Episode 263: Missing Context in a Complicated Story

Today on Polilogue, we note how American news organizations can miss the mark of foreign affairs stories. Usually these stories are not as giant as the Ukraine-Russia escalation, so we read a headline or two about a tanker stuck in the Suez Canal and leave it at that. But now, with over a hundred thousand Russian soldiers having invaded Ukraine, tens of thousands of Ukrainian refugees fleeing to border nations, and average citizens making Molotov cocktails in an attempt to defend their country, it’s become abundantly clear that the coverage we’re seeing now about Ukraine is just a sliver of the real story. In fact, the coverage we’ve been seeing for years has lacked details about the scope of the problem and all the players that could impact its resolution.

Shows discussed 

Resources

  • In Foreign Policy U-turn, Germany Ups Military Spending, Arms Ukraine (NYT)

  • The U.S. has been rushing to arm Ukraine, but for years it stalled on providing weapons (WaPo)

  • The war in Ukraine isn’t working out the way Russia intended (WaPo)

  • The Roots of Ukraine’s War: How the Crisis Developed (NYT)

  • Zelensky Steps Into a Role Few Expected: Ukraine’s Wartime President (NYT)

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Naomi's website: www.startwithaquestion.org

Naomi Soto