to be operated more fairly and transparently from the perspective of the public by improving indicators and disclosing execution details.” According to this government policy, criticism that government advertisements are opaque and focused on specific media is expected to decrease in the future.
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