In late June and early July, NBC News, CNN, and The Wall Street Journal <\/i>published stories that appeared at first glance to shed a lurid light on Donald Trump\u2019s flirtation with Kim Jong-un. They contained satellite imagery showing that North Korea was\u00a0making rapid upgrades<\/a> to its nuclear weapons complex at Yongbyon and\u00a0expanding its missile production program<\/a> just as Trump and Kim were getting chummy at their Singapore summit.<\/p>\n In fact, those media outlets were selling journalistic snake oil. By misrepresenting the diplomatic context of the images they were hyping, the press launched a false narrative around the Trump-Kim summit and the negotiations therein.<\/p>\n The headline of the June 27 NBC News story revealed the network\u2019s political agenda on the Trump-Kim negotiations. \u201cIf North Korea is denuclearizing,\u201d it asked, \u201cwhy is it expanding a nuclear research center?\u201d The piece warned that North Korea \u201ccontinues to make improvements to a major nuclear facility, raising questions about President Donald Trump\u2019s claim that Kim Jong Un has agreed to disarm, independent experts tell NBC News.\u201d<\/p>\n CNN\u2019s coverage of the same story was even more sensationalist,\u00a0declaring<\/a>\u00a0that there were \u201ctroubling…<\/p>\n<\/div>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/dissidentvoice.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Trump_and_Kim_shaking_hands_in_the_summit_room.jpg\")
<\/a>President Trump and North Korean President Kim Jong Un shake hands in summit room, June 12, 2018. (Office of the President of the United States\/Public Domain)<\/em><\/p>\n