Major news outlets sell single stories

When you hear the name “North Korea” what image or description of this country comes to mind?

The mainstream new outlet’s use of emotion has the tendency to create single stories about different groups or even countries. In many cases fear is that tool used to attract our eyes and ears. The unintended or perhaps unconcerned consequence of the media is a single story narrative about groups that pose potential threats to U.S. interests. North Korea is a perfect example of this practice.

Most often when we see news related to North Korea they are accompanied by images such as these:

While these images are troubling and do show a legitimate threat against the U.S. does it tell the whole story of this country? What about 20+ million North Koreans who live outside the capital? What is their story?

When repressive governments take power, it is almost inevitable that these small slices of the overall population will become the public face the rest of the world uses to judge entire countries. We’ve seen this happen with other countries such as China, Iraq and Cuba. The media often fails to show the big picture or to ask other relevant questions that would help us see a representative picture of these countries as a whole. For example, are the majority of North Koreans militant in nature? Do they travel in droves to the capital to enlist in the military? Does North Korea have anything to gain by taking unprovoked military action against any other country? Does the dictatorship's attempt to flex its muscles purely to create a false perception that it is strong?

A closer inspection shows that the people of North Korea deserve pity more than fear.

This National Geographic documentary shows what is really happening inside the country. The people suffers from mass starvation and complete brainwashing. An eye surgeon was allowed into the country to perform cataract procedures on a number of citizens. As the eye patches were removed after the surgeries, the patients immediately turn to images of their dictator called the "Deal Leader" and praise him for healing them rather than giving the credit to the surgeon. Despite this, they are not hostile to U.S. visitors.