History
Etymology
Sohn Suk-hee has clarified that the name of the program has nothing to do with the American drama The Newsroom , which he only watched for about ten minutes. He also pointed out that there are several other programs with the same name, including the ones from BBC News and CNN. [1]
2011: JTBC News 10
It was launched on December 1, 2011, as JTBC News 10, together with the launch of the network itself. It was JTBC's first flagship newscast, which was then hosted by Jun Yong-woo and Cha Ye-rin. Unlike newscasts from the mainstream networks, JTBC News 10 is more focused on providing in-depth stories throughout the program. It was one of the pioneer programs of JTBC that time, usually having a 1% rating according to AGB Nielsen Korea. [2]
November 2012—May 2013: JTBC News 10 becomes JTBC News 9
On November 5, 2012, major programming revamp happened within the JTBC network. This included a major shift between drama and news programs. Its drama series were moved from 20:45/23:00 to 21:45, and its main newscast, JTBC News 10, became JTBC News 9. JTBC News 10 presenters Jun Yong-woo and Cha Ye-rin were abruptly replaced by Jun Young-gi and Hwang Nam-hee weeks before the 2012 South Korean presidential elections. Although it was titled JTBC News 9, it actually started at 20:50 KST. JTBC News 9 focused on news summaries similar to the mainstream networks, with some exclusive news features. It did not become that popular with viewers, as the newscast was placed third among general cable news programs, behind Channel A's Comprehensive News (now News A) and TV Chosun's News Show Pan (now News Nine). [3]
May 2013: Sohn Suk-hee becomes head of JTBC News, takes over News 9
On May 9, 2013, Sohn Suk-hee was named as the head of JTBC News Division. [4] He was considered the most prominent and the most influential news presenter in South Korea, having been with MBC for over three decades before leaving his post on MBC Radio. Another major revamp was made within the entire network programming, including more news and current affairs programs in the line-up, [5] before he assumed the presenter post on 16 September. JTBC News 9 was shown at 20:55. Like its predecessor, JTBC News 10, JTBC News 9 focused more on in-depth reporting, increased live field reports and studio interviews. Its pilot episode rated 1.948%. [6] Its ratings went up from the time that Sohn assumed the presenter post, rating between 1.5% and 2%, and it emerged as the number 1 general cable newscast. This was also the first time a song was used to end the newscast, with Bob Dylan's "The Times They Are a-Changin'" as its first ending theme.
April 2014: Sewol Ferry coverage and the rise in ratings
On April 16, 2014, Sohn's, and the whole network's credibility were tested when one of JTBC's reporters asked a very controversial question to one of the survivors of the Sewol ferry sinking. Sohn apologized on the presenter's behalf during the newscast's opening.
Korean transcript taken from JTBC News website. [7]
저는 지난 30년 동안 갖가지 재난보도를 진행해 온 바 있습니다. 제가 배웠던 것은 재난보도 일수록 사실에 기반해서 신중해야 한다는 것과, 무엇보다도 희생자와 피해자의 입장에서 사안을 바라봐야 한다는 것이었습니다.
오늘(16일) 낮에 여객선 침몰 사고 속보를 전해드리는 과정에서 저희 앵커가 구조된 여학생에게 건넨 질문 때문에 많은 분들이 노여워 하셨습니다. 어떤 변명이나 해명도 필요치 않다고 생각합니다.
제가 그나마 배운 것을 선임자이자 책임자로서 후배 앵커에게 충분히 알려주지 못한 저의 탓이 가장 큽니다. 깊이 사과드립니다.
English translation:
Over the past 30 years, I have witnessed and reported so many disasters. The thing I learned about covering these disasters is that we should carefully base our reports on facts. And more than anything else, we should look at these reports from the perspective of the victims, and of the victims' families.
Today (16th of April), so many audience were angered by the question that our reporter asked a rescued student during our coverage on the ferry's sinking. No excuses nor explanations will be needed. It was my fault as a senior anchor and the head of our news department that I did not impart the things I learned to my junior anchors. I sincerely apologize.
In what could have been a negative effect to the news department, Sohn's sincere apology was praised by viewers and netizens alike. He even became a trending topic on Naver.com after he had a moment of silence while interviewing Baek Jeom-gi, a shipbuilding engineer professor at Busan University. [8]
Ratings of News 9 went up during the coverage of the Sewol ferry accident. On 16 April, it had 1.81% and was the number 1 prime time news program among general cable networks. On 17 April, it went up to 2.5%. [9] Not only it was the number 1 program among general cable stations, it was the only JTBC program which entered the top 20 general cable shows that day.
On 18 April, two days after the incident, Sohn had a ground-breaking interview with the deep sea diving expert Lee Jong-in. He talked the diving bell that could be used for search and rescue operations even in tough water conditions. Lee said that he tried to offer the diving bell and other diving equipment to the South Korean coast guard for its search efforts, but it had been declined. [10] After the interview, online community sites were flooded with criticisms from outraged netizens in response to the government's slow response towards the incident. Several days later, the South Korean coast guard allowed the use of the diving bell. [11] For the first time, JTBC News 9 surpassed the 3% mark, hitting 3.118%. [12]
JTBC News 9 continued to dominate news ratings as it reached a new high of 4.35% on 21 April. [13] Sohn Suk-hee was praised by viewers as he was the only news presenter who covered the search and rescue efforts live from Jindo. [14] The newscast maintained its strength against other general cable newscast for the whole week as it rated 3.97% on the 22nd, [15] 4.12% on the 23rd, [16] 4.079% on the 24th [17] and 3.735% on the 25th. [18] In some cases, its ratings beat the combined ratings of TV Chosun, Maeil Broadcasting Network and Channel A's newscasts.
On 28 April, JTBC News 9 broke its own ratings record, achieving 5.06%, [19] and threatened the main newscasts of MBC and SBS. Its ratings went up on the 29th as it reached 5.401%, beating MBC Newsdesk by 0.001%. [20] So far, JTBC News 9 is the only general cable newscast to reach 5%.
September 2014: JTBC News 9 becomes JTBC Newsroom
It was announced in the second week of September that JTBC would revamp its news division, and the cancellation of JTBC News 9. It was replaced by JTBC Newsroom on 22 September. JTBC moved its main newscast from 21:00 KST to 20:00 KST, competing directly against MBC Newsdesk and SBS 8 News . To reflect the change, JTBC extended its main newscast from the usual 50 minutes to 100 minutes, a first for Korean television news. JTBC Newsroom focused on more live reports, studio interviews and more in-depth coverage of the day's news. JTBC Newsroom retained Sohn Suk-hee and Kim So-hyun as its presenters. The weekend edition, however, had Jeon Jin-bae and Lee Ji-eun as its new presenters. [21] JTBC Newsroom is split into two parts, the first from 20:00 to 20:55 KST and the second from 21:00 to 21:40. JTBC also revamped its set and graphics package.
The launch of JTBC Newsroom was well received by viewers, rating 2.037% on its first night according to AGB Nielsen Korea, higher than the pilot broadcast of JTBC News 9 when Sohn took over a year before. [22]
October 2016—2017: The Choi Soon-sil tablet PC exposé
JTBC assembled a special report team on October 3 to dig deeper into the Mir and K-Sports foundations, [23] consisting of the then-weekend presenter and Director of Politics Division 1 Jeon Jin-bae, Director of Social Affairs Division 2 Son Yong-seok and reporters Shim Soo-mi, Kim Pil-joon, Seo Bok-hyun, Shin Hye-won, Kim Tae-young and Park Byung-hyun. [24] Its first scoop was a series of interviews with a former employee who worked with the foundations, which were used as fronts for Choi Soon-sil's bribery operations. The anonymous employee provided testimony and evidence showing Choi met frequently with the various heads of Mir and K-sports.
On October 18, JTBC reported on a tablet PC allegedly belonging to Choi. [25] The network claimed it was found abandoned but, six days later, revealed that it was in possession of the tablet. The contents were revealed over a 20-day period, which included pieces of sensitive government information. JTBC alleged that some members of the Blue House may have supplied Choi the information. Choi then denied the allegations in an interview with the Korean newspaper Segye Ilbo . [26]
Over the next few days, JTBC focused on how Choi meddled with state affairs through showing how Choi edited then-president Park Geun-hye's speeches directly from the tablet, contradicting the original drafts supplied by ex-Blue House staffers. [27] Go Young-tae, who was a former chairman in a company called The Blue K and a close aide to Choi, told JTBC in a June 19 interview that "the only thing Choi does well is to revise the president's speech." However, JTBC found out by examining the tablet that Choi also revised documents of President Park's remarks just hours before a meeting. Some of those former Blue House staffers came forward declaring their knowledge of Choi's involvement. Park apologized to the public on October 25, saying that she "relied on Choi in times of hardship". [28] The same day, JTBC said it had turned over the tablet to prosecutors. [29] At the time, prosecution declared they did not see a reason to investigate Choi, [30] nor could they find her to be summoned for questioning.
On October 26, JTBC revealed digital evidence including e-mail trails of where the tablet files came from and registration information for the tablet, showing Choi probably received them from an ex-Blue House staffer, Kim Han-soo, a close friend of Choi's in-law. [31] JTBC also proved the allegations that the tablet PC was indeed Choi's and that she had connections to what The Hankyoreh called "doorknob triumvirate". [32] The same day, German police announced they had already been in the process of investigating Choi's German businesses and were trying to track her down for questioning over illicit business practices. A JTBC reporter (Lee Ga-hyuk) also ran a live broadcast that day from outside one of Choi's abandoned homes in Germany, knocking on the door and interviewing neighbors. Choi had apparently left her house in a hurry. [33] Later, the prosecution admitted they were aware of Choi having foreign residences and the overseas investigation, contradicting their previous claim of not knowing where she was.
On December 8, a day before Park's impeachment trial, Shim Soo-mi appeared on Newsroom to explain how they obtained the tablet. Shim went to the abandoned office of The Blue K in Sinsa-dong with the real estate manager, who granted them access to the building. Reporters had secured testimony and circumstantial evidence that Choi had been there almost every day until early September. As a result, they found the tablet PC that Choi and Go left behind. The tablet was an early model of the Samsung Galaxy Tab series, which is now discontinued. Shim then bought a charger because the model was old and can't be charged with the current iterations of Samsung's chargers. She then put it back at the desk where she found it, but then suspected that Choi might ask someone to destroy the evidence. After an internal meeting, Shim decided to return to the building and obtain the tablet while copying the files inside it, then submit it to the prosecution. They recognized the crucial effect it could bring to the case. Shim brought it to the special report team's office on October 20, and spent the night with them doing a detailed analysis. The special report team found out that Choi was indeed involved in meddling with state affairs, and planned to submit it to the prosecution on the day their report was shown. [34]
On December 11, prosecution presented concrete evidence that the tablet was indeed used by Choi. [35]
December 2019—March 2020: JTBC Newsroom post-Sohn Suk-hee era
In December 2019, Sohn Suk-hee announced his resignation as presenter of JTBC Newsroom following a large-scale organization reshuffle. [36] He had held this position for six years and four months, and would only focus on CEO duties. His final day was on January 2, 2020, during the second part of its annual New Year's Day debate. That broadcast recorded a rating of 4.9%. [37] "The Times They Are a-Changin'" was used as its ending theme once more as he resigned from his position. [38]
Seo Bok-hyun was named as his successor, [39] and in his first day as the new presenter of Newsroom on January 6, 2020, he said that he would "uphold the four principles built on the newsroom" and would "do his best every day". [40] Sohn's departure did not affect Newsroom's ratings, as it recorded a 4.3% nationwide rating on January 6, which is higher than the typical 3.4%-3.5% rating during Sohn's final week. [41] However, weekday ratings fell to 2-4%, falling behind TV Chosun's News 9, while weekend ratings plunged to 1%, placing Newsroom last among its competitors. MBC Newsdesk absorbed all of Newsroom's viewership. Seo was the youngest presenter of a South Korean flagship newscast at 37.
Kim Pil-kyu also left his post on the weekend edition, following a promotion to become a Washington correspondent, making Han Min-yong the only presenter of the Friday to Sunday editions of Newsroom from January 10, 2020. [42] This move made her the first sole female presenter and only the second main female presenter of a flagship JTBC newscast since 2014 (Ahn Chak-hee was the first), as well as one of the only two female presenters of a JTBC news or current affairs program, the other being Overnight Debate's Shin Ye-ri. This edition is shown at 18:55 KST on Saturdays and Sundays from February 15, 2020, making it the first time since 2017 to have its time slot changed. The weekend edition also had its run time shortened to 45 minutes.
On January 28, 2020, JTBC Newsroom's Fact Check segment was certified by the International Fact Checking Network for complying with its principles, making it the first Korean news organization to do so. [43]
The February 23, 2020, broadcast was the last in the Trust B studio before moving to a temporary studio the next day. This marked JTBC's transition from the Trust Building in Digital Media City, which will now be used by JoongAng Ilbo, to the Creation Hall just beside it.
April 2020—June 2021: Move to Creation Hall and reorganizations
JTBC Newsroom moved to its new headquarters at JTBC Creation Hall at Digital Media City in Sangam-dong, Mapo-gu, South Korea [44] and debuted its new set and graphics package on April 6, 2020. The weekday edition also changed in its background music, as well as the addition of new segments "A Fresh Look" (새로, 세로보다), a similar segment to "Anchor Briefing" with Seo Bok-hyun, and "Dr. Weather" (날씨박사), [45] its first fixed weather segment hosted by the reporter and meteorologist Kim Se-hyun. This broadcast recorded a nationwide rating of 4.145%. [46]
Seo Bok-hyun and Ahn Na-kyung presented the second part of JTBC News' special election coverage titled Our Choice 2020: Ask, Vote. on April 15, 2020. It was the network's first election coverage without Sohn Suk-hee. The live broadcast was also a lead-in to a special edition of Newsroom. Han Min-yong and her former co-presenter Kim Pil-kyu hosted its third part. The second part recorded an average nationwide rating of 1.691%, while the Newsroom special edition received 2.355%. The third part, on the other hand, was the coverage's highest-rated, with a nationwide rating of 2.469%. These numbers were dismal compared to past elections where Sohn was at the forefront.
On the commemoration of the 40th anniversary of the Gwangju Uprising, there was a special edition of Newsroom from Gwangju on May 17–18, 2020. Seo Bok-hyun and Ahn Na-kyung presented from the Gwangju special studio, while Han Min-yong joined them from Sangam-dong. The United Daily News newspaper in Taiwan, considered one of the country's largest, highlighted the effort to emphasize the event's significance in an article posted on its website. [47] The May 17, 2020 broadcast had nationwide ratings of 2.073%, while the May 18 broadcast had 3.149%. [48]
Starting on June 7, 2020, Behind Plus (비하인드+) is also broadcast on Sundays, hosted by former the Behind the News host Park Sung-tae who came from Political Desk and was its main presenter and team leader. The weekday edition was abolished on June 18, 2020, and was Park Min-kyu's last broadcast. It has since been replaced by Won-broadcast (원보가중계), starting on June 22, 2020. The segment is hosted by the former Political Desk National Assembly captain Yang Won-bo and reports on stories with a lighthearted tone. It was established after positive reactions from netizens, stemming from his appearances in the program.
On July 8, 2020, a new segment named "Economic Innovations" (발품경제) began, hosted by Lee Joo-chan of the consumer lifestyle team. He reports on economic-related issues and it is the first economy-centered segment since Saturday Plus and Sunday Plus.
On December 7, 2020, the show once again underwent reorganization with the first time slot change in the weekday edition in six years and a new Fact Check host, Choi Jae-won. He previously hosted the weekend edition of Behind the News before going to the investigative reporting team. Oh Dae-young (social issues), Jung Jae-yoon (international affairs) and Lee Seung-nyeong (economy) joined the show as well as Park Sung-tae (politics), whose "Behind Plus" segment ran on weekends. They are dubbed the "Issue Checkers", and will provide commentary and analysis on issues related to their respective beats. The weekday edition will now from Mondays to Fridays. [49] Kim So-hyun will host a new segment called "Back Briefing", which succeeds "Won-broadcast".
A new youth-centered segment Goose News began on January 26, 2021, as well as a revived Cultural Invitation began on January 30, 2021.
June 2021—November 2022: Seo Bok-hyun leaves Newsroom, Oh Dae-young succeeds
Media Today first reported on May 25 that another large-scale JTBC News reorganization is scheduled to happen on June 7 in an effort to save the show from dismal ratings. [50] Oh Dae-young is set to replace Seo Bok-hyun as main anchor, with both Ahn Na-kyung and Han Min-yong retaining their respective positions. [51] Seo is now set to go back to reporting in the field after one year and four months. The newscasts moved temporarily from the Creation Hall studios to the Trust Building open studio to prepare for the reorganization. They debuted a new set, graphics package and theme music on June 7, 2021, with the latter taking the previous theme music's motifs and giving it a dynamic feel. The newscasts airing before it were also arranged as lead-ins to Newsroom. Newsroom was moved to a 7:30pm KST timeslot for an hour of runtime in a complete separation from its old 100-minute, 2-part format previously. They also debuted the Tracing Report Hook investigative reporting segment on this day.
The weekend edition was completely revamped to give it a "news show" feel highlighting various news and information, moving to a 6pm KST timeslot and using "Weekend @ 6" as its catchphrase. Junior reporters specifically assigned for weekend coverage were replaced with experienced ones to present in-depth reports in a creative format. This was met with internal criticism as reorganizations became frequent since 2020 with little changes to its viewership.
This was not enough to save Newsroom's continuing decline however, and was reorganized again on October 5, 2021 in preparation for the upcoming election season. The program was moved again to 7:15pm for a 75-minute runtime to give way for special election segments such as Camp Now, Ahn Ji-hyun's Reading Public Opinions, and Opinion Workman (a parody of Studio Lululala's web show Workman). When the parties' respective standard bearers declared their intentions to run for the country's highest office, these segments were further strengthened with the introductions of Camp Room (a parody of JTBC's variety show Movie Room), Debate Battle, National Scoring Team, and Presidential Pick. This prompted the revert of the program's previous start time at 7:30pm now extended until 9pm KST.
Opening titles began to be phased out November 2021 for regular segments like Close Camera, Tracing Report Hook and Fact Check, only leaving a titlecard for the newly-minted sports news segment.
As the presidential and local elections passed, the program's start time changed again to 7:50pm KST and the runtime reverted to 60 minutes.
Another major reorganization loomed in the horizon with the program's third anchor change since 2020, with former Washington correspondent and then-head of news production Lim Jong-joo and weekend anchor Han Min-yong set to take over current presenters Oh Dae-young and Ahn Na-kyung on a yet-to-be-announced date, according to a Media Today report on July 5, 2022. [52] However, Lim was appointed as an editor on the JoongAng Ilbo, putting the reorganization to a halt for the time being. This supposed move was aligned with the network's desire to go full digital while maintaining the news division's integrity.
November 2022—July 2023: Ssulzun Live hosts succeed Oh Dae-young, Han Min-yong; Open Newsroom introduced
On an October 21, 2022 report by Media Today, [53] JTBC announces former Ssulzun Live anchors Park Sung-tae and Kang Ji-young to become Oh Dae-young and Han Min-yong's successors on the weekday and weekend edition respectively, with Ahn Na-kyung staying put as the weekday sub-anchor, a position she has held since 2016. The reorganization was set to take effect that November, which also included a brand new format every Friday where people can watch the program inside their headquarters live.
The reorganization kicked off November 14, 2022 with a new set and graphics package that replaced the old opening titlecard with a generic one. It also brought back the old Social Live format in Behind the Newsroom aired every weekdays. Meanwhile, Kang Ji-young hosted Newslice with a similar format as her old Ssulzun Live segment.
July 2023—present: Park Sung-tae, Ahn Na-kyung leave Newsroom; Han Min-yong, Choi Jae-won named successors
Mydaily reported about another anchor change, [54] this time with both Park Sung-tae and Ahn Na-kyung leaving the program, the latter after nine years of being the sub-presenter, with seven of these in the weekday edition in the longest-serving Newsroom tenure ever. Former weekend anchor Han Min-yong returns to the anchor seat after a short stint as a co-host in the regular segment Yeouido and Seocho. She is joined by former Fact Checker Choi Jae-won as her sub-anchor, the first in Newsroom history. In addition, she is the youngest main anchor of a Korean flagship newscast ever, taking over just two days shy of her 34th birthday on July 19.
