North Korea expands relationship with foreign journalists

North Korea expands relationship with foreign journalists

2011-07-12 01:48:41 GMT+7 (ICT)

PYONGYANG (BNO NEWS) -- The Reuters news agency on Monday announced it is expanding its relationship with North Korean state-run media, just weeks after a similar announcement from the Associated Press. It could signal increased access for foreign journalists.

North Korea is currently ranked 177th when it comes to press freedom, only outranking the African nation of Eritrea, according to Reporters Without Borders. Foreign journalists are rarely allowed access outside Pyongyang, the country's capital.

Reuters said its new agreement with the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) will provide the news agency with access to news video from North Korea via satellite for timely distribution to broadcasters and publishers around the world. It will make Reuters the only international news organization to have a full time satellite dish in North Korea. Reuters already had a text and photo agreement.

"We know the world's broadcasters are seeking more news from North Korea, and this agreement will ensure our clients have a regular supply of up to the minute video stories from Pyongyang and across the country," said Chris Ahearn, president of Reuters Media.

Reuters said the agreement with KCNA covers both breaking and feature news video, making it a significant expansion of Reuters' previous agreement. The news agency will also provide editorial training and KCNA in return will facilitate regular visits to North Korea by Reuters journalists.

But despite the positive announcement in regards to press access, it remains a question whether Reuters journalists will have more freedom in their reports about North Korea, especially those which are negative towards the North Korean regime.

Last month, the Associated Press announced that it would soon open a news bureau in Pyongyang. It would make it the first permanent text and photo bureau operated by a Western news organization in the North Korean capital. "This agreement between AP and KCNA is historic and significant," AP President and CEO Tom Curley said at the time.

But the Associated Press, whose television news division already had a bureau in North Korea, did not address questions about its freedom of reporting in North Korea. AP said its agreement with North Korea also designates the Associated Press as the exclusive distributor of historic video from KCNA's archive.

However, the move by the North Korean government could also be designed to spread its views on an international level, and more importantly to show a more colorful image of the Asian country. KCNA president Kim Pyong Ho said he hoped it would increase understanding.

"I hope this agreement contributes not only to the strengthening of relations between our two news agencies but also to the better understanding between the peoples of our two countries and the improvement of the [North Korean]-U.S. relations," Kim said last month during AP's announcement.

The agreements with the Associated Press and Reuters are not the only recent developments. In April this year, North Korea allowed an AP reporter and an AP photographer to attend a news conference by the North Korean government, an unprecedented move. Such news conferences would normally receive little to no coverage beyond KCNA, but the AP story received far more attention.

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