Strange Coverage by the Wall Street Journal of Ukrainian Protests
The Wall Street Journal's coverage of the Ukrainian protests appears slanted against the protestors - at least it does to me.
I realize that reporters are supposed to make an attempt at actually reporting events in some sort of objective manner; at least that's true of modern journalism. (It was not the case before the 20th century, when newspapers openly took certain social and political positions and duly slanted their reporting.) But, as you may know, more and more reporters slant their stories one way or the other. In this case, the slant appears against the protestors.
First of all, coverage has been meager since the protests began in November. Perhaps the Journal didn't consider this story all that important. (See our initial comments on December 14th and subsequent comments about these events which correctly identified the protests as an important story.) But even when they have reported, there's a certain attitude that comes across in the Journal's reporting. For example, here's a paragraph from their latest article about the recent escalation in violence that has led to hundreds of injuries and an unknown number of deaths:
At first, I thought perhaps the slant might be due to "contributing" reporter Katya Gorchinskaya, who also writes for the Ukrainian publication KyivPost. She has contributed to a number of other Journal articles before this as well. Hers is a Russian name and Ukraine has a history since Stalin's Soviet regime of Russians moving into Eastern Ukraine to help Stalin control the country and "Sovietize" Ukraine through this "Russiafication." In fact, for many years, in parts of Ukraine, you were expected to speak Russian and were punished for speaking Ukrainian. So I wondered whether Gorchinskaya might be some sort of Russian stooge.
But then I found an article by Gorchinskaya written for the KyivPost after legislation was passed that basically outlawed everything the protestors were doing. They basically made up laws out thin air and then sent security forces to enforce these "laws." Gorchinskaya's article ends with this:
Well, in fact the article is penned by one James Marson and Gorchinskaya is listed only a contributing. So it seems somewhere in the world of the Wall Street Journal, there's a slight or not-so-slight prejudice against the Ukrainians who are protesting a thuggish regime which now resorts to brutal attacks, even murder, against its own citizen.
What's with the Journal?
I realize that reporters are supposed to make an attempt at actually reporting events in some sort of objective manner; at least that's true of modern journalism. (It was not the case before the 20th century, when newspapers openly took certain social and political positions and duly slanted their reporting.) But, as you may know, more and more reporters slant their stories one way or the other. In this case, the slant appears against the protestors.
First of all, coverage has been meager since the protests began in November. Perhaps the Journal didn't consider this story all that important. (See our initial comments on December 14th and subsequent comments about these events which correctly identified the protests as an important story.) But even when they have reported, there's a certain attitude that comes across in the Journal's reporting. For example, here's a paragraph from their latest article about the recent escalation in violence that has led to hundreds of injuries and an unknown number of deaths:
Angered by the lack of government concessions and new legislation cracking down on dissent, many ordinary protesters on the square have followed them. Some wear polystyrene tubes as armor on their arms and legs. Others roll tires to add to fires that burn into black clouds in no man's land.To read this is might seem that protestors escalated the violence based on the government's legislation and lack of concessions. It doesn't mention that security forces have ramped up their attacks on protestors. It doesn't mention the fact that security forces have tortured and killed individuals in acts clearly designed to terrorize the protestors.
At first, I thought perhaps the slant might be due to "contributing" reporter Katya Gorchinskaya, who also writes for the Ukrainian publication KyivPost. She has contributed to a number of other Journal articles before this as well. Hers is a Russian name and Ukraine has a history since Stalin's Soviet regime of Russians moving into Eastern Ukraine to help Stalin control the country and "Sovietize" Ukraine through this "Russiafication." In fact, for many years, in parts of Ukraine, you were expected to speak Russian and were punished for speaking Ukrainian. So I wondered whether Gorchinskaya might be some sort of Russian stooge.
But then I found an article by Gorchinskaya written for the KyivPost after legislation was passed that basically outlawed everything the protestors were doing. They basically made up laws out thin air and then sent security forces to enforce these "laws." Gorchinskaya's article ends with this:
If applied, the new law, approved with many violations of procedure – such as no public debate or committee hearings – will turn millions of people into criminals overnight, if they fall out of favor with those in power. All activists, demonstrators, volunteer investigators, journalists and their lawyers will become outlawed at once.Doesn't sound like the writing of a Russian stooge, does it? So what's with the Journal article?
Oh, and if you were beaten by the police, they will not be punished. And nor will their bosses who overstepped their authority and gave them criminal orders.
In other words, welcome to the new police state. We call it Little Russia.
Well, in fact the article is penned by one James Marson and Gorchinskaya is listed only a contributing. So it seems somewhere in the world of the Wall Street Journal, there's a slight or not-so-slight prejudice against the Ukrainians who are protesting a thuggish regime which now resorts to brutal attacks, even murder, against its own citizen.
What's with the Journal?
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