The BBC's Panorama special report from North Korea was broadcast last night, despite growing objections that programme makers had needlessly put LSE students at risk, in using them as cover for the notorious operation.
I've yet to hear a compelling argument for taking this incredible risk with people's lives, and watching the documentary myself, I was surprised that little was exposed that hadn't already been revealed by more accomplished journalists than John Sweeney. I didn't find him particularly convincing as a student and he lacked the gravitas of a professor, rather he reminded me more of a male Judith Chalmers as his film seemed to be a fleeting tour of site seeing attractions, such as they were, and a visit to a hospital with no patients to interview. Which summed things up in a way, for I found I was left wondering if this broadcast might not have been better if it had been presented as a three minute report during the Ten O'clock News - and without using students as a human shield!
From scenes of a country in crisis with intermittent electricity, which Sweeney seemed particularly fixated on, the focus then moved a few miles across the border to reveal the booming economy of its neighbour, with all the wonderful offerings of capitalism, Big Macs, casinos and enough flashing lights to keep you in migraine tablets for a lifetime. The comparison was unnecessarily crass and I kept thinking I was watching a Chris Morris satire or an episode of Cyderdelic, illustrating the citizens of the south were being just as effectively kept quiet by their masters, on a diet of western consumerism. I don't think the irony was intentional.
This was a self-indulgent project which ultimately seems to have achieved nothing and benefited no-one, except perhaps John Sweeney, from all the hype.
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