Journalists Treated Harshly?
Laura Ling, right, and Euna Lee, reporters for The Current TV Network, were sentenced to
12 years hard labor for allegedly crossing into North Korea's territory while doing a story on human trafficking.
Current TV is an Emmy award-winning independent media company led by former U.S. Vice President Al Gore and businessman Joel Hyatt.
A few questions:
Didn't they know where they were? If not, why not?
Were they invited guests or were they interlopers or tresspassers?
Have we heard much from the leaders/owners of the company?
What were two nice kids like them doing in a place like that anyway?
Have American journalists suddenly become targets?
Is there more to this than we are being told?
As a condition for permission to enter, aren't journalists required to state their reason(s) or purpose(s) for being in countries which restrict movements and activities within their borders?
Aren't there consequences for exceeding the bounds/limits of the conditions upon which such permission is granted?
I agree that the sentence was harsh and seems excessive by our standards, but there are some important lessons to be learned here.
Beginning with understanding and appreciating the fact that we, as American citizens, cannot assume that we have some kind of special status or license to ignore, avoid, or evade the consequences of not abiding by, or stictly adhering to, the laws of foreign countries because our law differs from theirs.
Suppose the sentence was "twelve lashes with a bamboo cane" and then deportation as in another case. We can't break the law in places like North Korea and then expect to be allowed to run home because we don't like the law, the punishment or the people enforcing it......
"When in Rome, do as the Romans do......"
What if you don't know you're in Rome? We weren't privy to the court proceedings so we don't know the particulars, but I have no reason to believe they actually knew they had crossed a border. How far inside the border were they? Feet? Yards? Miles? It makes a difference.
North Korea is a crazy place and everybody knows it, including those two young women. Nothing in their background or about their assignment suggests that they would deliberately go that far. I believe it was a mistake--though why they were that close to the border is a question that needs to be answered. Were they there alone? If so, why? Where was their crew?
Lots of questions, but first things first: Get them OUT of there!
June 8, 2009 9:03 AM | Reply | Permalink
How do you inadvertently "wander" into a hostile foreign country? We go to the movies to see that kind of stuff......
June 8, 2009 9:12 AM | Reply | Permalink
Good question. Do we yet know the answer?
June 8, 2009 9:19 AM | Reply | Permalink
Not saying it happened that way, but North Korea is perfectly capable of sending thugs across the border to kidnap themselves a couple of bargainning chips. It would be SOP for them, in fact. It would be the easiest thing in the world There's absolutely zero chance that they wouldn't have the mass of refugees on the Chinese side of the border thickly infiltrated with spies and informers. One of them tales these women, radios the snatch team across the border when they get close enough to it to grab and presto, instant leverage.
Evaluating the North Koreans' actions as if they were just another nation-state is usually a mistake. Their government is basically just an organized crime syndicate hidden behind a bunch of faux-communist window dressing.
June 8, 2009 9:59 AM | Reply | Permalink
I don't put anything past those people. But why don't we know the story from the women's side? They've been in contact with their famillies and have had visits from the Swedes. Why haven't we heard their side? And again--where was their crew? Surely they weren't out there alone?
June 8, 2009 10:10 AM | Reply | Permalink
Reporters and producers will very often pick up locals as part of a crew - even if they were shooting it themselves, which is certainly possible with the small cameras out there now, guides and "fixers" are invaluable in situations where a crew is far from home.
Maybe someone sold them out, maybe they got across somehow and got very unlucky, maybe it was a kidnap job, we don't know.
The reporters I know would have been very much inclined to look over that next hill, that's what they are there to do.
With these two women, though, I think they had very little to gain in terms of story or info, and obviously, a lot to lose. Still, keep in mind that it could well have been far worse - they are charged with entering NK illegally, not with espionage.
They're likely going to be sprung fairly soon, I think they're bargaining chips at the moment. NK wants attention, this is an opportunity for that.
And perhaps the Swedes and the families are keeping quiet out of simple discretion.
June 8, 2009 10:37 AM | Reply | Permalink
Thanks, TOG, you make sense. I have to believe, too, that they had nothing to gain by crossing the border. I hope it's over soon.
June 8, 2009 11:23 AM | Reply | Permalink
There will be the usual rounds of posturing, for public consumption, while the real action takes place offstage.
Just to let you know, I have friends who plied their craft with 16mm newsfilm back in the Vietnam era. And quite a few friends of theirs did not come home. The difference now is we have much higher speed to the headlines.
I can suggest a couple good reads, if you like - more about combat journalism than sneaking into dictatorships, but highly informative about the practice of a noble and dangerous craft.
June 8, 2009 12:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
TOG, yes, please add your book list. Always fascinating. Thanks.
June 8, 2009 4:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
The Cat From Hue - John Laurence
Shooting Wars - Erik Durschmeid
Live From the Battlefield - Peter Arnett
Those are enough to get you started. I most highly recommend Laurence's book - it's large and deep, yet told by a very good observer and storyteller.
And his principal photog is a friend of mine.
June 8, 2009 6:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
What 'crew'? All you need is a little mini-cam and since there were two of them they could switch off camera duties.
June 8, 2009 3:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
Care to reveal anything further about how little you understand of the realities of overseas newsgathering?
June 8, 2009 4:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
How many times have our CIA "thugs" snatched someone off the street somewhere, whisked them off to wherever and detained and/or imprisoned them without the benefit of indictment or trial...We don't exactly have clean hands here...
June 8, 2009 10:27 AM | Reply | Permalink
Could it be that the border is not clearly marked?
I heard somewhere that they were investigating something like slave trade issues re women. That could have been very annoying to a government.
The sentence might not be all that harsh. We don't know what evidence was presented against them nor what they were actually doing. But we do know that NK has not allowed the case details to be made public, so it seems likely that NK is blowing out of proportion something which is otherwise small potatoes if not outright fabricated.
June 8, 2009 4:37 PM | Reply | Permalink