An interesting article on North Korea surfaced today at MediaLens.org, a British website that "describ[es] how mainstream newspapers and broadcasters operate as a propaganda system for the elite interests that dominate modern society."  The article in question took issue with the BBC for their "biased" coverage of North Korea's failed "rocket" launch compared with their almost positive coverage of India's blatant, no holds barred long-range missile test.

Although in this author's perspective it is unfair to single BBC out for the way the two launches were covered (nearly all international media followed the pattern you're about to read about), the MediaLens article nevertheless raises interesting questions about the way the international community regards two states that in many ways are not too dissimilar from each other.  Both North Korea and India are nuclear armed states outside of the NPT, have both been involved in decades long and unresolved disputes with their neighbors, and both have significant proportions of their population surviving on less than $1 per day. Obviously, there are many differences in government, people and culture - but if nuclear proliferation is the main issue, why then do we treat their nuclear and missile programs so differently?