After North Korea: Why Reporters Take Risks

noah — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 13:06:17 -0500

This week we've been following the sentencing of Current TV reporters Euna Lee and Laura Ling by North Korea to 12 years of hard labor with intense interest.

As journalists, this story strikes close to home. On top of that, there's the curious silence of Current TV- whose only official reaction, so far, to both the capture and sentencing of their reporters has been "No Comment". On Tuesday we spoke with journalist Josh Wolf- who holds the record, at 226 days, for the longest prison stay by a reporter in the United States for protecting source materials- about his own investigation into why Current has been staying mum.

Josh's willingness to serve time, and Lee and Ling's very presence on North Korea's border to tell the story of human trafficking, speaks to the nature of reporters. Call it daring or just plain crazy: putting yourself at risk to tell a story isn't exactly "normal". So we went to visit Josh in San Francisco to talk to him about why reporters put themselves in dangerous situations.

If reporting and citizen journalism is your thing, you'll want to check out this interview with Karina Vargas: the citizen journalist whose footage of the Oscar Grant shooting played a key role in the development of that story.

North Korea: Current Stays Quiet On Reporters

denise — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 17:54:30 -0500

Current TV journalists, Euna Lee and Laura Ling were sentenced to 12 years of hard labor after being charged with crossing North Korea’s border illegally. The details about their crossing are unclear.

Being a journalist means reporting the facts and making sure the story makes it out to the people. But along with that duty comes obstacles. That’s what Josh Wolf, Staff Writer for the Daily Post and independent reporter faced. Wolf has been following the story of Current’s reporters very closely, and not just because it’s making headlines: Wolf served prison time for sticking to his principles as a reporter.

We conducted this interview about Current TV's curious silence with Wolf online today:

You’ve been working on the story of North Korea’s taking of Euna Lee and Laura Ling since the beginning. What makes you so passionate about the story?

I was sent to prison for 226 days after I refused to comply with a federal grand jury subpoena. That experience certainly increased my sensitivity to stories pertaining to jailed reporters, but beyond that I've had a long and somewhat contentious history with Current TV itself. As such, when I heard what happened, I wanted to find out whatever I could about the situation and learn why the story, which has since been covered by hundreds of media outlets, wasn't getting the attention it deserved.

What have you managed to learn about Current TV’s curious silence on the story?

Immediately after the story broke, Current reportedly posted something to their front page. That story, which I haven't had a chance to read, was taken down within hours and scrubbed from the Google cache. For months now, any attempts to post about reactions or insights regarding Laura Ling and Euna Lee's situation is immediately flagged and taken off the public site. Reporter's phone calls are not being returned, even to say 'no comment,' and when a friend of mine tried to film them at their SF studio, he was told to leave and was told they would call security otherwise.

The State Department has not asked that Current take down user's posts or refuse to comment about the situation, according to a department spokesman who said he didn't know this for sure. I have been told by an expert on North Korea that such an approach would make sense, however, as efforts to raise awareness about Japanese prisoners in North Korea only deteriorated efforts to free them.

How do you feel about Current’s silence?

I fully believe that the network is doing what they think is best to get their reporters home safely. I'm not sure that silence and censorship is the right approach, but even taking the quiet approach to handling the situation, I think there are much more responsible ways to deal with the sensitive situation than the company has demonstrated.

I know that if I was in a foreign prison, I would want people to raise attention to the situation and I would be very frustrated to learn that my own media organization had remained silent, and even gone so far as to cut off those voices in the community that took to this online forum to discuss how they are feeling about the news.

That said, I think it makes sense to do whatever is most likely to get Ling and Lee home as quickly as possible, but in refusing to cover a story about their own reporters they are not helping advance a free press, which is sad to see from a news organization.

Current TV is founded on the idea that anyone can submit media to their network, yet here they are in the middle of a big story and they’re preventing their users from reporting on it. What do you think this is going to do to their reputation?

I don't know anyone that holds the reputation of Current TV in high regards. The network has had difficulty rising above the fray since their launch and have alienated many members of their base on more than one occasion. It does leave me wondering about their responsibility as a news organization, as opposed to a simple media outlet.

Let's face it, if it was Anderson Cooper facing 12 years in a North Korean labor camp, we both know that CNN would be covering the hell out of the story. Now, whether that is a good thing or if doing so would imperil Cooper is an interesting question. And perhaps Current is making the right decision to help their reporters, but again there are more responsible ways for the network to avoid fanning the flames of controversy.

Editor's Note: as detailed in yesterday's report, Youth Radio's attempts to get a response from Current were met with a firm "No Comment".

Youth Radio - Topic: Josh Wolf

After North Korea: Why Reporters Take Risks

North Korea: Current Stays Quiet On Reporters