The world is largely relying on North Korean and Russian media for information about the unusual train journey of leader Kim Jong Un to meet with President Vladimir Putin at a space facility. Although news gathering is constrained by both authoritarian governments to varying degrees, the coverage by those countries’ respective media this week is providing a window into the neighbors’ unique news environments and how the summit is being presented to people in North Korea and Russia. The coverage shown to North Koreans is meant, like all media efforts there, to reflect the government’s propaganda needs. And although social media is increasingly popular in Russia, most Russians still gets their news from the powerful state television network.
