[가로지르기]美 언론현실 전하는 웨인 완타 미주리대 교수

"언론학자-기자 간 적대관계는 옛말 동료처럼 지내며 저널리즘 발전 고민"

얼마 전 서울 삼성동 코엑스에서 열린 언론학회 50주년 행사에서 "안녕하십니까"라며 한국어로 축사를 시작한 미국인 언론학자가 있었다. 미주리 대학 저널리즘 스쿨의 웨인 완타(Wayne Wanta) 교수였다.

완타 교수는 경희대에 '국제 석학'으로 초빙돼 8차례의 언론학 특강을 한 뒤 중국 상하이로 떠났다. 완타 교수는 젊은 시절 신문기자였으나 학계로 방향을 전환해 '의제설정(agenda setting)' 연구로 저명한 학자로 변신한 인물이다. 그는 약 3주 동안 잠실야구장, 비무장지대(DMZ), 고궁 등을 방문하며 다양한 한국 체험을 했다. 필자는 미국 언론의 전반적 현실을 주제로 완타 교수와 e메일 인터뷰를 했다.

-한 사회의 정치·경제적 현상을 놓고 언론은 독립적으로 의제를 설정하려 하고 정부도 나름대로 의제를 세우려 합니다. 사회의 공론장에서 언론과 정부는 '의제 설정'의 경쟁을 벌이고 있습니다. 어느 쪽이 이기는 것이 바람직합니까? 미국의 이라크 전쟁을 예로 들어 말씀해 주십시오.

"경우에 따라 다릅니다. 대체로 정부 관리들은 그들의 메시지를 국민에게 전달하기 위해 뉴스 미디어를 필요로 합니다. 관리들은 인터넷을 통해 직접 국민에게 메시지를 전할 수도 있습니다. 하지만 전형적으로 공중(the public)은 뉴스 미디어를 이용해 정부의 정보를 얻습니다. 따라서 뉴스 미디어가 미국 대통령의 메시지를 보도하지 않는다면 공중은 정부 소식을 알 수 없습니다. 그런데 대통령은 나라 제일의 뉴스메이커입니다. 대통령이 행동하거나 말하는 것은 모두 뉴스가 됩니다. 따라서 비정상적인 상황에서는 미디어가 중요한 뉴스원으로서 대통령을 필요로 합니다. 이라크 전쟁의 예를 들면, 전쟁 발발로 가는 과정은 매우 중요한 뉴스였습니다. 미디어는 부시 대통령에게서 나오는 기사를 필요로 했습니다. 그러나 이라크 전쟁에 반대하는 경쟁적인 뉴스원을 사용하지 않은 것이 문제였습니다. 전쟁 반대자의 수는 적었고 발견하기 어려웠습니다. 그래서 미디어는 부시 대통령 등 정부 소식통들에게서 나오는 정보에만 의존해 기사를 썼고, 그 결과 전쟁에 비판적인 목소리는 별로 반영하지 않았습니다. 이라크 전의 경우 반전론자들은 소수 의견에 속했고, 그들은 '사회적 고립'의 공포 때문에 의견을 내지 못했습니다. '침묵의 나선' 이론이 적용되는 상황이었습니다. 보도가 개전의 정당성을 옹호하는 방향으로 기울자 반전론자들의 목소리는 더욱 작아졌습니다."

-미주리는 미국 땅의 중간지역입니다. 그곳에 살면서 뉴스를 접하면 심리적 거리감을 느끼지 않습니까. 미국 뉴스는 '동부 해안의 편향'을 보이지 않습니까.

"미국의 뉴스 미디어에서 말하는 '동부 해안의 편향'이란 서부 해안(LA, 샌프란시스코 등)에 비해 동부 해안지역인 워싱턴이나 뉴욕을 더 중요하게 다룬다는 것을 말합니다. 미국 연방정부가 워싱턴에 있고, 금융의 중심이 뉴욕에 있음을 감안한다면 미디어가 이들 동부의 두 도시에 집중하는 것이 이해됩니다. 게다가 동부지역 신문들은 마감시간 때문에 서해안지역에서 발생하는 뉴스를 보도하지 못할 수 있습니다. 제가 사우스 캐롤라이나주 찰스턴의 '더 포스트 쿠리어(The Post Courier)'에서 기자로 일할 때 첫 마감시간은 오후 10시였습니다. 이 시간은 서부에서는 오후 7시입니다. 보스턴이나 뉴욕에서 야구 경기가 있으면 우리는 신문의 첫판에 보도할 수 있었습니다. 그런데 이 시간에 로스앤젤레스에서는 경기가 시작도 하지 않았습니다. 다수의 체육인들은 우수팀(우수 선수) 투표가 있으면 주로 동부쪽으로 표가 몰리는 것은 이런 보도의 편향성 때문이라고 불평하고 있습니다. 하지만 제가 사는 인근 도시인 세인트루이스의 주민들은 자신들의 지역을 다루는 전국 네트워크 뉴스가 적다고 불평하지 않습니다. 뉴스란 주로 살인 폭력 등 비극적인 것을 보도하는 경향이 있기 때문에 전국 방송에 자기 지역이 보도되지 않는 것을 오히려 만족스럽게 생각합니다. 이들은 지역 신문들이 지역 뉴스를 충분히 전달해 준다고 생각합니다. 세인트루이스 주민들은 워싱턴·뉴욕 주민들을 전혀 부러워하지 않습니다. 미국 동부로부터 나오는 과다한 범죄 뉴스를 접하는 것에 지쳤기 때문입니다."

-한국에서는 대통령 선거나 국회의원 선거가 있을 때 일부 기자들이 정치로 옮겨갑니다. 미국에서도 가끔 언론인들이 정치쪽으로 옮겨가는 것을 보았습니다. 어떻게 생각하십니까.

"저는 다수의 기자들이 정치를 즐기기 때문에 언론계에 들어간다고 생각합니다. 정치 취재는 많은 언론학 전공 대학생들이 원하는 분야가 아닐까 합니다. 하지만 미국에서 기자직은 전형적으로 급여가 낮은 직종입니다. 이것 때문에 다수의 기자들은 언론을 떠나 공보직(홍보직) 등 급여가 높은 직종으로 옮겨갑니다. 상당수 정치인들은 전직 언론인이 백악관이나 정부 부처의 대변인이 되는 것을 만족스럽게 생각할 겁니다. 언론인 출신 정부 대변인들은 기자들이 원하는 것이 무엇인지 이해할 수 있고, 따라서 그들과 일을 잘할 수 있을 겁니다." (완타 교수가 말하는 '낮은 급여'는 한국인들이 잘 아는 미국의 저명 언론사가 아니라 작은 언론사들을 가리키는 듯하다.)

-미국의 기자들은 오랜 기간 기자로 일합니까. 전직하는 사례는 없습니까."미국 언론계에서 변하지 않는 것은 이 분야가 주로 젊은이들의 일터라는 점입니다. 많은 이들이 평생을 기자로 살아가지만 아마도 절반 이상은 여러 이유로 언론을 떠납니다. 이유는 급여가 상대적으로 낮기 때문이며, 특히 초급 기자들의 경우 매우 낮습니다. 떠나는 기자들은 홍보직 등 급여가 나은 직종으로 옮겨갑니다. 기자들은 항상 마감시간에 쫓기는 데다, 상급자로부터 '잘 못했다'는 얘기만 주로 듣고, 독자들에게서도 칭찬보다는 항의를 받는 경우가 더 흔합니다. 기자는 스트레스가 많은 직업입니다. 고참 기자와 신참 기자들은 '애증의 관계'를 갖고 있습니다. 고참기자들은 신참기자들에게 높은 수준의 기사를 요구하고, 과거가 좋았다는 식으로 얘기합니다. 신참 기자들은 자기 기사에서 흠만 찾는 고참기자들을 비판합니다. 그렇지만 그들은 고참의 지식이나 경험을 존중합니다. 고참들은 신참들의 탁월한 컴퓨터 기능 등에 감탄합니다."

-언론이란 실무를 하는 것이 아닙니까. 대학교에서 저널리즘을 가르칠 필요가 있습니까. 미국에서는 언론학 전공자가 언론 현업에 많이 들어갑니까.

"한 때 간부 언론인들은 저널리즘은 '배관공 업무'와 유사하다고 생각했습니다. 현장에서 실무를 통해서만 익힐 수 있다는 의미입니다. 그런데 1970년대 이래 대부분의 언론사들은 저널리즘 전공자를 채용해 많은 이익을 얻었습니다. 요즘 미국 언론사 기자들의 90%가량은 저널리즘이나 커뮤니케이션 전공자들입니다. 정치·경제 등 전공자들은 소수에 속합니다. 수십년 전 언론학자들은 뉴스 미디어가 편견에 빠져 있으며, 여론을 조작하며, 부정확하다는 등으로 비판했습니다. 그러나 최근 언론 연구자들은 미디어의 긍정적 측면도 평가하고 있습니다. 기자들도 과거 언론학자들을 부정적으로 보았으나 요즘엔 그렇지 않습니다. 연구자들과 기자들은 이제 서로를 적대시하지 않고 동료처럼 생각합니다. 저널리즘 학교들은 다수의 유능한 졸업자들을 언론사에 공급하고 있습니다."

-여러 방문지 가운데 잠실야구장은 어떠했습니까. 한국 야구선수를 몰라도 경기를 즐길 수 있나요.

"스포츠는 보편적인 언어입니다. 대부분의 스포츠 규칙은 국경을 넘어 동일합니다. 저는 선수 개인의 신상을 모르지만 기록판을 보고 한국 선수를 파악하면서 경기를 즐겼습니다. 저는 한국과 미국 야구팬의 차이를 발견했습니다. 미국팬들은 점잖은 태도로 정기적으로 선수들에게 박수갈채만 보내는데 한국 팬들은 경기 내내 노래하고 고함을 지르면서 경기를 즐기고 있었습니다. 미국에서보다 한국에서 야구를 더 즐겼습니다."

▲ 웨인 완타 교수는폴란드계로 미국 텍사스 주립대에서 '의제설정'이론으로 저명한 맥스웰 맥쿰스 교수의 지도로 1989년 박사학위를 받았다. 박사 논문 제목은 '대통령, 언론, 여론: 의제 구축의 역학 진단'이다. 교수는 '공중과 국가적 의제(The Public and the National Agenda)' '스포츠 보도와 쓰기의 핵심(The Essentials of Sports Reporting and Writing)' 등 3권의 저서와 다수의 논문을 갖고 있다. 1978년부터 1986년까지 8년간 '오스틴 아메리칸-스테이츠먼(텍사스 오스틴)' 등 5개 신문사에서 기자로 일했다. 2002년에 이어 이번이 2번째 방한이다.

In-depth Interview with Professor Wayne Wanta, School of Journalism, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO

　Posted: June 25, 2009

　Interviewer: Wontai SEOL, Senior Editor, The Kyunghyang Daily News

　Professor Wayne Wanta had an in-depth email interview with Senior Editor Wontai SEOL during his three-week visit to Korea. The interview topics ranged from East Coast bias of U.S. news media, to cooperation between journalism and academia, to American journalists' work and career, to agenda-setting game between media and government, to his visit to Jamsil Baseball Stadium. He gave two-week lectures to Kyunghee University students during his sojourn in Seoul. Following are qustionss and answers.

　Q1. I mentioned geographical (or psychological) distance that central-region American news consumers might feel. For example, Americans who live in central regions such as Missouri might feel themselves somewhat remote from the mainstream American news media. Could you please elaborate on this citing examples? You mentioned 'East Coat bias.' Now I would like to know about this bias.

　A: The East Coast bias stems from the claim that the West Coast (Los Angeles, San Francisco) receive less media coverage than the East Coast (New York, Washington). Given the fact that the federal government is located in Washington, and the financial headquarters are in New York City, there is a natural tendency of the media to concentrate on those two cities. Add to this is the fact that many East Coast newspapers have deadlines that force them to exclude some West Coast news. For example, when I worked in Charleston, South Carolina, our first deadline was 10 p.m. That was 7 p.m. on the West Coast. So a baseball team playing in New York City or Boston would make our first edition because their games would be over by our deadline. Teams playing in Los Angeles would not even have started their games. Athletes claim that voting for awards typically go to East Coast teams because more voters are able to read stories from East Coast locations.

　This is less of a problem in a mid-country city such as St. Louis, the largest city near my home. St. Louis rarely gets national coverage on network news, but I think most people are happy with that. When a city makes the news, it is usually because something bad happens -- a murder or a tragedy. St. Louis residents get plenty of local news from local newscasts and from local papers. I don't think people in St. Louis are jealous of New York or Washington. I think most people are happy to be far away from those cities, since we see so much coverage of crime and other bad news.

　Q2. I think that journalism is largely about "practice" rather than "academia." So, how could journalism schools teach students? What is the percentage of journalism students who enter journalism after graduation?

　A: This was heatedly debated several years ago. There was a time when editors thought journalism is like plumbing -- you only learn it by doing it; you get training on the job. But since the 1970s, most news organizations have seen the benefits of journalism education. A journalist does not need a journalism degree, but I would estimate that 90 percent of journalists hired for jobs have a journalism or communication degree. There are a few liberal arts majors (political science, for instance), but they are far in the minority.

　I think one thing has been especially helpful for journalism educators. Back a few decades ago, most journalism academic research was critical of the news media. According to researchers, the news media were biased, manipulative, inaccurate. But in more recent years, research has been less critical. There are still studies that show media do bad things, but many studies have found positive effects of the news media -- social learning, awareness of important problems. Because of this research, journalists don't view academic researchers with distrust. In addition, academic leaders have reached out to the industry for help with accreditation decisions and curriculum revision. Overall, many industry professionals now view academic researchers as colleagues rather than enemies. We also have been producing excellent journalists, so the industry needs universities as a supply source for new journalists.

　Q3. How are the faculty of universities are composed of? Do you have many professors who turned professors after having journalism careers like you?

　A: I think most universities would be very happy to have an entire faculty of people who worked in the industry and went on to get a Ph.D. But two things are barriers. First, the longer a person works at a news organization, the less likely they are to go back to school for other degrees. People tend to become very comfortable in their jobs. Quitting a job and going back to school can be expensive, and the outcome is unknown. If you like being a journalist, will you necessarily like teaching it? Second, survival in university programs is dependent almost exclusively on research. You must have a certain number of articles in academic journals to get promotions and tenure. Without publications, you will be forced to find a job at a small university that only requires faculty members to teach. Can a person trained to be a journalist and successful enough to work for good news organizations for several years change his/her focus to concentrate on academic research? Some can! , but some can't.

　Some universities have a dual track for faculty. One track is the traditional tenure-track, in which a faculty member is judged on research first, and teaching and service second. The other track is for professionals. Universities have higher teaching loads for these people, but they are not required to do research. But because they are not required to do research, they cannot receive tenure. Some schools also do not promote these faculty members. The reason for this dual track is that tenure and promotion cases must be approved by a university committee and the university president or provost. These committees include faculty from all over campus. So a biologist might be on a committee. These people often do not understand why a faculty member does not have publication in academic journals but wants to get tenure and promoted. The professional journalist is misunderstood by faculty who must publish in their discipline.

　This causes quite a conflict. Journalism schools want experienced professionals teaching their professional classes. But experienced professionals typically have a difficult time getting tenure and promotion from the university. I worked eight years at newspapers before I went back to school for my master's and doctoral degrees. I have my feet in both camps -- the professional and research areas. But this is somewhat unusual. More typically, you see a person with a Ph.D. who has two or three years of media experience, or a person with 25-years of media experience who has just a bachelor's degree. Both are valuable. Both help a program. But they have different focuses.

　Q4. News media try to wield their own power to set the agenda(media agenda) and then they want their agenda to be a public agenda to be consumed by the public. The government may also want to set their own policy agenda and the government wants their agenda to be the public agenda to be consumed by the public. The competition in this "agenda setting game" might go on in the public sphere. Which side do you think should win? Or which side has won or lost? Could you cite an example? Can the Iraq War (2003 to present) be explained in terms of agenda competition?

　A: Your question is best explained by my favorite answer: It depends. For most issues, during most times, government officials need the news media to transmit their messages to the public. Certainly, the internet provides a direct route to the public. But the public typically uses the news media for information about government. Thus, if the U.S. president, for example, cannot get his messages covered by the news media, the public will not learn about them. So in the normal time periods, the media have more influence on the public than the president.

　On the other hand, the president is the nation's number one newsmaker. Whatever the president does or says is news. Thus, in abnormal times, the media need the president as an important news source. This is very clear in your example of the Iraq War. The lead up to the war was an important news story. The media needed information from President Bush for their stories. The problem, however, was that the media did not use competing sources, sources that were against the Iraq War. The opponent of the war were few, and so difficult to find. So the media continued using only government officials such as President Bush in their news stories, meaning that very few voices critical of the idea of going to war with Iraq were heard.

　The news coverage leading up to the Iraq War was complicated because so few critics voiced concern. It appeared to be a case of the Spiral of Silence, where people on the minority side of an issue (anti-war), feared social isolation. They were viewed as radicals because all of the news coverage promoted the war. This made even more critics fall silent, making the majority side of the issue (proponents of the war) seem to be even more in the majority. This continued, creating a spiral of silence in which only the majority side of the issue was heard.

　Q5. Where do American journalists end up? Do they work until they retire as a journalist? Or do they change their jobs? What do the journalists think of other journalists who devote themselves to the journalism? What is the ratio of the journalists who change their profession in the midst of their journalism career?

　A: One constant trend in American journalism is that the field is for the young. Many journalists stay in the field their entire lives, but many others, likely the majority, leave the field for many reasons. Salaries for journalists tend to be very low -- especially for beginning journalists. Therefore, some journalists find better paying jobs in fields such as public relations. The pressures of constant deadlines also take their toll. Editors tend to provide only negative feedback to journalists. Readers also usually contact a reporter when he/she has done something wrong. It's a very stressful career.

　There is usually a love-hate relationship between senior and junior journalists. Senior journalists often have high expectations for junior journalists. The old days were always so much better -- a philosophy by veterans in any field. Yet they also like young journalists because they are so much more savvy with new technologies. Junior journalists view senior editors negatively, because they usually just criticize their work. But they also admire the senior editors because they have such great knowledge and experience.

　Q6. Some portions of Korean journalists joined politics when there was the presidential election in 2007 and when there was a general election in 2008. In the US, are journalists interested in politics and do they sooner or later enter politics? If they do, why do the enter politics? For example, Mr. Snow, journalist of the Fox TV became spokesperson for the White House. What do American journalists think of this kind of job shift? And in fact, Mr. George Stephanopoulos is currently working as a Washington correspondent for ABC News. What do you think about this?

　A: I think most journalists enter the field of journalism because they enjoy politics. For many journalism students, covering politics would be the ideal job. But journalism jobs typically do no pay well. And because of this many leave the field for better paying jobs, such as press secretary.

　I would think that most politicians, if not all, would be very happy to have a former journalist serve as press secretary for the White House or other governmental organizations. In this case, the press secretary would understand the issues and problems that working journalists face. They likely would be easier to work with.

　Q7. You said that you visited Jamsil Sports Complex to enjoy watching sports. You mentioned some differences in spectators behavior in baseball. How and why could this happen? You used to be a sports journalist. And in Korea, even while you do not know the players, could you enjoy the games?

　A: Sports is a universal language. For most sports, the rules are identical across countries. Baseball is a great example of this. When I went to a Korean baseball game, the players lined up in the same positions in the field. Each team had three outs. It was a great experience.

　I didn't know any of the players, but that really didn't matter. The scoreboard gave some details about the players. I remember at one point, I turned to a friend and said that the current batter for the Doosan Bears must be one of the best players in the league because the scoreboard showed he was hitting over .400. It's been decades since someone hit .400 for an entire season in the U.S. The next time the batter came up, another friend said to me that he was a great player and had represented South Korea in the World Baseball Championships. In other words, he confirmed what I had already figured out.

　The U.S. baseball fans certainly could learn a thing or two from the Korean fans. I've never seen fans have such a great time at a game. They were singing and chanting the whole game. In the U.S., fans sit back and politely applaud periodically. I enjoyed this game more than a typical game in the U.S.

　Q8. What is the relative importance of sports journalists in the newsroom in the US journalism? Do the political reporters and economics reporters matter much while sports, features, and culture journalists do not count much? How are the chief editor chosen? Are they mostly former political reporters? (In Korea, political reporters are in an advantageous position to get promoted. Of course, they do lots of work.)

　A: Sports departments are tolerated in news rooms. Many on the news side don't really think sports is really news. You see this same thinking at universities. My currently university, the University of Missouri, celebrated its centennial last year. It's been around for more than 100 years, but has never offered a sports writing class.

　I think this is slowly changing. I will be moving to a new university in fall, Oklahoma State University. My new university has an entire degree program in sports journalism. In fact, I will have an endowed chair in sports journalism there. Newsroom also are slowly becoming more accepting of sports journalism. Many news journalists are big sports fans, so they read the sports section every day. They may think their jobs are more important than a sports writer's job, but they do read the sports section daily.

　Promotions for sports editors have always been a problem. I have worked at two newspapers where a sports editor had been promoted. Usually, though, sports editors are viewed as being singularly focused on something outside news, and so few are able to break this stereotype.

　Q9. How many times have you visited Korea? Are your impressions and assessments of Korea and Koreans changing?

　A: This is my second visit to Korea. I attended a conference here in 2002, so it's been seven years. My memories of Seoul in 2002 are limited. I remember eating great food and walking around in one of your markets. I had a great time.

　This trip has been much more fun. I spent two days at Jeju Island. I've gone to the DMZ. And of course, I've gone to baseball games. The thing that makes this trip better is that I have several former students living in Korea now. Last week, I had a great time visiting with 10 Missouri graduates. Monday, I will spend the evening with four former students from Florida. I've had some wonderful students from Korea. Visiting with them has brought me great joy.

　Q10. What is your evaluation of Korea and Koreans as an object of news? How many times or how often do you get Korean news in Missouri by local media? Are people in Missouri aware of the existence of Korea and Koreans? What are their perceptions of Korea and Koreans?

　A: One constant in research of the news media in the U.S. is that the media tend to cover countries only during times of scandals and natural disasters. Sadly, this has been a case for Korea as well. We had some coverage of the recent suicide of your former president. The tragedy certainly had high news value. We also have gotten coverage of the potential nuclear bomb testing of North Korea and the swine flu cases here.

　Because of the limited coverage of foreign nations, most Americans don't know much about other countries. Very few Americans travel abroad. Lower income families have many other things to worry about than international news. Still I think that most Americans know of Korea. Older Americans remember the Korean War. Younger Americans are much more concerned with global issues, so they know about Korea from the economic successes you've experienced.

　I think that South Korea is viewed positively by most Americans. People have seen the great economic success of Korea. Some have been lucky -- like me -- to meet successful Koreas in the U.S. South Korea, in fact, may be one of the most positively viewed countries in Asia.

　Q11. You once served as copy editor for a newspaper. What does a copy editor do in the newsroom? Your last job as a journalist was copy editor of the Austin American-Statesman. Does he not give directions to his men/women to cover certain topics? Or does the copy editor just read the copy and not cooperate with other journalists?

　A: I think that if you looked at 100 papers in the U.S., you'd find 100 different newsroom structures. Some managing editors make the final decisions on news stories. Some managing editors do not want to make final decisions because that would be intruding on the responsibilities of other editors.

　I was usually the last person to read stories before they went into print. I would check for grammar, whether information was missing or inaccurate. Depending on the day, I also wrote the headlines for the stories, decided how to display the stories, decided the placement of the stories and/or met with other editors to discuss story placement. It often involved working with journalists to improve their stories. [END]

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