Why Filipinos Should Check Out The Journalist-Themed K-Drama "Argon"

I was looking at Netflix Philippines' top ten. It was good that the cringy indie movie Pamilyang Ordinaryo was featured because it's an eye-opener. However, the K-Dramas that tend to get into Netflix's Top Ten are usually romance stories. The recent top ten features It's Okay Not to be Okay which is also a romance story between an anti-social writer and an employee in a psychiatric hospital. Okay, it might be better than the teleserye love stories but it seems a lot of Filipino viewers only view it for better heartfelt stories. Right now, I really think that the K-Drama Argon would really be very relevant to Filipino society.

Here's how the plot is described by The cat that watches TV:

Argon is a drama about an investigative news program and its journalists, Kim Baek-jin (Kim Joo Hyuk) at the helm as the news anchor. He’s highly principled and a difficult boss to work with due to his perfectionism, but he inspires his juniors to treat news seriously and to convey only the truth to the public. His working style doesn’t spell well with the management and report bureau chief Yoo Myung-ho (Lee Seung Joon) who tries to overturn Baek-jin’s decisions at every possible chance. Luckily for Baek-jin, he has the backing of respected veteran anchor Lee Geun Hwa (Lee Kyung Young) who also believes in maintaining integrity in news reporting.

The plot itself really has a lot of tough stuff especially in the world of biased media. Did tvN end up discovering what was going on in the Philippines or is something going on in South Korea? The plot itself really has the conflict of principled, true fearless journalism over a pretentious network.

My Drama List also lists this as one of the reasons to check out Argon:

It deals with a lot of issues that are relevant to the public, particularly fake news, corporate media bias, and corruption. The drama is told largely through the eyes of journalists, so you’ll get to watch how far corrupt government officials and rich businesses are willing to go to discredit them and protect their own reputation. But it is also fair in the sense that it also shows that even the kindest and principled reporters are prone to personal bias and unethical practice just to get a report done. Another important thing is that it shows how fake news and inaccurate reporting can put the lives of ordinary people at serious risk. It’s a drama that challenges the way we think of what we see in the media.

The TV news network HBC only cares about ratings than the truth. That's something the main protagonist Baek-jin cares more about the truth. It's a conflict of principles especially when you consider the bureau chief Yoo Myung-ho is a very corrupt person. The corruption in the series involves protecting a corrupt lawyer, corrupt businessmen, and not to mention corrupt politicians all corporate greed. HBC while claiming to be in the service of South Koreans is actually self-serving. Wouldn't that be a reminder to Filipinos about the "beloved" ABiaS-CBN network?

I may consider the run of eight hour-long episodes to be too short. Yes, I actually get too accustomed to K-Dramas having at least late teens to 20+ episodes. However, the show itself has some interesting plots that would certainly be of good interest and Filipinos could relate with its story. Not a perfect show but it will be a big eye-opener better prepared and presented than Itaweon Club.