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네이버 공유 카카오 공유 트위터 공유 페이스북 공유

Cultural Exchange Projects Attract Interest of the Press

During the past year, the Korea Foundation distributed press releases and organized press conferences for a variety of newspapers and broadcasting stations to publicize some 20 different projects involving cultural, artistic and academic exchanges. Of these activities, those that attracted the greatest interest among the news media involved cultural exchange projects, in particular the establishment of Korean galleries in overseas museums and the various performances and exhibitions conducted abroad last year. Indeed, the event that generated the greatest attention was the opening of the Korea Foundation Gallery at the British Museum in London on November 8, which was covered by all three major Korean TV networks as well as 13 daily Korean newspapers.
However, the project that gave me the most satisfaction in publicizing was the second Workshop for Korean Art Curators held in Seoul and Gyeongju over two weeks in late August and early September for the purpose of enhancing the expertise of curators of Korean art from major overseas museums through firsthand experience. This project made me proud that the Foundation was playing a leading role in organizing such a worthwhile program, which generated more than a dozen newspaper, magazine, and television reports, including interviews with some of the program? participants.
Similarly, a second popular event widely covered by the local news media was the second Korea-Russia Forum held in Seoul on September 28-29 to coincide with the tenth anniversary of the establishment of Korea-Russia diplomatic relations.
The Foundation? 20 projects publicized in 2000 resulted in a total of 87 news stories. However, the Foundation? projects do not seem to be covered evenly throughout the year. As seen in the following Table, the majority of news coverage occurred in the second half of the year from August to November. Of the 20 projects covered by the media, 13 occurred during this four-month period, while of the 87 stories produced, 56 came about during this period. This would seem to indicate that at far as the press is concerned, the majority of the Foundation? more important projects were carried out in the latter half of the year.
At this time of the year, when most Foundation projects have been wrapped up, I was quite overwhelmed with satisfaction as I flipped through my scrapbook and looked over the many articles that were written on Foundation projects. However, there were also many worthwhile projects that unfortunately did not receive much media coverage despite the Foundation? efforts to publicize them, including commemorative concerts held to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Korea-Mongolia ties, and the 2000 Korean culture program. Unfortunately, these did not seem to interest the Korean public or press, while in the case of the Korea-Mongolia events this makes me wonder whether there is a tendency within the news media to feature stories primarily concerning advanced countries. It seems ironic that the Foundation? annual program of small-scale lectures, workshops, and performances featured in North America and Europe, which have been carried out for the past ten years, are all but ignored by the press, perhaps for their lack of novelty.
Another unusual point about the media coverage of Foundation projects in 2000 was the emphasis on events such as forums, performances, and the opening of Korean art galleries overseas, even while various ongoing academic programs into which the Foundation has invested so much time and energy, such as the promotion of Korean studies overseas, did not attract any media attention whatsoever. In this respect, publicizing Foundation activities to the general public this year was not altogether satisfying. Though certain events naturally raised interest once they were covered in the press, other activities that needed to be publicized in order to expand the public? range of interests went uncovered.
In the new year, we intend to put forth even greater efforts to publicize the work of the Foundation by making effective use of press releases and by developing newsworthy feature stories about some of the Foundation? less glamorous but equally important projects, such as its support for Korean studies programs and Korea-related publications.



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