1974～75년 동아일보․동아방송 구성원들의 자유언론투쟁

Abstract

It is on October 24, 1974 that the Dong-a Ilbo reporters made the Declaration for the Practice of Freedom of Speech and took into a full-scale movement for the practice of freedom of speech with the tyranny, oppressive ruling, and suppression on the press by the Park Jung-hee's regime for over ten years in the background. The press was not performing its intended roles right under the suppression of his regime, which controlled the press so that they would not print a negative article about his regime. The agents of the Central Information Bureau would visit the editorial offices of the newspapers to intervene their articles and often take journalists to the police, shrinking the press. The general readers and the public criticized the press for not reporting accurate facts in demonstrations, thus driving the incumbent reporters into a mental shock. In response to those developments, the young reporters of Dong-a Ilbo, the most influential newspaper of the times in Korea, made a declaration to protect freedom of speech in April, 1971 and November and December, 1973. Despite their three declarations, however, the newspaper articles were not improved over a night. Furthermore, their three declarations were not translated into actions right, either. There was no reporters' organization to support their practice, and Park's regime and the Central Information Bureau still enjoyed enormous power. In March, 1974, the Dong-a Ilbo reporters formed a labor union as a means of engaging in a movement for freedom of speech in an organized manner. Although they failed in obtaining a legal status for their union due to the suppression from the newspaper and Park's regime, the reporters developed confidence, succeeded in reforming the executive office of the Reporters' Association and the executive office of the Reporters' Association Dong-a branch, and made a declaration for the practice of freedom of speech and acted upon it on October 24, 1974. Working with the executive editors including the head of the editorial office, the reporters started to print articles on the difficulties the common people had and democratic movements little by little. Those articles were not found in the newspaper for a long while before their change. During the period, some members of the management and executives were favorable toward the practice of freedom of speech even though they were passive. In addition, the producers of Dong-a Broadcasting, a subsidiary of Dong-a Ilbo, joined in their practice of and struggle for freedom of speech by including criticism on Park's regime in their programs. In reaction to their efforts, Park's regime pressed the advertisers of Dong-a Ilbo and Dong-a Broadcasting to stop buying ads from them through the Central Information Bureau and tried to stop the practice of and struggle for freedom of speech happening at Dong-a Ilbo. As a result, most of the ads in the newspaper were canceled in late December, 1974. In January, 1975, however, there was an explosion in advertisements to encourage them and in movements to raise funds and subscribe to the newspaper among the general readers and the public. The ad sections of the newspaper were full of encouragement ads by the general reader. Encouraged by them, the reporters and employees tried to continue their practice of and struggle for freedom of speech. However, the president and the management withdrawn by the prolonged suppression on their ads fired many of the reporters and employees involved in the struggle for freedom of speech and forcefully broke up their protests in March, 1975 to make a reconciliation with Park's regime and bring back the ads. The dismissed reporters and employees formed Dong-a Committee for Protection and Struggle for Freedom of Speech, which joined the democratization movement in the latter half of the 1970s and made a huge contribution to the nation's democratization.