The Hazards of Overseas Journalism

Today 2 American journalists were sentenced to 12 years of hard labor for what the North Korean regime calls the "grave crime they committed against the Korean nation and their illegal border crossing."

As much as I feel for the families of Laura Ling and Euna Lee, it must always be remembered that journalism is not welcomed at all in many countries around the world that do not allow free speech and great caution must be taken when reporting from area in or closely adjoining these countries.

It has been said by the families of these young women that they had no intention of crossing into North Korea and that may very well have been the case when they left on this assignment but, it is a fact that any great journalist will take some serious risks to get a good story and it pays off in many cases. I suspect that if someone came to them and said I can get you into an area of North Korea where you can speak to some of the people who live there; my guess is that they would jump at the chance to be able to bring back a story of that kind.

I can completely understand their need to do this. I would very likely have done the much the same thing in their situation. There are many good journalists but the journalists that have become great have taken chances. Some with their reputations such as Dan Rather, who made the announcement to the world that President Kennedy was dead before anyone, anywhere had actually confirmed it. That became his starting point and he went on from there to become an extraordinary newsman. ABC anchor Bob Woodruff and cameraman Doug Vogt were both very seriously injured in Iraq when the convoy they were traveling in was hit by a roadside bomb. They were doing what they needed to do in order to get the raw truth out to the world. In so doing they placed themselves in peril and in this case paid a very heavy price.

The 2 young ladies in North Korea are actually quite fortunate. They could certainly have been charged with spying for the United States and while I am not familiar with the laws of North Korea I would not be surprised if the penalty for that is death.

I hope and pray that a release can be negotiated for them but if not then we need to think of them as courageous young ladies who were doing what the believed needed to be done in order to bring back stories of the common man that would otherwise never see the light of day.

Tragedy

I am sure everyone has now read or seen something on the horrible incident to befall Air France Flight 447 over the South Atlantic off the coast of Brazil. My thoughts and prayers are with the families of the passengers and crew of that flight. I cannot begin to imagine the feelings of those left behind but my heart and the hearts of tens of millions around the world go out to you in your time of despair.

It matters not what is going on in the world when something like this happens and the world takes notice. Despite the difficulties involved in recovery of meaningful data I am certain that the investigators will not rest until they have reached a conclusion as to what happened.

It is difficult I am sure to think in terms of recovery and data analysis in times like these but the deaths of your loved ones will not be meaningless. I realize that this will come as little comfort now but this accident will do, as others in the past have done, a great deal in terms of making it safer than ever to fly.

Remember that even as they throw off the bonds of this earth and move on to the next stage of existence they will not be forgotten.