AP Pyongyang outsources National Geographic reporting to objective journalist

It’s telling that when the AP wants to exhibit its work to the readers of National Geographic, it teams David Guttenfelder’s photos with Tim Sullivan’s reporting (which has usually been good) instead of Jean Lee’s (which hasn’t). The result is better reporting:

But hearing the truth is challenging while loudspeakers blast songs of praise for Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un.

When the government allows foreigners inside, it presents them with a delicately crafted illusion of how the regime wants the outside world to view it. The streets are all perfect, the monuments are all inspiring and the civilians are all happy.

“Westerners believe it is not allowed to believe in religion in my country,” a Buddhist monk told Sullivan. “This is false.”

But he had to say this — otherwise, he might disappear, as so many dissidents already have.

Sullivan concluded that he was in the presence of actors upholding an image of religious freedom.

Another pretense, another facade.  [N.Y. Daily News]

None of this really absolves the AP corporate leadership of its own corrupt dealings with the Pyongyang regime. I suppose critical reporting of that would be too much to ask. But at least this article promises to be far removed from the blatant propaganda and disinformation we saw in the early days of the AP Pyongyang experiment. I’m actually anticipating the article–and for once, not in horror.