NBC’s Lester Holt ripped for saying he’s been ‘treated with respect’ in North Korea

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Yes, I wonder how the parents of the student who came back in a vegetative state from North Korea and died feel about Lester’s comments. He and his crew better stick together tightly and not rip any posters off of hotel walls while in North Korea.
 
I don’t think I would say anything bad about North Korea while I was there any more than I would say something bad about a person that had a Gun to the back of my head. I personally would wait until he got home and spoke freely before putting too much weight on what he is saying. But as I understand North Korea puts on a thinly veiled good show when outside reporters are present.
7_Sorrows said:
Yes, I wonder how the parents of the student who came back in a vegetative state from North Korea and died feel about Lester’s comments.
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I’m sure pretty bad. But if I were ever in North Korea I’d avoid committing any act that I thought could be interpreted as disrespectful or speaking any word not liked. Base on other reports it sounds like guests can be closely monitored. While I think the punishment was far to severe for the crime trying to steal those posters was not a wise decision.
 
Yea, I think people are being a bit hard on him.

I’m sure he has been treated with respect and at least he’s not pandering by saying they are a great country and everyone looks fat & happy. NBC must feel they are acting as a bridge to help diffuse some of the current tension, but they are just a propaganda tool.

This is one country that requires regime change before anything constructive will happen.
 
Oh I agree. Knowing the history of the leader and what he is capable of Lester can’t do an honest report from North Korea and we know the basketball star Dennis Rodman receives excellent treatment when he is there. I can understand Lester wanting to compliment the host country while he is there visiting. Kim claims he watched MSNBC,
so I am sure he favors NBC. If Lester ever wants to return to North Korea, he really won’t be able to say
many bad things when he returns either.
At the same time, it must be difficult for the parents of the young man who went there
as a tourist and later imprisoned and died upon his return to the U.S.
 
7_Sorrows said:
… If Lester ever wants to return to North Korea, he really won’t be able to say
many bad things when he returns either…
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I seriously doubt that the prospect of not being able to return to North Korea weighs heavily on Lester’ mind - not to the point of making him compromise his journalistic integrity once back in the US.
 
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I disagree. Do you think he would turn down an offer of an interview with the leader of
North Korea if invited to return? Of course, it would weigh heavily on his mind. If he
returns and reports negatively it will hurt the chances of any other journalists being invited to North Korea.
 
7_Sorrows said:
I disagree. Do you think he would turn down an offer of an interview with the leader of
North Korea if invited to return?
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Lester would not even be invited again if he spoke his mind back here, so it would not be an issue. Not speaking his mind back here in hopes of getting an invitation to go back just does not sound like Mr. Holt. He has a good career at NBC that is involved with many issues unrelated to NK. It would not make sense for him to be seen as a tool of NK and risk his very successful career just so that maybe NK would invite him back.
 
Mr. Holt would have many things to weigh in his mind. Of course, he has a good career
here unrelated to NK. However, that doesn’t mean this trip to North Korea does not involve special circumstances. The fact that tensions between the U.S. and North Korea
have been so high this past year and the incident that occurred with the American student have put North Korea in the headlines almost everyday. If Lester really is concerned about building bridges between the 2 countries, I am sure he is hoping this will not be his only trip to North Korea. That doesn’t mean being a tool for Kim.
 
I don’t see the problem. If he was treated with respect he should report that fact. He shouldn’t insert opinion into his news. I imagine many of the people who complain most vociferously about opinion based news are also complaining about this.

For both the government and many citizens US foreign policy is simple:
  • all enemy countries are completely bad
  • ally countries are mixed with those who do our bidding being more good than bad
  • only the US is completely good
But the world really isn’t that simple.
 
I don’t think Lester is so naive that he would sacrifice his own career based on the slim hope that his saying nice (but untrue) things about NK will bring about world peace.
 
7_Sorrows said:
Yes, I wonder how the parents of the student who came back in a vegetative state from North Korea and died feel about Lester’s comments. He and his crew better stick together tightly and not rip any posters off of hotel walls while in North Korea.
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  1. One travels to North Korea at your own risk.
  2. If one thinks the risk is acceptable than one should be on your best behavior.
  3. As a parent being well informed about North Korea, I would have forbade my son from going to North Korea.
  4. My own son is well informed enough to not travel to North Korea, much less go there and not be on his best behavior.
 
That story reminds me of the basket ball players caught shoplifting in China.
Fairly low level behavior that would have been ignored in the US can have severe consequences.
 
Theo520 said:
That story reminds me of the basket ball players caught shoplifting in China.

Fairly low level behavior that would have been ignored in the US can have severe consequences.
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I think there have been a number of cases in which Americans in particular go somewhere and do something and suffer a penalty that is far more severe than one would here. I remember the high school student that went to Singapore and decided to egg some cars. He was beat in public for that. But as far as North Korea is concerned (or any place where our type of free speech doesn’t exists) one’s ability to express their real thoughts will be constrained.
 
ThinkingSapien said:
I think there have been a number of cases in which Americans in particular go somewhere and do something and suffer a penalty that is far more severe than one would here. I remember the high school student that went to Singapore and decided to egg some cars. He was beat in public for that. But as far as North Korea is concerned (or any place where our type of free speech doesn’t exists) one’s ability to express their real thoughts will be constrained.
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I remember, I was living in Asia at the time. His punishment was to be caned. I remember getting the paddle in middle school, but not quite hard enough to cause bleeding.

 
Once your child is an adult I guess they can make their own decisions.

This young man had travelled extensively. I don’t believe this was his first trip out of the
country.

I am sure they cautioned him about going as any parent would and I believe the company he toured with gave him a sense of security.

In the video footage, you cannot even clearly see who is ripping down the poster.
Did they find the poster in his hotel room or luggage? Or was this an attempt to play
with the American government? It happened under Obama’s watch.
 
7_Sorrows said:
. He and his crew better stick together tightly and not rip any posters off of hotel walls while in North Korea.
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Americans have to learn to obey the laws of the country they visit. That country’s laws may not be the same as the laws of the US. There is a phrase: “the ugly American”. I have seen American tourists with poor behavior throw trash on the sidewalks in Europe, whereas local citizens would not do so.
 
7_Sorrows said:
How would his career be sacrificed in the first place?
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The implication was that Lester Holt would hold back from reporting the bad things he saw in NK. If he did that, people here would notice, because we already know things are bad in NK. He would be rightly criticized if he painted a glowing picture of NK. Why should he risk that?
 
Seems like all the outraged stories about Mr. Holt’s coverage of the preparations for the upcoming Olympics come from the usual suspects.

More in-depth reporting indicates that Mr. Holt interviewed a defector and commented on how closed watched he was. So he wasn’t exactly whitewashing North Korea.

If he was personally treated respectfully (and I’m sure he was – I’m sure it was “Mr. Holt, sir, please, thank you, etc.”) and mentioned that, it isn’t exactly capitulating to the Communist regime.
 
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