A Study on Formation and Dissolution of Ownership Restriction System within Newspaper Act

신문법 내 소유규제 제도의 형성과 해체에 관한 연구

This thesis reviews the process in which the regulation systems against ownership concentration of newspapers established with the opportunity of legislation of the periodical act in 1987 was reinforced as they were all amended to the newspaper act in 2005 and as they were again amended in 2009 it came to confront crisis in the aspect of press law legislation history. The regulation systems against ownership concentration of newspapers established based on the principle of legality of newspaper function in the Clause 3, the Article 21 of Constitution was reinforced as the newspaper act in 2005 and in 2006 they began to shrink following the Constitution Court decision against newspaper act. As newspaper act and broadcast act are revised in 2009, regulation against combining the management of newspapers with broadcast and regulation against owning multiple number of newspapers came not to exist. Because in this process, the opposition party also allowed limited cross-ownership of newspaper and broadcast, it can be said that the system of newspaper ownership regulation confronted the crisis of dissolution. The instruction of regulation alleviation in a short period of time in spite of the fact that regulation alleviation which allows cross-ownership of newspaper and broadcast is the matter of policy that should be decided after long-term review of the change of media environment and the progress of the power of domination of public opinion is dangerous. Newspapers are strong media with terrestrial broadcast in formation of public opinion on politics. It's because it is difficult to ignore the worry that the power of domination of public opinion of the newspapers which are in oligopoly of newspaper public opinion market can be spreaded to the territory of report broadcast. From the point of view that there is probability for democracy to be ultimately threatened due to the shrink of political Darwinism caused by concentration of media ownership, the alleviation of ownership concentration of newspapers should have premise of long-term social discussion.

이 논문은 1987년 정간법 제정을 계기로 구축된 신문의 소유규제 제도가 2005년 신문법으로 전부 개정되면서 강화되었고, 2009년에 다시 개정되면서 위기에 직면하게 되는 과정을 언론법제사적 측면에서 검토한다. 1987년, 헌법 제21조 제3항의 신문기능 법정주의에 근거해서 정립된 신문의 소유규제 제도는 2005년 신문법으로 강화되었다가 2006년 신문법 헌법소원 결정에 따라 위축되기 시작한다. 2009년 신문법과 방송법이 개정되면서 신문 방송 겸영 규제, 복수신문 소유 규제 등은 존재하지 않게 되었다. 그 과정에서 야당도 신문방송의 제한적인 교차소유를 허용하였기 때문에 1987년에 형성된 신문소유 규제 제도는 해체 위기에 직면했다. 신문방송의 교차소유 허용 등의 규제완화가 미디어환경의 변화와 여론지배력의 추이 등을 장기적으로 검토하고 결정해야 할 정책적인 사안임에도 불구하고 이렇게 단기간에 도입하는 것은 위험한 일이다. 신문은 정치여론 형성에 있어서 지상파방송과 함께 강력한 미디어이다. 신문여론시장을 과점하고 있는 신문들의 여론지배력이 보도방송 영역까지 전이될 수 있다는 우려를 무시하기 어렵기 때문이다. 미디어소유 집중으로 정치적 다원주의가 위축되어 궁극적으로 민주주의가 위협받을 개연성이 있다는 점에서 신문 소유규제의 완화는 장기적인 사회적 논의가 전제되어야 할 것이다.