JTBC Newsroom is the flagship nightly newscast of South Korean television network JTBC. The newscast is aired from 18:30-19:30 KST on weekdays and 18:20-18:50 on Saturdays and Sundays. JTBC Newsroom replaced two of its predecessors, JTBC News 10 and JTBC News 9. It is presented by Han Min-yong and Choi Jae-won on weekdays, and Ahn Na-kyung on weekends. Its origins can be traced back to the launch of JTBC News 10 in 2011, which was then renamed to JTBC News 9 when the program changed timeslots in 2012 and later went into its current name in 2014.
History Etymology Sohn Suk-hee has clarified that the name of the program has nothing to do with the American drama The Newsroom, 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 having 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 included a major shift between drama and news programs. Its drama series were moved from 20:45/23:00 to 21:45, and its main newscast, JTBC News 10, became JTBC News 9. JTBC News 10 presenters Jun Yong-woo and Cha Ye-rin were abruptly 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 started at 20:50 KST. JTBC News 9 focused on news summaries similar to the mainstream networks, with some exclusive news features. It did not become that popular with viewers, as the newscast was placed third among general cable news programs, behind Channel A's Comprehensive News (now News A) and TV Chosun's News Show Pan (now News Nine).[채널A 뉴스채널A '뉴스A' 시청률 3.4%...종편뉴스 최고 기록] - '뉴스A' 안철수 사퇴 특집, 종편뉴스 최고 기록 `3.4%`
May 2013: Sohn Suk-hee becomes head of JTBC News, takes over News 9 On May 9, 2013, Sohn Suk-hee was named as the head of JTBC News division.Sohn Suk-hee to return to anchor desk Sept. 16 He was considered the most prominent and the most influential news presenter in South Korea, having been with MBC for over three decades before leaving his post on MBC Radio. Another major revamp was made within the entire network programming, including more news and current affairs programs in the line-up,9월16일, JTBC 뉴스 개편...손석희 사장, 마이크 잡는다. 2013-09-02. before he assumed the presenter post on 16 September. JTBC News 9 was shown 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 presenter post, rating between 1.5% and 2%, and it emerged as the number 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'" 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 presenter's behalf during the newscast's opening.JTBC 뉴스9 오프닝 시청자 여러분께 사과드립니다 Sohn's apology was praised online.-
Ratings of JTBC News 9 went up during the coverage of the Sewol ferry accident. On 16 April, it had 1.81% and was the number 1 prime time news program among general cable networks. On 17 April, it went up to 2.5%.국민들의 간절한 염원...지상파·종편, 뉴스로 편성표 채워 Not only it was the number 1 program among general cable stations, it was the only JTBC program which entered the top 20 general cable shows that day.
On 18 April, two days after the incident, Sohn interviewed deep sea diving expert Lee Jong-in. He talked the diving bell that could be used for search and rescue operations even in tough water conditions. Lee said that he tried to offer the diving bell and other diving equipment to the South Korean coast guard for its search efforts, but it had been declined.이종인 "공기 주입, 생존자 있을 만한 곳에 해야...조타실은 의문" After the interview, 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.다이빙벨 안 쓴다더니 현장에? 대학서 빌려와 '논란' For the first time, JTBC News 9 surpassed the 3% mark, hitting 3.118%.
JTBC News 9 continued to dominate news ratings as it reached a new high of 4.35% on 21 April.JTBC 뉴스9, 시청률 4.35% 급등...손석희의 힘 Sohn Suk-hee was praised by viewers as he was the only news presenter who covered the search and rescue efforts live from Jindo.'JTBC 뉴스9' 손석희, 진도 팽목항서 생방송으로 뉴스 진행 The newscast maintained its strength against other general cable newscast for the whole week as it rated 3.97% on the 22nd,손석희 JTBC '뉴스 9', 시청률 3.9% 기록 4.12% on the 23rd,손석희 JTBC '뉴스9', 다시 한 번 4%대 넘어 "시청자들의 탄탄한 신뢰 얻어" 4.079% on the 24th and 3.735% on the 25th.손석희, 팽목항서 보도한 '뉴스9' 종편 시청률 1위 In some cases, its ratings beat the combined ratings of TV Chosun, Maeil Broadcasting Network and Channel A's newscasts.
On 28 April, JTBC News 9 broke its own ratings record, achieving 5.06%,JTBC 언딘 보도 '뉴스9', 시청률 5%대 돌파..지상파 위협 and threatened the main newscasts of MBC and SBS. Its ratings went up on the 29th as it reached 5.401%, 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 in the second week of September that JTBC would revamp its news division, and the cancellation of JTBC News 9. It was replaced by JTBC Newsroom on 22 September. JTBC moved its main newscast from 21:00 KST to 20:00 KST, competing directly against MBC Newsdesk and SBS 8 News. To reflect the change, JTBC extended its main newscast from the usual 50 minutes to 100 minutes, a first for Korean television news. JTBC Newsroom focused on more live reports, studio interviews and more in-depth coverage of the day's news. JTBC Newsroom retained Sohn Suk-hee and Kim So-hyun as its presenters. The weekend edition, however, had Jeon Jin-bae and Lee Ji-eun as its new presenters. JTBC Newsroom is split into two parts, the first from 20:00 to 20:55 KST and the second from 21:00 to 21:40. JTBC 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 before.손석희의 '뉴스룸', 개편 첫날 시청률 0.6%P 상승
October 2016–2017: The Choi Soon-sil tablet PC exposé
JTBC assembled a special report team on October 3 to dig deeper into the Mir and K-Sports foundations, consisting of the then-weekend presenter and Director of Politics Division 1 Jeon Jin-bae, Director of Social Affairs Division 2 Son Yong-seok and reporters Shim Soo-mi, Kim Pil-joon, Seo Bok-hyun, Shin Hye-won, Kim Tae-young and Park Byung-hyun. Its 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, revealed that it was 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 in an interview with the 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 by examining the tablet that Choi also revised documents of President Park's remarks just hours before a meeting. Some of those former Blue House staffers came forward declaring their knowledge of Choi's involvement. Park apologized to the public on October 25, saying that she "relied on Choi in times of hardship".- The same day, JTBC said it had turned over the tablet to prosecutors. At the time, prosecution declared they did not see a reason to investigate Choi, nor could they find her to be summoned for questioning.
On October 26, JTBC revealed digital evidence including e-mail trails of where the tablet files came from and registration information for the tablet, showing Choi probably received them from an 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". The same day, German police 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 (Lee Ga-hyuk) also ran a live broadcast that day from 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, a day before Park's impeachment trial, 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 that 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 was shown.
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