VOA标准英语2013--BBC Filming on North Korea Trip Sparks Anger

 

BBC Filming on North Korea Trip Sparks Anger

Three BBC journalists entered North Korea, posing as students on a university trip organized by the London School of Economics. In secretly filmed footage, BBC reporter John Sweeney is seen walking in the countryside close to the capital, Pyongyang. There are no government minders present. Other excerpts¹ show beggars on the street and hundreds of military officers applauding at a circus performance.

Alex Peters-Day, general secretary of the university's students’ union, said possible risks were not made clear to the students.

"We were shocked that they would put our students at that level of risk without informing them beforehand," he said. "I feel it’s an absolute disgrace to be so reckless with students’ lives. And I think the BBC took a bit of a gamble."

The BBC insisted that it did inform all the students on the trip about the presence of the journalists and the risks involved. But the lead reporter on the documentary, John Sweeney, said full details were deliberately² withheld³.

"We were anxious that if I was arrested, if that happened, then the less the students knew the better," said Sweeney.

University authorities have complained to the BBC about the incident. Some of the students who were on the trip say they have received threatening letters from the North Korean state.

"There is still in North Korean detention⁴ a Korean-American tour operator who was arrested, allegedly for passing memory sticks or CDs to North Koreans," said James Hoare, a former British ambassador to North Korea. "It's a dangerous business, going undercover in North Korea, and it is a very big mistake, I think, to endanger other people in the process."

A Window on Real Life

But the BBC said the footage gives a window on real life in North Korea at a time when its leader is warning of nuclear war.

"We don't understand what the motivations and intentions are of this regime," said Ceri Thomas, head of news programs at the BBC. "We very, very rarely get access to it. And for the BBC to have this documentary is a very important piece of public interest journalism⁵."

Opinions among the student body were mixed.

"If the BBC documentary is able to provide some sort of aspect of originality⁶, of novelty to that same sort of re-hashed journalistic story, then maybe the sacrifice made on the part of LSE would be worth it," said Matt, an undergraduate.

Nabila Munawar, a graduate student from Canada, said,"As a PhD student, when I go out and do my fieldwork, I feel like this could impact on what people believe of what you're doing."

The London School of Economics has asked for the broadcast to be cancelled, fearing possible retribution if the students' identities are revealed.

The BBC did agree to blur⁷ students' faces - but is going ahead with the broadcast. 

1 excerpts   

n.摘录，摘要( excerpt的名词复数 )；节选（音乐，电影）片段

参考例句：

• Some excerpts from a Renaissance mass are spatchcocked into Gluck's pallid Don Juan music. 一些文艺复光时期的弥撒的选节被不适当地加入到了格鲁克平淡无味的唐璜音乐中。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He is editing together excerpts of some of his films. 他正在将自己制作的一些电影的片断进行剪辑合成。 来自辞典例句

2 deliberately   

adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地

参考例句：

• The girl gave the show away deliberately.女孩故意泄露秘密。
• They deliberately shifted off the argument.他们故意回避这个论点。

3 withheld   

withhold过去式及过去分词

参考例句：

• I withheld payment until they had fulfilled the contract. 他们履行合同后，我才付款。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• There was no school play because the principal withheld his consent. 由于校长没同意，学校里没有举行比赛。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 detention   

n.滞留，停留；拘留，扣留；(教育)留下

参考例句：

• He was kept in detention by the police.他被警察扣留了。
• He was in detention in connection with the bribery affair.他因与贿赂事件有牵连而被拘留了。

5 journalism   

n.新闻工作，报业

参考例句：

• He's a teacher but he does some journalism on the side.他是教师，可还兼职做一些新闻工作。
• He had an aptitude for journalism.他有从事新闻工作的才能。

6 originality   

n.创造力，独创性；新颖

参考例句：

• The name of the game in pop music is originality.流行音乐的本质是独创性。
• He displayed an originality amounting almost to genius.他显示出近乎天才的创造性。

7 blur   

n.模糊不清的事物；vt.使模糊，使看不清楚

参考例句：

• The houses appeared as a blur in the mist.房子在薄雾中隐隐约约看不清。
• If you move your eyes and your head,the picture will blur.如果你的眼睛或头动了，图像就会变得模糊不清。