N. Korean Nuclear Weapons Issue Reporting

In order to examine how the media covers news events from various points of view, it was decided to review news articles regarding the nuclear weapons in North Korea issue in late January and early February of 2003. Articles are drawn from the mainstream newspaper The Washington Times, and two United Kingdom newspapers that are more liberal and alternative, Telegraph and Independent News. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the differing perspectives to determine if advocacy groups were in effect and to determine any impact on foreign policy.

The activity in North Korea at that time was covered in many newspapers. The articles in the Independent are somewhat brief, just stating that the U.S. and North Korea were at a "stand-off" as spy satellites seem to suggest that the regime was making weapons (Usborne 1). There is a brief statement that the U.S. is trying to establish whether or not North Korea is firing up its atomic reactor believed to be capable of creating weapons-grade plutonium (Reeves 1). There is little analysis in these two articles, but there is the hint that exactly what is going on is not entirely known.

The Telegraph articles are somewhat lengthier, providing a bit more analysis, especially the article by Spencer from Beijing, who provides more b

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North Korea has sold weapons to other countries. The principal evidence seems to be the opinion of an unnamed diplomat who says, "It's a frightening scenario. . .We know al Qaeda wants these weapons, and we know North Korea desperately needs hard currency" (Lerner 1). This article is about the threat rather than actual events, other than past sales of weapons to other countries. Part of the reporting comes from CIA reports to Congress earlier in the month, reiterating that the North earns income by selling weapons to other countries, making that a high priority for North Korea; however the CIA information makes no connection between North Korea and weapons for terrorist groups. None of these four articles could be called editorials. They are news briefs with varying amounts of analysis. In terms of strengths and weaknesses of coverage, the UK reporting is shorter and to the point, with the Telegraph articles hitting a middle ground of facts and sufficient cause and effect information to enable the reader to interpret the news. The UK news has a light touch, using specific choices of words to indicate objectivity from the situation, calling the UN lack of response to the U.S. a "rebuff" and the whole conflict between America
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Some common words found in the essay are:
North Korea, North Korea's, Washington Times, Especially Lerner, Security Council, Al Qaeda, Arms Lerner, Security Council's, north korea, January February, Korea Nuclear, nuclear weapons, washington times, north korea's, february 2003, weapons north korea, weapons north, al qaeda, lerner 1, jones 1, january 2003, north korea firing, weapons 'nuclear nightmare', situation north korea, korea weapons 'nuclear,
Approximate Word count = 1789
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page)