Human Rights Divided: Structural Topic Modeling of South Korean Media Coverage, 2017-2022

• In Event: 41068 - Constructing New Human Rights Norms and Practices

Abstract

The relationship between political orientation and human rights has been a central topic in human rights research, as political beliefs significantly shape public opinion and media narratives. This study examines how political orientation influences human rights coverage in South Korea, a society deeply entrenched in political polarization. Using Structural Topic Modeling (STM), we analyze human rights reporting in four major South Korean newspapers during the presidency of Moon Jae-in (2017–2022). Our analysis identifies 27 distinct topics, revealing the polarized nature of media coverage. The findings highlight clear differences between progressive and conservative outlets on most human rights issues. Progressive media emphasize economic, social, and cultural rights, as well as minority rights, including labor, women's, and LGBTQ+ rights. In contrast, conservative outlets focus more on civil and political rights, along with global human rights issues such as procedural rights and North Korean human rights. However, our results indicate that progressive print media do not exhibit a reduced likelihood of covering civil and political rights. These findings align with existing research on the divergent emphases in human rights coverage based on political orientation. By shedding light on these differences, this study aims to enhance our understanding of the widening gap in human rights awareness and contribute to addressing the potential human rights challenges that society may face.

Authors

• Jeong-Woo Koo, Sungkyunkwan University

• Seong-Gwon Cho, SungKyunKwan University