JTBC Newsroom
JTBC Newsroom is the flagship nightly newscast of South Korean television network JTBC. The newscast is aired from 19:55-21:30 KST on weekdays, 19:55-21:00 on Fridays, and 18:55-19:40 on weekends. JTBC Newsroom replaced two of its predecessors, JTBC News 10 and JTBC News 9. It is presented by Seo Bok-hyun and Ahn Na-kyung on weekdays, and Han Min-yong on weekends.
History
Etymology
has clarified that the name of the program has nothing to do with the US TV drama The Newsroom, of which he only watched for about ten minutes. He also pointed out that there are several other programs with the same name, including the ones from BBC News and CNN.2011: ''JTBC News 10''
It was launched on December 1, 2011 as JTBC News 10, together with the launch of the network itself. It was JTBC's first flagship newscast, which was then hosted by Jun Yong-woo and Cha Ye-rin. Unlike newscasts from the mainstream networks, JTBC News 10 is more focused on providing in-depth stories throughout the program. It was one of the pioneer programs of JTBC that time, usually getting a 1% rating according to AGB Nielsen Korea.November 2012—May 2013: ''JTBC News 10'' becomes ''JTBC News 9''
On November 5, 2012, major programming revamp happened within the JTBC network. This includes a major shift between drama and news programs. Its drama series were moved from 20:45/23:00 to 21:45, and their main newscast JTBC News 10 became JTBC News 9. JTBC News 10 anchors Jun Yong-woo and Cha Ye-rin were eventually replaced by Jun Young-gi and Hwang Nam-hee weeks before the 2012 South Korean presidential elections. Although it was titled JTBC News 9, it actually starts at 20:50 KST. JTBC News 9 focused on news summaries similar to the mainstream networks, with some exclusive news features. It did not became that popular with viewers, as the newscast would place third among general cable news programs, behind Channel A Main News and TV Chosun News Show Pan.May 2013: Sohn Suk-hee becomes president of JTBC News, takes over ''News 9''
On May 9, 2013, Sohn Suk-hee was named as the president of JTBC News department. He was considered as the most prominent and the most influential news anchor in South Korea, having been with MBC for over three decades before leaving his anchor post on MBC Radio. Another major revamp was made within the entire network programming, including more news and current affairs programs in the lineup, before he assumed the anchor post on the 16th of September. JTBC News 9 airs at 20:55. Like its predecessor JTBC News 10, JTBC News 9 focused more on in-depth reporting, increased live field reports and studio interviews. Its pilot episode rated 1.948%. Its ratings went up from the time that Sohn assumed the anchor post, rating between 1.5-2%, and it emerged as the No.1 General cable newscast. This was also the first time a song was used to end the newscast, with Bob Dylan's The Times They Are a-Changin' serving as its first ending theme.April 2014: Sewol Ferry coverage and the rise in ratings
On April 16, 2014, Sohn's, and the whole network's credibility were tested when one of JTBC's reporters asked a very controversial question to one of the survivors of the Sewol ferry sinking. Sohn apologized on the anchor's behalf during the newscast's opening.In what could have been a negative effect to the news department, Sohn's sincere apology was praised by viewers and netizens alike. He even became a trending topic on Naver.com after he had a moment of silence while interviewing Baek Jeom-gi, a shipbuilding engineer professor at Busan University.
Ratings of News 9 went up during the coverage of the Sewol ferry accident. on the 16th of April, it got 1.81% and was the No.1 primetime news program among General cable networks. On the 17th of April, it went up to 2.5%. Not only it was the No.1 program among general cable stations, it was the only JTBC program which entered the Top 20 general cable shows that day.
On the 18th of April, two days after the incident, Sohn had a ground-breaking interview with deep sea diving expert Lee Jong-in. He talked about an equipment called the "diving bell" that could be used for search and rescue operations even through tough water conditions. Mr. Lee said that he tried to offer the diving bell and other diving equipments to the South Korean coast guard for their search efforts, but they declined him. After the interview was aired, online community sites were flooded with criticisms from outraged netizens in response to the government's slow response towards the incident. Several days later, the South Korean coast guard allowed the use of the diving bell. For the first time, JTBC News 9 surpassed the 3% mark after hitting 3.118%.
JTBC News 9 continued to dominate news ratings as it reached a new high of 4.35% on the 21st of April. Sohn Suk-hee was also praised by viewers as he was the only news anchor who covered the search and rescue efforts live from Jindo. The newscast maintained its strength against other general cable newscast for the whole week as it rated 3.97% on the 22nd, 4.12% on the 23rd, 4.079% on the 24th and 3.735% on the 25th. In some cases, its ratings beat the combined ratings of TV Chosun, Maeil Broadcasting Network and Channel A's newscasts.
On the 28th of April, JTBC News 9 broke its own ratings record, achieving 5.06%, and even threatening the main newscasts of MBC and SBS. Its ratings went up on the 29th as it reached 5.401%, and even beating MBC Newsdesk by 0.001%. So far, JTBC News 9 is the only general cable newscast to reach 5%.
September 2014: ''JTBC News 9'' becomes ''JTBC Newsroom''
It was announced on the 2nd week of September that JTBC will revamp its news division, and the cancellation of JTBC News 9. It will eventually be replaced by "JTBC Newsroom" on the 22nd of September. JTBC will move their main news cast from 21:00 KST to 20:00 KST, competing directly against MBC Newsdesk and SBS 8 News. To reflect the change, JTBC will extend its main newscast from the usual 50 minutes to 100 minutes, a first for Korean television news. JTBC Newsroom will also focus on more live reports, studio interviews and more in-depth coverage of today's news. JTBC Newsroom will also retain Sohn as the main anchor. JTBC Weekend News, however, will have Jeon Jin-bae and Lee Ji-eun as its new anchors. JTBC Newsroom is split into two parts—the first being aired from 20:00~20:55 KST, and the second part, from 21:00~21:40. JTBC had also revamped its set and graphics package.The launch of JTBC Newsroom was well received by viewers, rating 2.037% on its first night according to AGB Nielsen Korea, higher than the pilot broadcast of JTBC News 9 when Sohn took over a year ago.
October 2016-2017: The Choi Soon-sil tablet PC exposé
Main article: 2016 South Korean political scandalJTBC assembled a special report team on October 3 to dig deeper into the Mir and K-Sports foundations, consisting of then-weekend anchor and Director of Politics Division 1 Jeon Jin-bae, Director of Social Affairs Division 2 Son Yong-suk and reporters Shim Soo-mi, Kim Pil-joon, Seo Bok-hyun, Shin Hye-won, Kim Tae-young and Park Byung-hyun. Their first scoop was a series of interviews with a former employee who worked with the foundations, which were used as fronts for Choi Soon-sil's bribery operations. The anonymous employee provided testimony and evidence showing Choi met frequently with the various heads of Mir and K-sports.
On October 18, JTBC reported on a tablet PC allegedly belonging to Choi. The network claimed it was found abandoned, but six days later, they revealed that they were in possession of the tablet. The contents were revealed over a 20-day period, which included pieces of sensitive government information. JTBC alleged that some members of the Blue House may have supplied Choi the information. Choi then denied the allegations through an interview with Korean newspaper Segye Ilbo.
Over the next few days, JTBC focused on how Choi meddled with state affairs through showing how Choi edited then-president Park Geun-hye's speeches directly from the tablet, contradicting the original drafts supplied by ex-Blue House staffers. Go Young-tae, who was a former chairman in a company called The Blue K and a close aide to Choi, told JTBC in a June 19 interview that "the only thing Choi does well is to revise the president's speech." However, JTBC found out through examining the tablet that Choi also revised documents of President Park's remarks just hours before the meeting. Some of those former Blue House staffers came forward declaring their knowledge on Choi's involvement. President Park then apologized to the public on October 25, saying that she "relied on Choi in times of hardship". That same day, JTBC said they had turned over the tablet to prosecution. At the time, prosecution declared they did not see a reason to investigate Choi, nor they could find her to be summoned for questioning.
On October 26, JTBC revealed digital evidence including email trails of where the tablet files came from and registration information for the tablet, showing Choi likely received them from ex-Blue House staffer Kim Han-soo, a close friend of Choi's in-law. JTBC also proved the allegations that the tablet PC was indeed Choi's and that she had connections to what The Hankyoreh called "doorknob triumvirate". That very day, the German police first announced they had already been in the process of investigating Choi’s German businesses and were trying to track her down for questioning over illicit business practices. A JTBC reporter also ran a live broadcast that day while outside one of Choi's abandoned homes in Germany, knocking on the door and interviewing neighbors. Choi had apparently left her house in a hurry. Later, the prosecution admitted they were aware of Choi having foreign residences and the overseas investigation, contradicting their previous claim of not knowing where she was.
On December 8, Shim Soo-mi appeared on Newsroom to explain how they obtained the tablet. Shim went to the abandoned office of The Blue K in Sinsa-dong with the real estate manager, who granted them access to the building. Reporters had secured testimony and circumstantial evidence that Choi had been there almost every day until early September. As a result, they found the tablet PC Choi and Go left behind. The tablet was an early model of the Samsung Galaxy Tab series, which is now discontinued. Shim then bought a charger because the model was old and can't be charged with the current iterations of Samsung's chargers. She then put it back at the desk where she found it, but then suspected that Choi might ask someone to destroy the evidence. After an internal meeting, Shim decided to return to the building and obtain the tablet while copying the files inside it, then submit it to the prosecution. They recognized the crucial effect it could bring to the case. Shim brought it to the special report team's office on October 20, and spent the night with them doing a detailed analysis. The special report team found out that Choi was indeed involved in meddling with state affairs, and planned to submit it to the prosecution on the day their report airs.
On December 11, prosecution presented concrete evidence that the tablet was indeed used by Choi.
December 2019—March 2020: ''JTBC Newsroom'' post-Sohn Suk-hee era
In December 2019, Sohn Suk-hee announced his resignation as anchor of JTBC Newsroom following a large-scale organization reshuffle. He has held this position for six years and four months, and will only focus on CEO duties. His final day was on January 2, 2020, during the second part of its annual New Year's Day debate. That broadcast recorded a rating of 4.9%. The Times They Are a-Changin' was used as its ending theme once more as he resigned from his anchor position.Seo Bok-hyun was named as his successor, and in his first day as the new anchor of Newsroom on January 6, 2020, he stated that he will "uphold the four principles built on the newsroom" and he will "do his best every day." Sohn's departure from the anchor chair did not affect Newsroom
Kim Pil-kyu also leaves his post on the weekend edition, following a promotion to become a Washington correspondent, making Han Min-yong the solo anchor of the Friday-Sunday editions of Newsroom starting January 10, 2020. This move makes her the first-ever sole female anchor and only the second main female anchor of a flagship JTBC newscast since 2014, as well as one of the only two female anchors of a JTBC news or current affairs program, the other being Overnight Debate
On January 28, 2020, JTBC Newsroom
The February 23, 2020 broadcast was their last in the Trust B studio before moving to a temporary studio the next day. This marked JTBC's transition from the Trust Building in DMC, which will now be used by JoongAng Ilbo, to the Creation Hall just beside it.
April 2020—present: Move to JTBC Creation Hall and first fixed weather segment
JTBC Newsroom moved to its new headquarters at JTBC Creation Hall at Digital Media City, Sangam-dong, Mapo-gu, South Korea and debuted their new set and graphics package on April 6, 2020. The weekday edition also saw a change in its background music, as well as the addition of new segments A Fresh Look, a similar segment to Anchor Briefing with Seo Bok-hyun; and Dr. Weather, its first fixed weather segment hosted by reporter and meteorologist Kim Se-hyun. This broadcast recorded a nationwide rating of 4.145%.Anchors Seo Bok-hyun and Ahn Na-kyung helmed the second part of JTBC News' special election coverage titled Our Choice 2020: Ask, Vote. on April 15, 2020. It was the network's first election coverage without Sohn Suk-hee. Their live broadcast also served in as lead-in to a special edition of Newsroom. Han Min-yong and her former co-anchor Kim Pil-kyu hosted its third part. The second part recorded an average nationwide rating of 1.691%, while the Newsroom special edition garnered 2.355%. The third part, on the other hand, was the coverage's highest-rated, garnering a nationwide rating of 2.469%. These numbers were dismal compared to past elections where Sohn was at the forefront.
On the commemoration of the 40th anniversary of the Gwangju Uprising, they conducted a special edition of Newsroom from Gwangju from May 17-18, 2020. Seo Bok-hyun and Ahn Na-kyung anchored from the Gwangju special studio, while Han Min-yong joined them from Sangam-dong. The United Daily News newspaper in Taiwan, considered one of the country's largest, highlighted their effort to emphasize the event's significance in an article posted on their website. The May 17, 2020 broadcast garnered nationwide ratings of 2.073%, while the May 18th broadcast had 3.149%.
Starting June 7, 2020, Behind Plus is also broadcast on Sundays, hosted by former Behind the News host Park Sung-tae. who came from Political Desk and served as its main anchor and team leader. The weekday edition was abolished on June 18, 2020 and became Park Min-kyu's last broadcast. It has since been replaced by Won-broadcast starting June 22, 2020. The segment is hosted by former Political Desk National Assembly captain Yang Won-bo and reports on stories with a lighthearted tone. It was established after positive reactions from netizens, stemming from his multiple appearances in the program.
Segments
There are two parts in Newsroom. The first part consists of major news and interviews, along with segments Close Camera, Won-broadcast and Fact Check. Meanwhile, the second part focuses on stories that haven't been covered on the first part, as well as the Dr. Weather segment.Current segments
Weekday
- A Fresh Look is a segment anchored by Seo Bok-hyun w here he opens the newscast with a commentary on a certain issue. It is similar to Sohn Suk-hee's Anchor Briefing segment during his Newsroom tenure, but with a less aggressive approach. It seems that it has been suspended to give way to other stories that have been pushed aside due to continuing coverage or to conduct interviews.
- Close Camera is a regular segment usually done by JTBC's mobile issue team on the weekday editions where they report on stories in-depth. Reporters who previously appeared in this segment include Go Suk-seung, Park Min-kyu and Lee Ga-hyuk.
- News Briefing is a segment where the anchor gives brief summaries of domestic and foreign stories.
- Fact Check is a regular weekly segment where Lee Ga-hyuk and Ahn Na-kyung fact-check statements given by prominent figures, or give an in-depth explanation on a certain topic. This first-ever fact-checking segment became popular with viewers due to its back-to-basics nature. Current political team leader Kim Pil-kyu and legal team leader Oh Dae-young have hosted the segment before, coming from another popular show, Political Desk. Kim created and initially produced the show, while Oh served as one of its original members, handling the ruling party.
- Won-broadcast is a segment done by former Political Desk National Assembly captain Yang Won-bo starting on June 22, 2020 where he tackles on three different stories with a lighter tone, reminiscent of his old Dajeonghwe segments. It was established after positive reactions from netizens during his multiple appearances in the program.
- Economic Innovations is a Wednesday-only segment established on July 8, 2020 where Lee Joo-chan reports on economic-related issues. It is the first economy-centered segment since Saturday Plus and Sunday Plus and is similar to Close Camera.
- Dr. Weather is a newly-formed regular segment where meteorologist and reporter Kim Se-hyun gives weather forecasts, as well as analysis on weather-related events
. It is Newsroom 's fi rst fixed weather segment. - Ending Theme - the broadcast usually ends with a song chosen by the main anchor. This tradition started when Sohn Suk-hee became anchor of JTBC News 9 back in 2013, and has continued on with Seo Bok-hyun succeeding his position in Newsroom, although Sohn and Seo's tastes in music vary differently. This also appears in the weekend edition as well starting February 14, 2020, with songs chosen by anchor Han Min-yong.
Weekend
- Han Min-yong's Open Mic is a Saturday-only segment where anchor Han Min-yong usually goes out to conduct field reports and interviews. It is similar to Close Camera. Han has expressed that she wanted to change the name of the segment to a different one.
- Action Camera is a Sunday-only segment where it seems to be similar to Incident Plus, a former segment examining a certain incident in-depth.
- Behind Plus is another regular segment where Park Min-kyu tells Seo Bok-hyun about the process that goes into the reports journalists produce. It is a so-called upgraded version of former segment Behind the News, a popular segment during Sohn Suk-hee's tenure. It has started appearing on Sundays beginning June 7, 2020, hosted by Park Sung-tae, who previously hosted the weekday edition from 2017-2019 before he left to host Political Desk. The weekday edition has been abolished on June 18, 2020 after Park Min-kyu left, leaving only the weekend edition to continue airing. It has been replaced by Won-broadcast starting June 22, 2020.
Special segments
- There is an annual debate taking place every start of the New Year, where experts on different sectors talk about the events that may happen on that year. The 2020 edition was also Sohn Suk-hee's final discussion as anchor, departing from the position on January 2, 2020 following the second part of its annual New Year discussion.
Former segments
- News Keyword was a segment done by Social Issues reporter Lee Ji-eun where she analyzes a keyword related to a certain issue.
- Meticulous Economy was the first economy-centered segment since Newsroom started. It was established with the intention of "providing stories of everyday economics that we are curious about and analyze it for viewers' digestion." It was presented by Sung Hwa-sun and Lee Sae-nu-ri.
- Healing Report was where reporters usually deliver positive news. Han Yoon-ji first presented this segment.
- Desk Briefing was where the reporter-in-charge analyzes the cause of an issue and its effect by answering questions from the anchor. Political reporters usually appear in this segment because of the mainly political news presented first. It has since stopped appearing during the 2016 South Korean political scandal.
- There was a segment specific for Lee Kyu-yeon's Spotlight where viewers are briefed on what is going to be on the episode broadcast that week.
- Today was a popular Newsroom segment that brings up past events through keywords, pictures and statements.
- Live Preview was aired before the start of Newsroom where Ahn Na-kyung gives a preview on what's going to be on the news that day.
- Saturday Plus and Sunday Plus were special segments that became Meticulous Economy
's spiritual successors, which aired once a week. It was stopped during the 2016 South Korean political scandal. - Incident Plus was a segment based on the JTBC News Morning& corner of the same name, which reports on a certain incident in-depth, with reports from all sides of the story. It aired on Thursdays, but was stopped due to the overwhelming workload of the Social Issues Team 3, which produces these reports.
- In Today's Newsroom is similar to Live Preview, where Ahn Na-kyung briefs viewers on the news for that day. Exclusives are also previewed in this segment.
- Issue Check, later known as Newsroom Keywords, was a weekend-limited corner where anchor Kim Pil-kyu explains a certain story using keywords, mixing commentary and facts. It is similar to Sohn Suk-hee's Anchor Briefing, and See the Length.
- Report File 6001 was a weekend-limited segment done by reporters from the Mobile Issues team. The title of this segment is taken from the last four digits of its anonymous tip landline.
- Anchor Briefing was a segment where Sohn Suk-hee kicks off the second part of the broadcast with a commentary, similar to how an editorial works in a newspaper. It was one of the most popular segments during Sohn's tenure, and ended on December 31, 2019 before he got off the anchor chair. This segment is similar to A Fresh Look.
- News Update was where reporters would follow up stories that they have previously reported to see if there is anything needed to be followed up with, whether clarifying certain issues, interviewing people involved with it, or summarizing the news that have been reported during the first part.
- News Mission is a segment similar to Close Camera where reporters of the Mobile Issue team is tasked to do a mission and check for themselves about contents that piques viewers' curiosity.
- Issue Plus is focused on in-depth reporting, similar to Exploration Plus.
- Exploration Plus is a recurring segment similar to Close Camera. The Exploration Plus team work closely with the Close Camera team.
Broadcast times
| Channel | Program Title | Broadcast Period | Broadcast Duration |
| JTBC | JTBC News 10 | December 1, 2011 ~ November 2, 2012 | Monday - Friday 21:50 ~ 22:50 KST |
| JTBC | JTBC News 9 | November 5, 2012 ~ September 13, 2013 | Monday - Friday 20:50 ~ 21:40 KST |
| JTBC | JTBC News 9 | September 16, 2013 ~ October 18, 2013 | Monday - Friday 20:55 ~ 21:40 KST |
| JTBC | JTBC News 9 | October 21, 2013 ~ September 19, 2014 | Monday - Friday 20:55 ~ 21:45 KST |
| JTBC | JTBC Newsroom | September. 22, 2014 ~ Present | Monday - Thursday 19:55 ~ 21:30 KST Friday 19:55 ~ 21:00 KST Saturday - Sunday 18:55 ~ 19:40 |
| - | JTBC Newsroom | - | - |
| - | JTBC Newsroom | - | - |
Anchors
Note: When the weekday anchor/s is/are absent, the weekend anchor/s replace/s them and vice versa.Timeline
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