News Accounts Detailing South Korea’s New Coronavirus Outbreak
South Korea has been praised for its efforts at slowing down the spread of the coronavirus. However, media outlets reported on a recent outbreak where several individuals contracted the virus at clubs in a gay neighborhood. Many journalists have covered this story, including Kim of the Washington Post and Maurice of PinkNews. The purpose of this paper is to compare the two articles in terms of their coverage.
The Washington Post Article
The Washington Post is considered to be slightly left-leaning politically and highly factual. The article by Kim, covering the recent Korean coronavirus outbreak, outlined the history of the government’s fight against COVID-19 before describing the events that led to the spike in the numbers. South Korea had not had experienced more than 30 daily cases for over a month. This statistic changed this week with over 30 new patients two days in a row due to a young man, infected with the virus, visiting several bars catering to the LGBT community.
The journalist points out that this event may have to postpone the reopening of the economy, which was slowly happening under the orders of the nation’s president Moon Jae-in (Kim, 2020). A large portion of the article is dedicated to the discussion of the stigma that Korean sexual minorities face in their everyday lives and the effect this reality has on these individuals seeking out coronavirus testing.
Government officials have noted that more than half of the individuals that visited the neighborhood in the last week could not be contacted by their provided information. In order to track them down, credit card information and security camera footage will be used. Therefore, Kim brings up the ethical side of contact tracing that has been a topic of discussion since this method was first implemented.
PinkNews Article
PinkNews is an online newspaper that covers stories marketed towards the LGBT community and is considered left-leaning and mostly factual. Maurice outlines that South Korea has managed to stop the spread of the virus with the help of contact tracing and extensive testing (2020). The author then describes the events that resulted in 35 daily cases where a young man visited several establishments in a neighborhood popular amongst sexual minorities.
The author focuses on the individuals affected by this problem, the members of the LGBT communities who have reached out to news sources. In one story, a man shares that he is afraid that he will lose his job if his employer finds out that he got tested for the coronavirus. Another individual says that his credit card company shared the information about his whereabouts with the authorities, making him feel suicidal.
Maurice stresses the culpability of the news outlets calling this event “gay club story,” which only encourages people to blame sexual minorities for the recent spike in the numbers. Search words relating to the LGBT circle were trending in South Korea this week with many comments outlining the homophobia present in the country. Maurice notes that the current situation is driving people further into the closet.
The Comparison of the Two Articles
Both articles were published on the same day and share many similarities in outlining the recent outbreak in South Korea. However, the journalists differ in what they chose to highlight as the aftermath of this spike in numbers of the infected. Kim focused on the effect this situation will have on reopening the economy, the discussion of the ethical side of contact tracing, and the possibility of a second wave. Maurice, working in a media outlet aimed at the LGBT community, concentrated on the ramification this incident will have on the sexual minorities in Korea.
Conclusion
While, ideally, news sources have to be objective, it is often impossible to eradicate the presence of biases. In terms of the chosen incident, both news sources produced factual articles reporting on the outbreak. However, the Washington Post gave a more thorough analysis of the current situation in South Korea, encompassing all sides of the problem, while PinkNews published a comprehensive study on only one of them.
References
Kim, M. (2020). Tracing South Korea’s latest virus outbreak shoves LGBTQ community into unwelcome spotlight, The Washington Post.
Maurice, E. P. (2020). A second wave of coronavirus in South Korea linked to gay clubs is fuelling a horrifying rise in homophobia that has seen LGBT+ people on dating sites threatened with doxxing. PinkNews.