“Taking media education to every corner of the country”: GS Retail marks 10 years of its Mobile Media Sharing Bus

[Financial News] The Mobile Media Sharing Bus, supported by GS Retail, is entering its 10th year of operation.
According to industry sources on the 8th, the Mobile Media Sharing Bus is a corporate social responsibility initiative in which a vehicle equipped with broadcasting production equipment and facilities visits schools, welfare facilities and other sites across the country to provide media education. GS Retail runs the initiative in partnership with the Viewers' Media Foundation.
In 2016, at the proposal of the Korea Communications Commission, GS Retail contributed 400 million won to support the production of the Mobile Media Sharing Bus, which was converted from a 5-ton truck. Pilot operations began in November 2017, and full-scale educational programs got underway in 2018. Cumulative support for operating costs through this year amounts to 315 million won.
Initially, the program focused on schools in island and mountainous areas, including Ulleung County in North Gyeongsang Province, Jeongseon County in Gangwon State, and Sinan County in South Jeolla Province. It later expanded its reach to schools, libraries and welfare facilities in the Seoul metropolitan area. The program also broadened its audience, from kindergarteners to elementary, middle and high school students, as well as adults.
The program is scheduled to run 50 sessions by the end of this year, bringing the cumulative total from 2017 through this year to an expected 660 sessions. The cumulative number of participants is about 23,000.
The curriculum has also expanded to keep pace with technological change. Initially, it focused on career experiences related to broadcasting, such as producing TV news, radio broadcasting and dubbing animated films. After piloting AI and VR programs last year, the initiative has offered them as regular programs since this year.
“The Mobile Media Sharing Bus is a corporate social responsibility initiative we launched as a company involved in the broadcasting industry, so that more people can experience media firsthand and discover new possibilities,” said Bae Jae-seong, head of business support at GS Retail. “It is highly meaningful that over the past 10 years, we have expanded opportunities for media education across regions and generations and put environmental, social and governance (ESG) management into practice.”

[email protected] Kim Hyun-ji Reporter