What People Want to See

The news stories readers most want may be found in the subjects that repeatedly pull them back, writes Shin Yun-dong-wook, head of Hankyoreh’s digital news department.

On Sept. 1, stories about changes to property tax and the basic pension appeared to circle back to their starting points. A proposed tax increase for nonresident owners of a single home was reversed, restoring the previous 1.2 billion won basic deduction. A planned overhaul of the basic pension, which would have changed eligibility and introduced a more sharply targeted payment structure, also largely returned to the existing system.

A headline about keeping the basic pension’s coverage for 70% of people aged 65 and older unchanged next year, while giving low-income recipients 30,000 won more, briefly became the most-read story on Hankyoreh’s website. Policy stories usually struggle in the digital market, where more sensational news draws attention. Pension coverage is an exception. Two related reform stories ranked among the site’s most-read articles in August as well.

The editor sees that interest as a reflection of an aging South Korean society and the widespread reality of elderly poverty. It points to older people worried about making ends meet today, as well as future retirees anxious about tomorrow.

Heat was another defining theme in August. The site’s most-read article examined Nowon ez House, a zero-energy demonstration complex where residents relied on fans rather than air conditioners even during a severe heatwave warning. The article explained how the complex’s design blocked outside heat, a feature captured in its reference to blinds mounted outside the windows. It was also a timely piece built around original reporting and photographs by Hankyoreh journalists.

The month’s second-most-read story focused on the mother of actor Lee Ji-han, who died in the Oct. 29 Itaewon disaster. On her son’s birthday, she wrote about buying him new shoes after he had left home saying that his shoes kept coming off. Readers responded to the intimate account of grief, which the editor described as a digital exclusive.

For the digital news team, the lesson is that emotion matters alongside information. The department continues testing new kinds of stories while trying to balance what journalists should publish with what readers want to see.