Project #2 (draft)

I am currently majoring in communications and the topic that I decided to choose has a lot to do with what actually interests me and what I want to base my career on. Since I was little I have always wanted to become a journalist. I love writing about topics that are of great interest to me. To keep people informed of what is happening on a daily basis in the world is very important and if I can grab someone’s attention with an article that can perhaps make a difference, then my goal will be achieved. For this project I chose to write about three articles that captured my attention and inspired me to spread the word. The keyword to these three articles is “Freedom”. All three articles have different touching stories but at the same time they all have one thing in common. They all represent different types of freedom throughout the world.

The first article is by Tom O’Neil and it talks about refugees from North Korea. The article tells the story of different refugees and their struggle for freedom. I was shocked to learn how many North Koreans have fled to China and how many of them are caught and sent back to their country to face a terrifying penalty. The article begins with the story of two Korean women that had been mislead to a better living than that of their homeland. The two women (referred as Red and White) had been lied to by people that had promised them an escape to China. Turned out they became victims of an Internet sex operation. With the help of a Christian organization that devotes to helping refugees, “Red” and “White” were eventually able to escape the fraud they had gotten into and achieved what thousands are unable to. Around mid-1990s a devastating famine broke out across North Korea. People became very limited to food. People everyday try to escape but the border patrol is highly strict and shoots anyone who tries to flee. China being the neighbor does not honor its international agreements by treating North Koreans as refugees. Instead they keep their guards up and deport any North Korean despite the punishment that awaits them. To me it’s extremely sad how these people are so desperate for help and yet everywhere they look for it they only come across devastation. It’s impossible for them to escape and live free.

The second article I chose was titled Freedom First in an edition in Time magazine. This article talks about different types of freedom in the United States. It begins by mentioning how much the country has accomplished throughout the years and how much it has improved. It is believed that if there is truly real freedom out there, then the United Sates is most likely the closest to it. Out of all the countries in the world this one has gone far in creating changes so that all people can be free and treated equally. Americans have fought hard for the kind of country that we have today. Since the starting point of the American Revolution to the writing of the constitution, Americans have and continue to fight for full freedom. I chose this second article to make a comparison between types of freedom throughout the world. I wanted to compare it to the first article that discusses the types of freedom that are being fought today in other parts of the world as opposed to the kind that we have already achieved. As discussed in the first article, North Koreans are still struggling to break free from the cruelties bestowed on them by dictators and communism. Nowadays while some people in the US fight to get same sex marriages or elect an African American as president as what we see as freedom, others in countries such as North Korea, fight for freedom to live. Different types of freedom are out there and each has different meanings to people. What some have already achieved others are continuously striving to get.

The third article is titled A Personal Loss by Jyoti Thottam. This article talks about the freedom to exposing your own opinion to the world. A journalist named Lasantha Wickrematunge had for many years’ written articles about corruption and politicians. Many journalists including Wickremantuge have been killed for exposing the government. Unfortunately the media has been silenced and nothing has been done about it in Sri Lanka. For many years countries like this one have been keeping people from speaking their minds. In this article freedom of speech is the battle. Many have been silenced for their choice of words against the government. This is one of the many countries that faces this problem. This article can also relate to the people of North Korea that are also killed for going against the government.

Many Americans still continue their own battle for freedom. Freedom to do almost anything we feel we should be able to do. I think our country itself has had its worse years ago. I believe that our ancestors have fought bravely for what we have today and I’m very content with the fact that I feel free. It’s unfortunate that I can’t say the same for the many other countries. I do believe though that something should be done to help others such as the North Koreans so that they can live a life like ours and taste what freedom really is.