CJENM deceived viewers once more. Mnet audition program <프로듀스101> Producer Ahn Joon-young, who was released from prison following being sentenced to 2 years in prison and a fine of 37 million won for fraud charges related to manipulation of series rankings, rejoined Mnet. It is interpreted that his return is read as a message from the owner, saying, ‘As long as you make a group that can generate ratings and make money, you can continue to manipulate it’.
On the 3rd, Mnet said, “PD Ahn Joon-young rejoined the company.” “Considering PD Ahn’s deep reflection on his past mistakes and his earnest desire to play a role in restoring Mnet’s personal trust, we decided to give him another chance.” said. Regarding this, popular culture critic Jeong Deok-hyeon said, “Even if the legal issues are over, it is difficult to understand from an ethical level.” “What viewers demand from broadcasting is trust. Not to mention the audition program.”
On the 4th, Rep. Ha Tae-gyeong of People’s Power said on his Facebook page, “The company will take responsibility, so CJ employees have given guidelines to commit crimes hard by deceiving the people and trainees in the future.” We cannot entrust the future of the content industry to a company that promises to encourage and promote crime rather than give it away,” he strongly criticized CJENM.
The ‘Fact-Finding Committee’, a group of viewers who uncovered the manipulation of program rankings several years ago, also took a position and said, “The production team of Produce 101 trampled on and used the dreams of trainees, and deceived national producers into voting, which is a stain on the history of popular culture in Korea.” Ahn Joon-young The return of PD was strongly criticized. Heo Min-hoe, CEO of CJENM, promised measures to strengthen fairness and transparency in broadcasting at a press conference on December 30, 2019, but it is questionable whether the value of fairness pursued by CJENM and Mnet is to re-enter the PD who was at the center of the manipulation.” pointed out that
Mnet emphasized PD Ahn Joon-young’s “serious will”, but trainees who had similarly “serious will” did not have another chance following being eliminated from ranking manipulation. Kim Soo-hyun and Seo Hye-rin were eliminated due to the 1st vote manipulation in Season 1, Seong Hyun-woo in the 1st vote manipulation in Season 2, and Kang Dong-ho in the 4th vote manipulation. Lee Ga-eun and Han Cho-won were eliminated due to the 4th vote manipulation in Season 3, Anjardi Timothée in the 1st vote in Season 4, Kim Kook-heon Lee Jin-woo in the 3rd vote manipulation, and Koo Jung-mo Lee Jin-hyeok and Keum Dong-hyun in the 4th vote manipulation.
The concept of the audience selecting the debut group deceived the audience. <프로듀스101>, <프로듀스101 시즌2>, <프로듀스48>, <프로듀스X101> The Korea Communications Standards Commission imposed fines of 30 million won each and a total of 120 million won on four programs. PD was sentenced to prison and went to prison. However, regarding this unprecedented case in the history of broadcasting, viewers are not even aware of the level of disciplinary action in the company. CJENM did not confirm, saying, “The level of punishment is personal information.”
PD Kim Yong-beom, who was sentenced to 1 year and 8 months in prison with PD Ahn Joon-young for the same charge and was released from prison, was already planning a global project last year as part of the Global Music TF. Shin Hyeong-gwan, head of the Music Contents Division, who was pointed out as the final person in charge of the manipulation, was evaluated as having been on a “win-win” basis while serving as CEO of CJ Live City until last February. A high-ranking official from the broadcasting company said, “Inside, the important thing in CJ is loyalty to the owner, and there is an atmosphere that people who went to prison sacrificed themselves for CJ.”
With the re-joining of PD Ahn Joon-young, the manipulation controversy that had submerged under the surface seems to be re-igniting. The Chosun Ilbo reported, “There are suspicions in the media industry that CJENM has unspeakable circumstances to accept the two.” This is because it allowed re-entry of those who should have suffered damages to the company through business obstruction and breach of trust. 2019 MBC
