| Current TV hired this guy to keep the media out. |
In the days following the detainment of Current TV reporters Euna Lee and Laura Ling by border patrol in North Korea, their media outlet -- owned by former journalist and Vice President Al Gore -- has adopted the blackout policy of the U.S. State Department. On the day that the detainment made the news, Current TV went so far as to hire security guards to keep media out of its office on 118 King Street in San Francisco.
Calls from SF Weekly have not been returned all week, and today, when I finally got somebody on the line, the answer was abrupt. "We're not giving any comments," said a Current TV employee whose name I didn't catch.
"Isn't it a little weird that you guys are a media outlet and you have given absolutely no information?" I asked.
"It's policy," the man answered quickly. "Have a good day." Then he hung up.
Questions remain about the nature of Lee and Ling's assigment, whether they worked out San Francisco, or had a producer here, and if Gore is doing anything to remedy the situation. The most interesting question, perhaps, is whether it was Gore who decided that Current would restrict the flow of information. If so, that tells us a little something about where Gore's priorities lie when it comes to a major mission of journalism -- to inform the public.
