Updated Nov.28,2005 22:21 KST

Bad Marks All Round in Hwang Scandal

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Support for Cloning Pioneer Still Growing
Egg Cell Scandal Shows Need For Clear Rules
MBC Team Charges Stem Cell Research ¡®a Sham¡¯
Roh Tries to Calm Outcry Over MBC Report
MBC to Air Follow-Up Expose of Stem Cell Pioneer
Stem Cell Hub's Collaboration Hopes Fade
Hwang Collaborator Demanded Share in Stem Cell Patent
Key Stem Cell Researcher Vanishes
'PD Diary' Can Expect no Cooperation from Hwang Team
In an article posted on the Cheong Wa Dae website President Roh Moo-hyun says he received reports that scientists were unable to continue research due to the anguish and fear caused by coercive and threatening reporters for MBC¡¯s ¡°PD Diary¡± program on research projects by cloning pioneer Prof. Hwang Woo-suk. ¡°I was also annoyed by the MBC report, but the subsequent MBC bashing was excessive,¡± the president wrote. ¡°The situation seems to be spiraling out of control, and if 11 out of the 12 advertisers cancel their contracts with the program, things have gone too far.¡±

If even the president says threats were made, MBC must disclose all the facts and explain or apologize for them. Reporters are charged with applying psychological pressure on interviewees by telling them others had already confessed and saying Hwang would soon be punished by the prosecution. If that is true, it is a gross violation of press ethics. One researcher interviewed by the MBC team in the U.S. said to have been hospitalized due to the stress caused by reporters.

But then there is the peculiar picture of the president putting aside important business to log onto the Internet and comment in detail on how a broadcasting network covers news and on the advertisers who cancel their contracts with the show as a result. Surely these are things that the presidential chief of staff or other aides should handle.

Talking of "group assault by public opinion" against the PD team, Roh contended, ¡°The expression of divergent views ensures a system of checks and balances whereby our society can be ruled by common sense.¡± Tell that to Nosamo, the president¡¯s bellicose online support club that has barged like an enforcer through cyberspace. Nosamo habitually attacks opposition forces with abusive language and has tried to mount a boycott of newspapers critical of the government like the Chosun and Dong-a Ilbo.

Many feel that President Roh has profited greatly by playing on the sentiments of Internet users. It is puzzling when the same president now warns, ¡°Societies where conformity is overwhelming and no criticism is tolerated have always left only shame in history.¡±

In the Hwang Woo-suk scandal, scientists failed to live up to global ethical standards, the media were rash in their coverage, public opinion was sentimental, and government intervention silly. We have once again betrayed how immature our society when it comes to dealing with a delicate and confrontational issue.


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