A World of Risk for a New Brand of Journalist

As the journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee complete their third month of detainment in North Korea, it remains rather astonishing that they were there in the first place to report for a fledgling cable channel. But their path there may explain in part why they remain in custody.

They were working not for a news network or a widely read newspaper, but for Current TV, a channel best known, if it is known at all, for a mix of short YouTube-style segments about technology, current events and culture. The two journalists, both American, were reportedly working on a piece about North Korean refugees when they were stopped by border guards. Last week, the women were sentenced to 12 years in a labor prison, prompting diplomatic maneuverings to gain their release.

Start-up news organizations like Current TV are increasingly sending journalists to the world’s hot spots, putting a spotlight on news stories in new ways. It is, experts say, another consequence of the fragmented media landscape and the declines in international news coverage by traditional outlets.

The unconventional assignments are an expression of the generational changes in news coverage, especially in TV, where the jobs of camera operators, sound technicians and producers have, in many cases, been subsumed into one do-it-all position. And being unencumbered by a traditional news outlet has its advantages, as the reporters are sometimes free to take more risks.

“There’s an impetus with any upstart news organization that you have to be bolder and you have to be more aggressive than other news organizations to get attention for your stories,” said Kevin Sites, a freelance journalist who covered conflicts for Yahoo. “That has to be admired. That also has a real inherent risk in it.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/15/business/media/15guerrilla.html?th&emc=th

news organizations don't do real news anymore, i.e., witness the extensive coverage on CNN of the events in Iran.