Producer : Youngmin Seo, Heui Jin Yoon
Title : Shadows of Poverty : The Days and Nights of Destitute Elders
Released Date : 29th October 2024
About
"South Korea is a country with a dazzling exterior but unfathomable darkness beneath. Over the past 70 years since the war, the focus has been on rapid growth, neglecting the shadows within. The generation that once wished for nothing more than to survive and have enough to eat has now grown old. We must shed light on them because they represent our future.“
As this comment from an article suggests, elderly poverty in South Korea is a structural issue. The statistic that half of those aged 75 and older live in poverty (54% as of 2022) speaks volumes. This figure, which deviates sharply from the OECD average, highlights the structural nature of this poverty. The goal of this project is to investigate these characteristics in depth.
The project stands out for its use of "mobile movement data" to measure patterns of poverty. By collecting, refining, and analyzing mobile big data, the movement and residential patterns of impoverished elders were examined. Using the most accessible and detailed data available, the project captures the present state of poverty with near-real-time accuracy. This methodology is unprecedented on a global scale.
A "wow" moment of the project is the focus on the elderly who congregate near “Seolleung Subway Station”. The documentary reveals that impoverished elders gather in "Seoul's central commercial district, crowded with skyscrapers." This is an unusual pattern of movement. By conducting field studies, the social reasons behind this phenomenon are uncovered and presented. This highlights the power of data in revealing an unimaginable reality.
The project also received the following annual journalism awards in South Korea:
=Korea Data Journalism Awards: Data-Driven Investigation of the Year
=BJC (Korea Broadcasting Journalists Club): Main Award in the Specialized Reporting Category
#ElderlyPoverty
#KBS
#SouthKorea
#StructuralIssues
#MobileDataAnalysis
#SocialInequality
#HiddenRealities
#DataJournalism
#UrbanPoverty
#SeolleungStation
#DocumentaryInsights