Is The BTS Media Blackout In Korea True?
Following the successful win of BTS at the Billboard Music Awards, the boys have been receiving a lot of love from the US press and have granted a dozen interviews to big media outlets including Yahoo, Buzzfeed, Clevver News, iHeart Radio and Good Morning America, just to name a few. Renowned magazines have also done online write-ups and articles about the group including Vogue, Elle, Seventeen, People, and GQ. But back in South Korea, there's allegedly a media blackout on BTS?
BTS fans noticed that while US media outlets and websites have been reporting about BTS left and right almost every day since the Billboard Music Awards, not much is being reported about the group's achievements in their hometown. Several fans aired out their concerns on social media and began speculating that there's a media blackout on BTS in their own country.
Fans claim that the biggest websites in Korea have written no articles or features about BTS' ventures in the US. ARMYs noted well-known websites and news outlets in Korea like Naver and Daum didn't feature any BTS news at all during the group's win, leading them to believe that the Big 3 companies (SM, JYP, and YG) plotted together to make a media blackout on BTS.
Fans raised their concerns on Twitter, trending the hashtag #BTSKMediaBlackout in the hopes of getting feedback from Korean media outlets. Enraged fans made long-winding rants, detailing evidence that there is indeed a media blackout in Korea. However, other fans also pointed out that the media blackout is not true. Some have provided proof that news of BTS was in fact on the front page of Naver at one point. One fan even said that the Korean nightly news broadcast was interrupted live to announce BTS' win in the Billboard Music Awards. In addition, BTS became a trending topic on Daum. The words 'BTS' and 'Billboard Music Awards' became two of the most searched words on the site.
Fans must have started speculating because a lot of other important domestic news was also covered on the day BTS won, causing the articles to be buried. So 'media blackout' isn't exactly what it was, as outlets like KBS, Chosun News, Expose News, and Naver have all covered news of BTS and their Billboard win. To sum this all up, there's nothing for BTS or ARMYs to worry about.
