Reporting from Downing Street

There are plenty of irritating things about the way the news is presented to us, but one specific thing that irks me is having a reporter on-site, without there being any actual benefit.

It’s acceptable if:

1. A person of authority relating to the news piece is on-site to answer questions or provide a statement

2. There’s a specific object or landmark in that location that we need to see, in order to understand the news item better

That’s it. And usually in the second point, a few shots of the location will suffice, without needing a frumpily-dressed (yes, I’ve just invented that word, it means ‘frumpy’) reporter standing slightly offset from the lens, pitched in a futile struggle against weather, animals and people.

It’s entirely pointless. You are wasting everyone’s time. I understand the effects of wind, rain, and sun, I do not wish to see you ‘testing’ the wind for me.

However, I have recently had my eyes opened to what I can call without any doubt, the most compelling, interesting, eye-opening report I’ve ever seen. Sue Lloyd-Roberts of Newsnight brings this report from North Korea. It’s a fascinating glimpse into such a secretive country, after watching the lot though, there’s a significant feeling that we’re only scratching the surface.

You can read it here, accompanied by a 15 minute video.

It’s also watchable on YouTube in four parts.

It’s commendable that she’s fearless enough to continue enquiring after the secretive shopping habits, the presence of donated farming equipment from other countries, among other amenities, in such a bemused way. I’m thankful that it appears to be met with secrecy and denial instead of hostility – she’s clearly hitting a nerve in so many cases throughout her report. It seems a wonder they were allowed in the country at all. Can whoever allowed them to report truly believe their façade holds up realistically?

This has lead me to a somewhat morbid fascination, coupled with a greater appreciation for the freedom of information in this country. Look at the Ryugyong Hotel, in the city of Pyongyang.

From Wikipedia:

The Ryugyong Hotel (Korean: 류경호텔) (sometimes anglicized as Ryu-Gyong Hotel or Yu-Kyung Hotel^[5]) is a 105-floor skyscraper under construction inPyongyang, North Korea. Its name comes from one of the historic names for the city of Pyongyang, and means “capital of willows“;^[6] the building is also known as the 105 building,^[1] a reference to its number of floors. Construction began in 1987, but was halted in 1992 due to the economic disruptions that afflicted the country. The hotel stood topped out but without windows or interior fittings for the next sixteen years, until construction resumed in April 2008, under the supervision of the Orascom Group of Egypt, which has invested heavily in the North Korean mobile telephony and construction industries.^[3]

The hotel rises to a height of 330 metres (1,080 ft), and it contains 360,000 square metres (3,900,000 sq ft) of floor space, making it the most prominent feature of the city’s skyline and by far the largest structure in North Korea. Construction of the Ryugyong was intended to be completed in time for the World Festival of Youth and Students in June 1989; had this been achieved, it would have become the world’s tallest hotel.

You can see the hotel from Google maps (interesting point: Pyongyang is the only marked location in North Korea, the rest of the country is anonymous, unlike neighbouring South Korea and China), and I have to say in my professional architectural opinion (sarcasm), 23 years later it’s still looking somewhat like a barren concrete slab from above.

From Wikipedia:

In 1992, after the building had reached its full architectural height,^[1] work was halted due to a lack of funds ^[10] amid electricity and food shortages.^[4] Japanese newspapers estimated the cost of construction was US$750 million,^[11] consuming 2 percent of North Korea’s GDP.^[12] For over a decade, the unfinished building sat vacant and without windows, fixtures, or fittings, appearing as a massive concrete shell.^[1] A rusting construction crane at the top, which the BBC called “a reminder of the totalitarian state’s thwarted ambition”,^[4] became a permanent fixture.^[13][14]

In a 2006 article, ABC News questioned whether North Korea had sufficient raw materials or energy for such a massive project.^[9]A North Korean government official told the Los Angeles Times in 2008 that construction was not completed “because [North Korea] ran out of money”.^[2] A decade after the start of construction, the European Union Chamber of Commerce in Koreaconducted an inspection of the building, where it was concluded that the structure was “irreparable“.^[15]

What a terrifying, imposing structure.

Back to my original point, it’s just a shame that not all reporting can be this valuable and insightful, instead we’ll make do with the usual gubbins standing on Downing Street, telling us something that could be told straight from the news room, some sentence about the “atmosphere” of the crowd from an awkward reporter attempting to mingle with football fans, or a snippet of information about a hospital that simply had to be told by a reporter standing in front of the hospital sign, otherwise, clearly, we wouldn’t have a fucking clue what they were talking about.

Emily Knox and Cat, reporting from Middlesbrough. Back to the studio.

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Useful links:

Ryugyong Hotel

Jim Saunders’ Blog

Life Inside the North Korean Bubble