Read More of the Same Day's Blog

There was complete unanimity among the three nightly newscasts that Laura Ling and Euna Lee should be Story of the Day for the second straight day. They each led with the arrival of the pair of Current TV journalists in a private jet from North Korea to Burbank, where they were welcomed home by their families, their boss Al Gore and the assembled news media. Then each newscast followed with the back story of the five months of behind-the-scenes diplomacy that led to Bill Clinton's photo-op with the dictator Kim Jong Il and Kim's grant of pardon to the pair.

"We knew instantly in our hearts that the nightmare of our lives was finally coming to an end." That is how Ling recalled her reaction upon seeing Clinton in person in Pyongyang. "His mission accomplished, Clinton left the talking to his former Vice President," observed ABC's Kate Snow. Lee's four-year-old daughter Hannah "hugged her mother and would not let go," observed CBS' Bill Whitaker. ABC's Snow offered the detail that the girl had been told: "Mommy is on a business trip"--a trip that lasted 140 days and included a 12-year sentence in a forced labor camp. NBC's George Lewis saw mother and daughter "hold on to one another for dear life." He called the family scene "poignant."

Andrew Tyndall 8/6/09 8:55:44 pm

© 2010 Tyndall Report