Courtesy of Insung Yoon

Today’s young people are incredibly opinionated. They have a whole range of views on gender, nursing strikes, Park Chung-hee, China, Japan, and much much more. What’s interesting is that when you take the time to talk to the young people of Korea, you find that their answers are varied, complex, and defy easy categorization. There is a huge silent majority out there, young adults who vote, study, work part-time jobs, and pay taxes. And yet, you will likely never hear from them.

You won’t hear from them because anyone who doesn’t fit into an easily defined box, anyone who doesn’t represent an existing caricature created by the media to reinforce a political divide and hegemonic control will be ignored. It’s far easier to view all women as feminists, all men as incels, all conservatives as queer-hating bigots, and all democrats as Pyongyang and Beijing sycophants.

But if only the world were that easy. That black and white. Of course it is to people who hold such positions themselves, but for the rest of us who deal in ambiguity and complexity, media appears to be fleeing further and further from our grasp. It has been said that painters who cannot paint gray should not paint. If only the same were true of what we read and watch online.

Paint me a picture

Every journalist that I speak to wants to write stories about women choosing not to have kids. They want to write about those who don’t have a job and are unhappy. I see reporters online asking to speak to people who fit a certain narrative they have already chosen. They are not going out and interviewing random people on the street. Instead they are looking for people who match the story they have already decided to write. A story they are personally attached to. And, perhaps more importantly, one that they believe will give them the most traction online and thus increase their reputation and financial benefits. I’ve seen lots of journalists lose their jobs recently and I feel for them. I am grateful my livelihood is........

© The Korea Times