Jo Guk Innovation Party Merger Opinion: Stark Division by Channel

When the Jo Guk Innovation Party issue arose, diametrically opposed public opinions formed in the chat windows of 'Kim Eo-jun's News Factory' and 'Minjoo Party TV.' This phenomenon was confirmed by New Tam Sa, showing that discussions related to the Jo Guk Innovation Party sparked extreme reactions among supporters of both sides. Through this, New Tam Sa observed a separation between the supporters of the Democratic Party and the Jo Guk Innovation Party.

'Humility is Hard News Factory' was analyzed as a channel primarily watched by Jo Guk Innovation Party supporters, while 'Minjoo Party TV' was watched by core Democratic Party supporters. This suggests that the political identity of chat participants varies depending on the channel's nature. It indicates that the main viewership of each channel may hold different perspectives on the Jo Guk Innovation Party issue.

Representative Park Beom-gye raised the discussion of a merger between the Democratic Party and the Jo Guk Innovation Party, but the Jo Guk Innovation Party immediately denied it. Secretary-General Jung Chun-saeng clearly stated in a press release that there had been no talks regarding a merger. The Jo Guk Innovation Party emphasized respect and trust for the other party as prerequisites for any merger or alliance, expressing a cautious stance.

A statement made by a Democratic Party lawmaker who appeared on 'Humility is Hard News Factory' was corrected via 'Minjoo Party TV.' This shows that 'Minjoo Party TV,' as the party's official channel, plays a role in clarifying and correcting facts. It confirms differences in how information is conveyed and corrected between the two channels.

Democratic Party Representative Kim Min-seok proposed opening a dialogue channel with the Jo Guk Innovation Party to begin discussions. However, he stated that the merger issue remains undecided and is a matter for both parties to judge after discussion. Representative Kim emphasized that an alliance would definitely proceed but urged restraint from comments that would hinder cooperation with the Jo Guk Innovation Party.

In the Minjoo Party TV chat window, opposition to the merger poured in starting 10 seconds after the party leader's statement. Approximately 1,000 anti-merger comments came from about 600 accounts. This rapid pace, with 990 chats per minute and 16 chats per second, indicates strong opposition from the core supporters of the Democratic Party. The simultaneous expression of anti-merger opinions by a large number of accounts is noteworthy.

In the 'Humility is Hard News Factory' chat window, a flood of criticism against Supreme Council member Park Sun-won was observed, along with a trend of support for former leader Jo Guk. This appears to have been sparked by Supreme Council member Park Sun-won's criticism of former leader Jo Guk as 'ungrateful.' Strong, slogan-based opinions such as 'Jo Guk Fighting' and 'Park Sun-won Out' were expressed in the chat window, showing public opinion from a core support base that is the opposite of Minjoo Party TV's.

Kim Eo-jun attempted to defuse the Jo Guk Innovation Party merger controversy by labeling it as typical media 'clickbait.' He criticized the media for not wanting good relations between the Democratic Party and the Jo Guk Innovation Party, claiming that the media instigates political conflict with provocative headlines. Former leader Jo Guk's remarks were also interpreted as concerns from a criminal procedure law expert, and while the hosts tried to encourage restraint from conflict, the chat window moved in the opposite direction.

The 'Minjoo Party TV' chat window experienced a burst of opposition to the merger but later recovered to a positive atmosphere, while the 'Humility is Hard News Factory' chat window remained tense for over 30 minutes. Minjoo Party TV saw a temporary dip in sentiment when merger opposition erupted but soon recovered, whereas News Factory took more time to regain its atmosphere. This indicates that the content structure of each broadcast had different effects on shaping viewer opinion.

'Humility is Hard News Factory' covered the merger issue by reading former leader Jo Guk's Facebook post paragraph by paragraph for a long time. During this process, Kim Eo-jun attempted to reframe the issue as media distortion. In a situation where Democratic Party supporters and Jo Guk Innovation Party supporters were agitated, Kim Eo-jun claimed that the media had distorted the issue, tending to shift the essence of the matter to 'media problems.' This reporting style was evaluated as potentially difficult for general viewers to accept.

A comprehensive comparison of viewers who posted in the chats of both broadcasts showed that 9,170 people participated in 'Minjoo Party TV' and 1,072 in 'Humility is Hard News Factory.' Among these, only 108 accounts posted in both. A cross-analysis two days prior also showed fewer than 79 people (0.9%), confirming that the overlap in viewership between the two channels is very small.

Allegations that 'Humility is Hard News Factory's' simultaneous viewer count might have been artificially manipulated were verified with actual data. Real-time checks at 30-second intervals during the broadcast showed News Factory with 194,000 concurrent viewers and Minjoo Party TV with 49,000. However, it was emphasized that the number of concurrent viewers should not be equated directly with the number of unique individuals.

After 'Minjoo Party TV' ended, the increase in viewers for 'Humility is Hard News Factory' was consistent with its usual organic growth rate. This means there is insufficient evidence to specifically identify the number of 'Minjoo Party TV' viewers who migrated to News Factory. In fact, the estimated increase at 8 PM was 200,600, but the actual number of viewers was analyzed to be 190,600, showing a decrease instead.

Five indicators were examined regarding the allegations of concurrent viewer count manipulation for 'Humility is Hard News Factory,' and no evidence of artificial generation was found. Various indicators, including end-digit patterns, increase speed, and sudden spikes, were checked. Particularly, it was noted that if there were artificial manipulations, the number of 'likes' would not increase proportionally. The analysis concluded that both broadcasts showed a tendency for 'likes' to rise in proportion to the number of viewers, indicating no evidence of manipulation.

'Minjoo Party TV' was analyzed to show a tendency for strong, highly engaged core supporters to gather, while 'Humility is Hard News Factory' was found to form another distinct group of supporters. This means that the viewerships of the two broadcasts largely do not overlap but rather divide based on preference. The phenomenon of different public opinion arenas emerging for the Jo Guk Innovation Party merger issue appears to stem from these qualitative differences in viewership.