Asymmetrical Information

Now THAT'S a brutal communist dictator!

Well, it's sort of a given that North Korea's communist...

From the linked BBC story:

But decades of this rigid state-controlled system have led to stagnation and a leadership dependent on the cult of personality.

Aid agencies have estimated that up to two million people have died since the mid-1990s as a result of acute food shortages caused by natural disasters and economic mismanagement.

Jane's criticism is similar to that of Andrew Sullivan's, who frequently criticizes the BBC along the lines of "and the BBC never once mentioned that so-and-so was brutal/a murder/a rapist/a dictator/a totalitarian/a liberal." My experience is that anyone semi-literate can discern from the linked stories the important info that Sullivan insists is missing, although the piece doesn't use the loaded, ideological terminology most favored by Sullivan.

Not that that has anything to do with Jane, but I see a similar problem here.

That self-same BBC site also profiles Australia without mentioning the phrases "parlimentary democracy" or "parliment"; and it covers Singapore without discussing Lee Kwan Yew or the concept of autocracy...

Amitava, it's self-identified as communist. While the term is certainly ideological, it's not any more "loaded" than calling the US a republic.

Allow me to fill out Amitava's quote:

After the Korean War, Kim Il-sung introduced the personal philosophy of Juche, or self-reliance, which became a guiding light for North Korea's development.

But decades of this rigid state-controlled system have led to stagnation and a leadership dependent on the cult of personality.

C'mon, folks. Are you saying this is a good primer on North Korea? A paragraph on "Juche" and nothing on communism?

I read this sort of "accusation" frequently, regarding a number of publications and memes, and I often find it confusing. Is there anyone who doesn't know that North Korea is communist? Is it also valid to complain that BBC stories on the USA frequently don't mention that it is a democracy or a republic? Or that the UK is a parliamentary democracy with a royal sovereign? If not, why not?

Actually, I think the phrase "rigid state-controlled system" is more loaded than "communist," although I understand that the rigid state system referred to is Juche.

True, "communist" really isn't a loaded term. (Sorry, I was using this post to vent about Sullivan a bit, who doesn't offer comment threads.)

But why does the BBC's use of the phrase "rigid state-controlled" instead of "communist" suggest bias on the part of the BBC? (That was the point of Jane's post, wasn't it?)

I love the overview of the US at the BBC site. You have to read it to believe it.

It's a brutal Dictatorship, why on earthe does it matter if it calls itself comunnist? The relevant fact is dictatorship not what minor flavor of dictatorship it claims to be.

It's not like communist dictatorships are really any bettor worse than the other kinds.

Is it also valid to complain that BBC stories on the USA frequently don't mention that it is a democracy or a republic?

The article in question isn't a story on North Korea. It's a "country profile." Am I out of line for expecting a country profile of North Korea to explain that it's a communist state? All we get is "North Korea emerged in 1948 amid the chaos following the end of World War II." It "emerged," like Aphrodite, or what?

Here's a paragraph from the Cuba profile, for comparison:

Since the fall of the US-backed dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista in 1959, Cuba has been a one-party state led by Castro, who exercises control over virtually all aspects of Cuban life through the Communist Party and its affiliated mass organisations, the government bureaucracy and the state security apparatus.

I'm not arguing about bias at the BBC. I just think the North Korea profile should be as informative as the Cuba profile.

Does North Korea actually call itself communist? It wouldn't be entirely shocking if they didn't.....

The profiles on China, Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos all mention Communist rule in the top three paragraphs. The profile of Mongolia mentions "Soviet-style" in the intro.

The profile of Cuba mentions Communism early on. The profile of Russia mentions its communist past in the first paragraph. The profile of Afghanistan mentions Communist rule in the "overview".

So the North Korea profile is quite the anomaly.

Aid agencies have estimated that up to two million people have died since the mid-1990s as a result of acute food shortages caused by natural disasters and economic mismanagement.

So they basically just misplaced their economy due to some kind of managerial oversight? Sort of an accounting error? Well, that explains it then. Nothing to see here, folks. Move along. Go about your business.

A thaw in relations with Seoul and a tentative reaching-out to the world were dealt a blow in late 2002 by Pyongyang's decision to reactivate a nuclear reactor and to expel international inspectors.

I don't know why the Beeb has this problem with North Korea and not with, say, Cuba, but I think the final paragraph of the profile shows a basic conflict. Am I misreading that, or does it say "North Korea's 'reaching out' was dealt a blow by North Korea's kicking out inspectors..."

I guess the writers are trying to keep the overview short and still current, but I'd think they could manage to mention the Korean War. And maybe something to say how little the economy has grown under "Juche"? The sentence "...decades of this rigid state-controlled system have led to stagnation..." doesn't suggest decades of stagnation, as I think is the case.

The profile now mentions that N Korea is communist in the first paragraph. All hail the power of the blogosphere...

When I read your entry, I intuited that you were right, & was going to agree with you for the record, but I paused when I saw what seemed like a number of well-written notes that said, hey, no big deal, it's just the omission of a truism.

You were right & have been vindicated by the BBC & your disdaining correspondents are, quite simply, apologists. Apparently there are no enemies on the Left for them.

TomCom

> The BBC generates a 650-word profile on North Korea without once making reference to the fact that it is communist.

Not quite - From the very first paragraph on the page:

For decades North Korea has been one of the world's most secretive societies. It is one of the few remaining countries still under communist rule.

(my embolding inserted - in case you missed it the first time.)

To follow up George W: is this introductory paragraph (indeed fully embolded) new?
That would be something for the power of the blogsphere -- as the page says:
Last Updated: Friday, 1 August, 2003, 11:59 GMT 12:59 UK

George and Francois,
Google still has the 24 May 2003 version cached.

Thanks Douglas:
It confirms that somebody at the BBC felt the need to add "It is one of the few remaining countries still under communist rule."

Case closed. Nighty-nite, apologists.

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