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The government has abandoned plans to help selected newspapers with soft loans. Instead, plans are underfoot to simply give them the money as a subsidy, apparently because the intended beneficiaries are in such a hopeless financial state that they cannot put up the collateral.
According to a revised proposal for the Newspaper Development Fund, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism asked the Ministry of Planning and Budget to reduce the amount of loans from W15 billion (US$1=W964) to W4 billion and increase simple subsidies by W7.97 billion, citing the chosen beneficiaries¡¯ poor financial health. The paperwork was made public by Grand National Party lawmaker Jung Jong-bok on Tuesday.
Of the W7.97 billion, W4.3 billion is to go to selected newspapers, who Jung said will not have to pay it back, suggesting that the new plan is to reward pro-government papers with handouts of taxpayers¡¯ money.
The Korea Commission for the Press unveiled the list of 12 beneficiaries of state subsidies for newspaper companies on July 4, including the government-friendly Hankyoreh and Kyonghyang, and the three online newspapers OhMyNews, Pressian and Issuei.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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