▲ The organization rights collapsed today.

On Sept. 29, the television program ‘Zero Complaint’ was cancelled. The show was a current events program that had been broadcasted every Wednesday at 6:20p.m. for 9 years. It was Korea’s first consumer complaint program and was launched in 2006, having been broadcasted 360 times over its lifespan. ‘Zero Complaint’ was different from other investigation programs and was considered groundbreaking in its field. Its purpose was to show wit and information both as a consumer complaint program and variety show. Despite being MBC’s representative program which earned the station many awards, it was cancelled seemingly out of the blue. On the last episode the hosts said, “We are sorry to say that we can’t fulfill our promises, as we will not be able to continue to help the fifty million consumer complaints vanish.” with regret.

So what is the real story behind the cancellation of ‘Zero Complaint’? It seems MBC is dissolving their department of current affairs program division due to outside pressure. MBC is a public broadcaster, so the current affairs program division should be important to them. But after MBC representative documentary ‘Human Documentary Love’ was repealed and the producer of ‘Eye-Catching’ anker and ‘PD Notebook’ changed, MBC’s current affairs program division has been unstable. Some doubted MBC would abolish its most powerful programs and dissolve this division. However, ‘Zero Complaint’ was treated the same as same the others.

‘Zero Complaint’ recorded 4th place on MBC’s quality index which showed it’s usefulness. Since this investigation reflected upon viewing rates and municipal management, the abolition of the program came as a shock as viewers were given notice by MBC. They just cooked up a reason for it claiming it was necessary to decrease the size of the gap of the advertisement dead zone. MBC said they will instead fill the ‘Zero Complaint’ time slot with an outsourced information program production thereby lowering their own production costs. Another reason the management suggested was cancelled was because it did not generate enough advertising. However, this also does not seem reasonable compared to the rate of advertising of other programs which go on the air during the same prime time slot.

As a result of this situation, we need to reconsider the right of a producer in an independent organization. Organizations have the right and authority to control the time and context of the program, and it should be guaranteed by Broadcast Act. The cancellation of ‘Zero Complaint’ is a perfect example of the collapse of the organization rights of producers. The Fourth Broadcasting Act said that nothing can interfere with the broadcasting organization. In particular, the abolition of ‘Zero Complaint’ is related to the public management of broadcasting station because it is current affairs program that deals with quite sensitive issues giving necessary information to consumers. If the management deprived producers of the power to organize their program, the will of producers to work is going to decrease and we won’t be able to see their own color in the program.

The Dankook Herald (DKH) interviewed a producer from one broadcasting station to listen to a professional opinion about the independence of organization rights. DKH asked him what organization rights mean at the ground level and how must they be understood. He answered, “The organization rights at the ground level are so specific that even management can’t exert its authority infinitely and ignore the producers involved in production and organization.” He also reminded us that it was important to make clear our understanding of the concept of organization rights saying, “You should grasp it as a regulation for the management to protect the legitimate function called freedom of speech.”

DKH asked him about how producers tried to achieve the independence of organization rights. “We are calling for the establishment of a committee, with the equal numbers of labor and management represented, that aims to protect the organization rights from dictatorship of the past and the great capitalists. Also, broadcaster trade unions do their best to prevent an invasion on organization rights from the management through a collective bargaining agreement,” he said and emphasized the need for constant effort to gain the independence of organization rights.

He responded to the question regarding what else will he do to obtain independent organization rights in future by saying, “If management invades production autonomy, we will exchange opinions about it in labor and management meetings of the organizing committee. Now, Broadcast Act obliges the protection of freedom of the press, but there are no penalties or not adhering to the law. Therefore, there should be legal requirements and punitive measures in place so that management can’t apply the laws to suit itself.”

Lastly, DKH asked about the importance of respecting organization rights. “It is not true that producers could make program arbitrarily or that management could impede the formation of rights. The problems are not one-sided,” he said and accentuated we have to preserve the rights as a gate keeper would protect the liberty of the press.

The rights should be independent from others and observed for assure the autonomy and publicity of the broadcast. Though, MBC, the public broadcasting suddenly repealed the ‘Zero Complaint’, the current affairs program. Also, it has neglected the publicity stressed the ratings and earnings. The program can be abolished if there is now result or if there are some problems. Therefore, in the case of the program ‘Zero Complaint’, there is no reason that it should have been cancelled so suddenly because it scored well on the evaluation index and viewer ratings. Thus, the program reorganization clearly demonstrated the organization rights were dominated by executive decisions. The organizational rights are civil rights and freedom of speech should be assured. The producer and management both need to remember that guaranteed rights are the rule that must be protected by a democratic agreement between themselves.