June 06, 2023
Evergreen

The Associated Press in North Korea: A Potemkin news bureau?

Confidential AP agreement with North Korea gives Pyongyang control over news stories

December 26, 2014: This article has been updated to include a link to the full AP – KCNA draft agreement

Despite trumpeting itself as the "first independent Western news bureau" in North Korea, top executives of the Associated Press (AP) in 2011 agreed to distribute state-produced North Korean propaganda through the AP name, a confidential document and interviews with current and former AP staff indicates.