Silence on North Korea Detainments Causes Concern Among Current TV Staff

The detainment of two Current TV employees, Laura Ling and Euna Lee, have been shrouded in secrecy by the television channel.

[efoods]The start-up cable channel, co-founded by Al Gore, the former vice president, has steadfastly refused to comment about Ms. Ling and Ms. Lee since the two journalists were detained in North Korea on March 17. On Monday the two journalists were sentenced to 12 years of hard labor.

The dearth of information from Current has left some employees of the cable channel feeling deeply uncomfortable, according to two employees who requested anonymity because they were instructed to refrain from commenting about the situation.

At the cable channel, which programs a mix of news, short films, viral videos, and other segments for young viewers, Ms. Ling is the vice president of vanguard journalism, a department that conducts original reporting around the world. Ms. Lee is an editor with about a decade of film and TV experience. The North Korea story was Ms. Lee’s first overseas assignment in her four years at Current, according to one of the employees, who noted that she speaks Korean.

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This article was posted: Tuesday, June 9, 2009 at 12:29 pm

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