According to Allkpop, media manipulation, commonly known as “mediaplay”, is a form of communication intended to control public opinion in a desired way.
Various studies have shown that the words used in the media play a big role in creating the image of people in the news, including the omission of some information, which greatly affects the public's emotions.
Jessica Jung's departure from Girls' Generation (SNSD), or the recent war between NewJeans and HYBE, are typical examples of media manipulation by large corporations in the Korean entertainment industry.
On September 30, 2014, Jessica shocked everyone when she announced that she had been unilaterally kicked out of the group SNSD.
Dispatch initially posted an article about Jessica being forced to leave the group, but the article was soon deleted and replaced with an article supporting SM Entertainment (SNSD's management company).
A series of negative news about her was spread such as skipping practice, being lazy, not doing foreign schedules, taking advantage of the members...
There were even rumors that Jessica wanted to leave the group, give up music to get married, and she went to see lawyer Lim Sang Hyuk, who handled the case for former TVXQ members, to cancel her contract with SM.
Jessica left SM in 2015. After the album was released, her schedule to participate in Korean music shows was canceled. SM's close relationship with television stations led many to suspect that SM had interfered in this.
On JTBC's Mixnine in 2017, Seungri asked Jessica why she had been absent from television for 3 years. Everyone was surprised by the question and Seungri said, "This is JTBC so it's okay, if it was SBS you would be in big trouble."
This made the public understand that Jessica was likely to be banned from all music shows and would never appear on Korean stages again.
In early 2023, three members of EXO, Xiumin, Baekhyun, and Chen, now known as EXO CBX, filed a lawsuit against SM. They accused SM of unfair pay, slave-like contract terms, and alleged fraud by executives.
After the lawsuit, the three male idols were harmed by information on online forums criticizing them for being greedy and selfish. SM was suspected of paying fake accounts to comment in the fan community, turning fans against CBX.
Media manipulation has also become a hot topic of discussion recently in the dispute between former CEO Min Hee Jin of ADOR (NewJeans management company) and HYBE Group.
The public believes that HYBE manipulated the media, intentionally releasing many unverified news to ruin Min Hee Jin's reputation.
In addition, HYBE was exposed for belittling NewJeans' achievements and attempting to bribe journalists. Although HYBE later denied it, it still caused outrage among the NewJeans fan community.
The power of Kpop companies and the way they easily manipulate the media has many fans worried.
Jessica speaking out against SM has definitely put her on the blacklist of the Korean entertainment industry. With NewJeans speaking out against HYBE, their future is also uncertain.
