<#320 Letter to Chonnam Tribune>

 

 

By Kayla Sjothun, Senior, School of Business Administration,

 

The Chonnam Tribune is an English newspaper in a predominantly Korean speaking school. The paper more often than not finds its way to exchange students over native Korean students, since, after all Chonnam National University is predominately Korean speaking. This seems natural, as I myself would read an English newspaper at home, rather than one in French, or any other language that is not my first. If you’re reading for content, why wouldn’t you?  Besides the obvious fact of language preferences, the more important factor in readership here is options. While Korean-speaking students have several other options for their information and entertainment needs, non-Korean speaking students are far more limited. Besides word of mouth and official information from the school, the Tribune is the only other viable option for non-Korean speaking students to get information about our school. Luckily it is an excellent viable option, and not only for the non-Korean speakers in view of the fact that it is online, which adds to its ease of accessibility and speed of accessibility.

 

 

The Chonnam Tribune is a great resource for non-Korean speaking students as well as the native Korean-speaking students. This being said, nothing is beyond improvement. While it is an excellent source of information and a good reflection of the student’s voices, had it not been for a friend introducing me to the Chonnam Tribune I never would have known about it. If it were a little more advertised in some key places, this problem would be avoided. I believe this would improve readership numbers, along with channels of communication and awareness of school issues among non-Korean speaking students.