In an era marked by misinformation and distorted public opinion, a play designed to foster media literacy is taking the stage for audiences across the country. The Korea Press Foundation announced Tuesday that it is recruiting participating institutions for the "2026 Audience-Based Media Education Theater Program," based on the media literacy play "Jump x Cut."
The program combines media education with performing arts, with professional actors visiting schools and local communities to stage performances. The initiative aims to reduce blind spots in media literacy education by expanding its target beyond youth in areas with limited cultural infrastructure to include general adults, senior citizens, and out-of-school youth.
The play "Jump x Cut" follows high school students Min-jun and Ji-woo, who collide with an elderly woman collecting waste paper while filming an early-morning parkour video — an extreme sport involving leaping over buildings and railings — for submission to a youth film festival. The day after the accident, Min-jun is featured in the news as a "good-deed teenager" who helped the elderly woman. However, when the woman's son visits the school demanding the truth and a popular YouTuber begins live-streaming the situation, the incident spirals in unexpected directions. Eventually, a disciplinary committee is convened, and the characters each assert different "truths" amid their competing interests.
The work tensely depicts how information is consumed and distorted within the news, YouTube, and real-time public opinion. Audiences are confronted with the question, "Is everything we have seen and heard truly factual?" The play realistically incorporates issues such as juvenile crime, online trial by public opinion, and media power.
The script was written by playwright Oh Se-hyuk, whose works include the plays "Press Guidelines" and "The Last Joke on Earth," as well as the musical "Hourglass." Oh won the playwriting category of the Changjak Sansil program in 2021 and received a commendation from the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism in 2017. He has earned recognition for both artistic merit and popular appeal, winning the Seoul Theater Awards for Playwriting and the Korea Musical Awards for Direction.
After the performance, commentary on the work, discussion, and a Q&A session follow. Audiences share opinions with the actors and moderators on issues such as misinformation, sensational content, and the formation of online public opinion. The full program, including the performance and talk show, runs 120 minutes per session.
Participating institutions can choose between a "visiting" format, in which the performance team travels directly to the applicant institution, and a "hub" format, in which audiences attend at a venue designated by the foundation. For visiting performances, other schools and institutions in the area can also participate together.
The foundation has been piloting an "Experiential Media Education Theater Program" at five schools nationwide this year, targeting students from the third year of middle school through the second year of high school. The educational model has students directly participate in scene composition, discussion, presentation, and performance production to critically understand media. The new audience-based initiative expands this approach to the broader local community.
Applications are accepted until 5 p.m. on June 12. Performances will run for approximately three months, from August through October. Further details are available on the Korea Press Foundation's media education platform "MIKA."
