Western Media's 'Biased' Coverage Of Russia-Ukraine Crisis Draws Flak Globally

The ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine has brought the world to a standstill. In the past week, the latter was brought to its knees by heavy Russian armoury, leaving the Ukrainian citizens to fend for themselves. Millions of people fled to the neighbouring countries to seek refuge, where they have been welcomed with open arms.

The crisis has divided the world into two factions. The Western part, consisting of the United States, UK, France, Italy and the like are standing with Ukraine. While they are not actively engaging in the war, they are imposing enormous sanctions on Vladimir Putin's country, which will have a detrimental impact in the future. Not only that, notable media organisations are constantly bringing out stories from the ravaged nation, showing the world Ukraine's current plight.

Several journalists are risking their lives while covering the news from the battlefield. The media coverage is courageous, but it is marred with racial prejudice that drew ire recently. The Arab and Middle Eastern Journalists Associations called out the big-wigs, such as Al Jazeera, The Telegraph and many others, for their biased reportage on the humanitarian crisis.

'They Seem So Like Us'

A senior war correspondent for CBS News named Charles D'Agata expressed his anguish about a 'civilised' country like Ukraine being invaded, compared to Iraq and Afghanistan. "With all due respect, like Iraq or Afghanistan that has seen conflict raging for decades, it (Ukraine) is a relatively civilised, relatively Europeans, where you will not expect this to happen," he told the anchors in the news studio. After the video went viral, it received a lot of flak after which he issued an apology.

A reporter for the British daily named Daniel Hannan wrote in his article about the conflict, "They seem so like us. That is what makes it shocking. War is no longer something visited upon impoverished and remote populations. "

A person on the BBC said, "It's very emotional for me because I see European people with blue eyes and blonde hair being killed." Along with this, many European leaders stated that they are not 'used to people from the Caucasian race becoming refugees.

'Be Mindful Of Implicit And Explicit Bias'

In light of this, the Arab and Middle Eastern Journalists Association (AMEJA) called the media organisations out for the biased coverage that is evident in their recent stories. "Newsrooms must not make comparisons that weigh the significance or imply justification of one conflict over the other- civilian casualties and displacement in other countries are equally as abhorrent as they are in Ukraine," said the tweet, further asking them to be mindful of both implicit and explicit bias.

Every humanitarian crisis has a political and cultural part to it. Therefore, news correspondents around the world need to be cautious and mindful about such sensitive nuances. They need to make sure that their personal biases towards a certain community or race are not evident when they are reporting on an incident that has a global impact.

Also Read: Ukraine Crisis: More Than 1,300 Indians Evacuated In 24 Hours; No Citizen Left In Kyiv, Confirms Central Govt