Jezebel 
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New York, 7:25 PM
Tue Nov 24
62 posts in the last 24 hours
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09/02/09
He thinks everything they are doing (either in cahoots with the North Koreans or using them as a foil) is an elaborate ruse to draw attention from...well he doesn't know what. Granted, my brother enjoys his wacky tobakky and reads Robert Ludlum so he might just be paranoid.
09/03/09
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09/02/09
Are the journalists that have been kidnapped in Iraq "stupid" for taking the risk??
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09/02/09
I also don't think they're trying to "blame" anyone, they're simply giving an honest account of what happened.
09/02/09
The Lone Scout's point is that there is 1. a choice that was made by the journalists that put themselves at risk, and to their credit they acknowledge that, and 2. a way to report on these kinds of stories WITHOUT putting yourself in such a dangerous situation.
Risk and Journalism are not synonyms. There have been hundres of reporters who have exposed horrific, mind-blowing regimes without traveling inside those territories and putting themselves directly in danger.
09/02/09
If I drunk and am walking down a dark alley in a short skirt and I am assaulted, did I allow myself to get raped? I think there is a parallel here.
09/02/09
And I'm sorry, @maggiethe cat, but I don't consider it "stupid" to cover how fucked up the North Korea regime is. It's one of the most secretive societies in the world today, and also a pretty sizeable threat to our allies in Asia. We really do rely on this type of ground reporting to gather reliable facts about the regime, and IMO it's pretty lazy and lousy to write off any news coverage of an area most Americans actually know damn little about.
09/02/09
Then they got lucky. Or they took risks you don't know about. Some stories can't be told unless you actually go there. You can get close by talking to people who have escaped from terrible regimes but sometimes journalists need to be the people on the ground telling those of us who will never go there exactly what it's like. I'd say the same is even more true for photojournalists. For them, it's even more imperative that they be there to document the atrocities they see.
Yes, they put themselves in danger. They're aware of that. But they measure the risk to themselves (and to their families and friends) against the idea that the truth is absolute and terrible stories need to be told. That's a journalist's job, sometimes at the expense of personal safety. And in some cases, life. It's a tough decision and msot of us wouldn't do it. But I have to admire the ones who do. It speaks to the ultimately noble nature of journalism: To tell the stories of those who can't speak for themselves.
09/02/09
The true victims in North Korea are the general population who are subject to physical and mental abuse (or destruction) by their government. I'm not going to recode the links in this comment (they're present in my previous rants), but I'll point out again that National Geographic already did this story in a way such that the journalists didn't become the story.
Ling and Lee took a calculated risk, as journalists often do, but sorely miscalculated (or were pushed into the miscalculation by their capitalist running dog bosses). Also, the circumstances of their imprisonment are still uncomfirmed; were they indeed hosted in an official guest house? [Pausing while I savor the opportunity to use a semicolon. Okay; done. Whoops! There I go again.]
Look, amateurism and privilege are considered fair targets at Gawker, and I am just trying to execise gun control by hitting the targets at which I aim.
09/02/09
The world is a dangerous place. I always blame the evil ones. But I know that they are there. And I am realistic and experienced enough to try and avoid putting myself in their way.
By the way, your rape analogy was a low blow, intellectually and gut-wise. I didn't wish any ill on Ling or Lee, and I didn't send them over there knowing about their lack of experience. Ring up their bosses and ask them why they sent them down that dark alley.
09/02/09
It was made clear that a N. Korean or Chinese spy could be anywhere.
It was also made clear that anyone who gave their real identities was further endangering themselves. Thus the pseudonyms and masks over parts of peoples' faces.
I think basically it comes down to Nat'l Geographic having a lot of influence, money, and connections. And the journalist having good luck.
One also wonders if the NG story led to more of a crackdown on the border, resulting in the cases like Ling and Lee.
Its dangerous. Increasingly so, perhaps. And I really commend the journalists and all the people who are risking their lives to help refugees and political prisoners in N. Korea, China, and the many other places in the world suffering turmoil and oppression.
09/02/09
Yes, Lee and Ling made a bad decision by following the guard, but throwing your hands up and saying, 'Well, evil people will do evil things. Too bad for you," is condoning that kind of evil behaviour, not trying to bring awareness of it in order for it to end.
Also your logic that because others have avoided capture that they must have been inexperienced or unrealistic rings false, and does have parallels to rape-victimisation. When people are exploited and violently taken advantage of, it's not, in any way, the fault of the victim, not matter the choices they made. Short of calling out 'Yoo-hoo! Come over here and capture me!' Ling and Lee couldn't have done anything to 'deserve' to be captured.
09/02/09
09/02/09
Lee was raised in ROK before coming to university in California and should know more than most Americans about the dangers. And anyone can read about the violent incidents and volatile border situation that exists at the Joint Security Area.
I don't get it. Are you suggesting that someone should be able to enter PRNK without permission in a known area of escape and not be punished? It's going to take a lot more than moral indignation to change PRNK. Like regime change?
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09/02/09
I am also growing more confused as to why there is such opposition to considering the apparent amateurishness of the Ling-Lee affair, particularly considering the risks they were taking (or were force to take by Current). And maybe I am not picking up all of the cultural angles.
09/02/09
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08/07/09
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08/07/09
That is also the same laugh tech support agents use when they use their Mute buttons on their phones.
Not that I would know this.
08/07/09
08/07/09
It happens more during calls like this: "Hi, do I need to turn the printer off at night?" "Well, no, unless you want to save power, there's no technical reason you need to." "OK, then YOU need to call my cubemate RIGHT NOW because SHE turns off the printer EVERY NIGHT and then I come in in the morning and I cannot print and I have to go turn it on and it is SUCH A HASSLE. So YOU are going to call her and tell her this." *mute button* *Hillary laughter*
It's like that.
08/07/09
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08/07/09
I'm sure they had this picture in the background for her to look at.
08/07/09
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08/07/09
Obviously I don't have a career ahead of me in international diplomacy.
08/07/09
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08/05/09
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