If one has ever been baited by so-called nak-shi articles, literally “fishing” articles, those with headlines promising sensational content solely to hook the public’s attention, the launching of a nak-shi free Web site may be good news. An Ewha graduate has teamed up with a friend to create “Newscaster,” an unprecedented, pioneering Web site that provides only “good articles,” those that are informational rather than scandalous.
It was while Lim Da-young (’11, Economics), the chief manager of the Newscaster Web site, was still working as an intern at the television channel Mnet that she realized the limits of current media.
“The media today is filled with Web portals that are often focused on issuing sensational news over educational news, eating up and depleting resources only to attract attention,” Lim said. “Because of this, Web portals betray media’s genuine role: to inform and to educate the public.”
To turn her passion into reality, Lim collaborated with Kim Dae-won, a Political Science major from Chung-Ang University. The two had met in 2010 at a recreational center where they learned to write journalism.
“Kim and I formed a reading club with two other friends and built our friendship for three more years, sharing our thoughts and beliefs,” Lim said. “Then, realizing the two of us pursued a common goal, we started outlining a rough sketch of Newscaster.”
Although their ambitions are high, their path has been rough from the beginning. Now only in their mid-twenties, Lim and Kim still have limited experience in the field of either media or entrepreneurship. Additionally, the financial burden in establishing a Web site has been an impediment.
Their determination and persistence, however, has remained firm even in the face of probable hardships. With focused attention to their ambition, they started by sending e-mails out to various newspaper sites, explaining their goal and asking if the news organizations could provide some articles without cost.
“Although people might have viewed our attempt as bold and even preposterous, we had no other option,” Lim said.
The newspaper sites responded to their urgent requests within a few weeks, offering to provide many of their articles free of charge for a year. After these agreements come to an end, Lim and Kim will use their income to purchase articles.
“The companies were impressed by our effort to change the current trend and eventually restore the essential role of media,” Lim said. “Starting from the first day the Web site opens, multiple newspaper sites such as Mediaus, Ddanziilbo, and Wikipress will provide their articles for free.”
These three newspaper sites, a few of the South Korean news portals currently running, have made a one year contract with Newscaster for now.
Lim hopes to build a community in which the public can read and share what is truly educational to broaden its knowledge and understanding of the world through specially selected national and international news as well as opinion columns.
“As the business progresses, our goal is to deliver more international news articles written from an Asian perspective, rather than a Western one, to provide fresher, more vivid news for readers,” Lim said. “To make this possible, we want to dispatch some of our future reporters to other countries and thereby enable them to acquire first-hand experience.”
Although they aim for something that no one seems to have attempted before in Korea, Lim believes their faith and firm determination will bring them success, and she advises Ewha students to have a similar mindset.
“I hope all Ewha students will have confidence in themselves, no matter what dreams they pursue,” Lim said. “Always have a big dream and try with everything you have to make it a reality, even if it means you have to blaze a new path yourself.”
The Web site was launched on Feb. 18. Anyone interested in two young graduates’ attempt to establish possibly a new paradigm of nak-shi-free news portals may visit the Newscaster homepage (http://newscaster.co.kr/).