How a Podcast Started a Revolution:
New Media and Electoral Politics in South Korea
"How a podcast started a revolution: New Media and Electoral Politics in South Korea" explores the political topography of the SNS revolution currently under way in South Korea through the emerging phenomenon of political podcasts. In the months leading up to the National Assembly elections of 2012, the podcast platform played a crucial role in shaping public opinion. One weekly podcast in particular has been explosive in its impact: With its mix of investigative reporting, scandalmongering, and political exposé and satire, Naneun kkomsuda has subjected the South Korean president, his political and financial cronies, and prominent members of the ruling party to a close scrutiny and ridicule. Uncovering actual instances of outright criminal activity by the administration, Naneun kkomsuda also started a veritable deluge of political podcasts and helped shift the election agenda markedly toward the left, especially among voters under the age of fifty. After tracing the outline of this development, the paper locates the political podcast phenomenon in South Korea within a convergence of historical, cultural, and media factors ranging from the country's post-democratization political culture, specific trends in reality television and the entertainment industry, and autopoiesis of fandom in the age of social media.
