Left Behind Bottle Caps

• They are Chinese-American and Korean-American women
• They work for and with Current TV; an independent media outlet
• The US administration does not want to bring attention to North Korea

Over two weeks ago, the NY Times reported that Laura Ling, a Chinese-American, and Euna Lee, a Korean-American, both of Current TV, were taken into custody by North Korean military officials. They are now facing the potential of ten years imprisonment in North Korea. There has been very little coverage of the situation by both mainstream media outlets and Current TV.

According to Josh Wolf, of Freedomedia, [via recent post "Current TV won't talk and more evidence of site censorship"] there is a major censorship issue at play here. This is likely to be further compounded by Al Gore’s founding and association with the channel – and I couldn’t agree more.

That last link is a tweet from last Sunday, which would indicate Current has been scrubbing their site for more than a week [Josh Wolf].

As mentioned, politics plays a major role in this situation. Not only on the heals of G20 and today’s start to the NATO summit, but there’s been rising tension with North Korean over suspicion of the testing of ballistic missile technology. While this is a delicate situation that requires proper handling, it should not be at the expense of two female journalists. These women were working to shed light on issues of human suffering and social injustice. Now global politics, outweighs their safe return.

The devastating irony is Laura Ling’s journalist philosophy to ensure transparent, fair and honest journalism. She has been betrayed by the very cause and outlets she’s supported.

I’m rarely inspired by what I see in the media. Television is supposed to be the most powerful medium—but TV news seems to be anything but powerful. Vanguard is trying to change that. We’re trying to provide knowledge and context about what’s happening in our world as opposed to just covering random news events. We hope our work generates dialogue about the important issues affecting our lives (Courtesy of Laura Ling and Current TV).

The question remains – now what. Make your voice heard. Do not let this situation go on ignored. Journalist have rights and those cannot be compromised nor can our right to access to such injustices go unnoticed.

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