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MBC PD Notebook
Protests began shortly after the Korean channel MBC aired an episode of its news program PD Notebook, (alternately "PD Note," "PD Diary," and" PD Journal") called "Is American Beef Really Safe from Mad Cow Disease?" The program alleged that reopening the Korean market to American beef would expose Koreans to the threat of mad cow disease, and featured some footage of sick cattle being led to slaughter. The program made numerous claims and representations, including:


 * Footage of downer cows (i.e. cattle too old or sick to walk) was represented as possibly BSE-infected cattle entering the food supply. The footage came from a Humane Society video intended to protest animal cruelty that had nothing do with mad cow disease. In the United States, the Humane Society video intended to protest animal cruelty caused a health concern as well as an animal cruelty concern, whatever the original intention for the video was. Westland/Hallmark called back about two years of ground beef production in February after the release of an undercover video showed employees using electric prods to get lame cattle back on their feet. The video suggested that sick animals may have bypassed required health inspections before being slaughtered. There was no evidence the cows in the video were afflicted with mad cow disease, and downer cows in Korea are also routinely slaughtered under similar conditions.


 * Aretha Vinson, a deceased Virginian woman, was described as having died from VCJD or "mad cow disease", rather than CJD. Subtitles for Vinson's mother showed as if she said vCJD, while she actually said CJD. In fact, Vinson did not die of mad cow disease. The program contained many other mistranslations and deliberate omissions, all of which generated the impression of an imminent and severe threat of mad cow disease if markets were reopened. According to MBC's translator, the translations were originally correct. Mistranslations were added afterwards against the translator's expressed wish.


 * PD Notebook stated that Koreans were genetically vulnerable to mad cow disease at rates 2–3 times higher than other ethnic groups, and that 94% of Koreans would be infected with mad cow disease.


 * The program suggested that the U.S. would export beef to Korea from cattle over 30 months of age that Americans do not consume. This claim came from an interview with a worker at a supermarket meat counter. Americans routinely consume beef that is older than 30 months, while only 2% of the beef sent to Korea before the 2003 ban came from cattle more than 30 months of age.


 * The program said that mad cow disease could be induced with a 100% fatality rate by consuming 0.01 gram of specified risk material. MBC has never provided a source for this claim. In fact, eating small amounts of SRM is unlikely to induce disease even when it is infected.


 * PD Notebook suggested that mad cow disease could be spread through consuming powdered soup base in instant noodles, from using cosmetic products, and from consuming gelatin capsules in medication.


 * PD Notebook suggested that if an outbreak of mad cow disease occurred in the U.S., that the Korean government would be unable to respond, and had therefore surrendered "sovereignty." The last assertion was false, and later condemned by the court.

Reactions to the program
Massive demonstrations began shortly after the first broadcast, and increased when MBC aired another segment two weeks later. When criticism arose, MBC initially denied that there was any misrepresentation. Leaked minutes from board meetings later indicated that MBC had done this to stall for time. By June 25, pressure from politicians and other journalists caused MBC to issue a formal apology, admitting that translation errors had occurred and naming that as the root cause of any misinformation. MBC's translator, Jeong Ji-min, however, objected that no such mistranslation had taken place, and that instead, the producers had deliberately inflated the risk of BSE.

MBC would eventually become subject to various legal actions as a result of its programming. The Korea Communications Commission was first to launch an investigation, and concluded that MBC had deliberately distorted facts and/or fabricated information in order to exaggerate the threat of mad cow disease. On August 12, the Korea Communications Commission compelled MBC to apologize on air for its mistranslations. MBC also became subject to investigation by the prosecution, whose summons it chose to either ignore, or to repel with physical force, as well as a class action lawsuit which was later dismissed. The prosecution’s investigation and indictment of the producers have been widely criticized for being excessive and for infringing on press freedoms. Norma Kang Muico, Amnesty International’s Korea researcher, said, “We are extremely concerned that the human rights situation in South Korea has deteriorated since last year (2008).” As an example, she mentioned the prosecution’s indictment of five people who were involved in the production of an MBC program about mad cow disease that aired in 2008. She concluded,“The freedom of the press in Korea is now facing a challenge.”

As of January 2010, all of the producers of the PD Diary program had been found not guilty, and the court ruled that it was a free speech issue. The decision found that the freedom of speech was of greater importance than an incorrect report.