A self-portrait of the media, blinding the public, awash in money, and shaking democracy with ignorance and greed. Hanmi Ilbo Composite

Democracy crumbles first when the media blinds the public and degenerates into a political tool. Recently, some media outlets have evaluated Jang Dong-hyuk, the new leader of the People Power Party, as having "limited potential for centrist expansion." 

However, this criticism is not only politically weak but also far removed from political reality. Above all, this discourse is nothing more than the media uncritically echoing a frame long employed by the left-wing political establishment.

The term "centrist expansion" sounds rational and objective at first glance. However, in reality, it is a fabrication disguised as a yardstick for political analysis.

In Korean politics, so-called centrists are not a fixed identity but rather a fluctuating entity that shifts depending on the situation. In some phases, they lean conservative, and in others, they lean progressive.

Nevertheless, the media portrays them as if they constitute an independent, large bloc, stigmatizing conservative figures with "failure to expand centrist appeal" and glorifying the Democratic Party with "centrist control."

One cannot help but question whether this stems from ignorance or deliberate complicity.

Even looking at the background of the Democratic Party's past electoral victories, they are closer to situational backlash effects than centrist expansion. Specific political circumstances, such as the impeachment of former President Park Geun-hye and the initial response to COVID-19, channeled undecided voters and some swing votes toward the Democratic Party.

However, the media referred to this as "centrist expansion," over-packaging the Democratic Party's strategic capabilities. Conversely, whenever the conservative camp consolidates, the media invariably attaches the label of "alienated from the center."

The media's double standard is evident.

In fact, the media's discourse on "centrist expansion" is not merely an interpretation but a framing device.

The formula "captured the party base but lost public support" is repeatedly used, ultimately leading to the conclusion that "public sentiment lies with the Democratic Party."

As long as this structure persists, conservatives will always be branded as "biased" regardless of their choices, while the Democratic Party will be portrayed as "reasonable centrists" no matter what they do. This is the media reproducing the logic of power, tantamount to abandoning its duty as an independent watchdog.

If the media's repeated superficial analyses are due to ignorance, that in itself is a problem. However, what is more serious is when the media becomes a willing accomplice, spreading the frames of the political establishment.

In a democratic society, the media should be the eyes and ears of the public, not a megaphone for a particular faction. Nevertheless, the repetition of the stale rhetoric of "limited centrist expansion" is nothing short of a self-confession of the media's parasitic relationship with power.

Hanmi Ilbo asks: Is the media ignorant, or is it a pawn of the political establishment? The readers know the answer.

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