[Sigaba]

Originally Posted by afire87

Does anyone else find it interesting that the company the journalists work for is not pushing this story and promoting their release? I searched their website and nothing. Where is Gore when you need him now???

Afire--

A similar thought crossed my mind when I was doing research before putting up the OP.

A possibility that crossed my mind is that the bosses at Current TV may have been advised that public statements might work to the disadvantage of their reporters. So maybe they're sitting on their hands and biting their tongues and waiting for others to do their thing.

Then again, Vice President Gore has demonstrated the ability to make spectacularly odd choices.

ETA. Afire, your post occasioned additional research. You are not alone in your concerns.

Source is here.

Silence on North Korea Detainments Causes Concern Among Current TV Staff
By Brian Stelter

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

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.
Yonhap/Associated Press Euna Lee, top, and Laura Ling.

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.

After the women were detained, initial news reports about it were swiftly removed from the channel’s Web site. The two women’s profiles were scrubbed of any reference to the detainments.

It is not unusual for news organizations to adopt a silent stance when their journalists are detained or otherwise endangered overseas. News outlets often choose not to comment as they work aggressively behind the scenes for the release of their employees. But the public nature of Ms. Ling and Ms. Lee’s detainments have put additional pressure on Current to comment about the case.

Mr. Gore, in particular, has endured criticism on blogs for not speaking more often. In an interview on CNN in mid-May, Mr. Gore said he had been “deeply involved” in the efforts to free the journalists “every single day.”

“I have talked extensively and at length on many, many, many occasions with the State Department, with other people who are helping around the world in other governments, and through private intermediaries,” Mr. Gore said. But in public, the channel continues to say no comment.

Similarly, the families of the two journalists kept quiet about the case until last week. At the end of May, Ms. Ling’s sister Lisa, also a journalist, communicated with supporters through a Facebook group and said that she was preparing to speak out for the first time.

“Our families have been very quiet because of the extreme sensitivity of the situation, but given the fact that our girls are in the midst of a global nuclear stand-off, we cannot wait any longer,” she wrote.

Lisa Ling and other members of the two women’s families appeared on NBC’s “Today” show, CNN’s “Larry King Live” and other programs last week. Vigils were held in several major American cities last Wednesday to rally support for the two journalists.

Ms. Ling asked the Facebook group members to “help us stand up for truth and two girls who just wanted to tell the world a story.”