권력, 언론, 시민과 여론 : 한국 사회의 부패구조에 관한 이해

Power, Press, Citizen, and Public Opinion : Understanding of Social Mechanism of Corruption In Korean Society

This study explored the social mechanism of corruption in Korean society from perspectives of mass communication theories such as agenda-setting and media dependency theory. The results showed that the government power or politicians have a tendency to control the press and the public to create favorable public opinion. The government is likely to be corruptible by nature without check and balance by the press. The press as the fourth estate has a powerful influence on the public and public opinion. The public depend heavily upon the press to get information and form public opinion. Now they have the Internet as a direct channel to communicate with the government. The desirable mechanism preventing corruption is check and balance among the government, the press and the public.