Commentary

What Traditional Media Is Getting Wrong About The War In Ukraine

by Joe Sullivan , Op-Ed Contributor, June 23, 2023

As someone who spends time in Washington, D.C. visiting with government leaders and discussing the situation on the ground in Ukraine, I can honestly say that media coverage painting a political rift over support for Ukraine misses the mark completely. Contrary to those efforts to portray it as yet another partisan conflict, our leaders are united in providing support for the people trapped in this humanitarian crisis.

Yes, they will always argue about where and how to spend money, but in my view, politicians on both sides of the aisle understand how important it is that Ukraine be supported politically, militarily and, most of all, with a steady stream of humanitarian aid, and any media narrative to the contrary is false. As evidence, I point to the recent announcement that the United States – with bipartisan support – will send another $300 million in military aid to the country.

Almost everyone I’ve met with on Capitol Hill has expressed a desire not only for Ukraine to successfully defend itself, but for the people of Ukraine to know and feel the full support of the United States in every facet of their lives – from basic human needs and physical and mental health to education, technology and infrastructure. According to a Pew Research survey released in May, most Americans seem to agree as well. The poll found a majority of U.S. adults have positive opinions about Ukraine and its leader, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and negative views of Russia and its president, Vladimir Putin.

The truth is that the Ukrainian people are living under siege, and they need all the help they can get from the United States and its allies. We are not the kind of people who sit by and watch a humanitarian crisis unfold without doing something to help.

But, while they desperately need bullets, rockets, bombs and warplanes, they also need to feed, house and educate tens of millions of displaced families and individuals. There are organizations like the Red Cross and others that do a great job of basic life support – offering food, water and housing to those who have been displaced or stayed in the de-occupied regions which have experienced significant structural damage. But that cannot be all there is to offer to the people of Ukraine.

For example, shelling and bombing have destroyed at least 441 schools and education centers in Ukraine and damaged nearly 2,700 others. As a result, about 800,000 children changed their form of education from in-person to distance education, and only half of the students had a computer or a laptop to study remotely. In response, we at Ukraine Friends are collecting donations of used laptops and other supplies from companies across America.

As a non-government organization, we have witnessed full bipartisan support on all fronts concerning Ukraine, and I am confident that – despite what you might read in the papers, most politicians and most Americans want the war to end and want Ukraine to maintain its freedom.

2 comments about "What Traditional Media Is Getting Wrong About The War In Ukraine".

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Dan C. from MS Entertainment, June 23, 2023 at 10:19 a.m.
There is nothing in this commentary stating what the media is getting wrong - nor is there any information here about the media politiciizing the war through a partisan lens. On a personal note - I don't see coverage on any of the networks being fundamentally different or presented in a partisan way. I've seen politicians on both sides of the aisle who are for and against supporting the war, but there are no examples provided here about how the media is getting its coverage wrong.

This piece comes across as an individual who supports the Ukrainians - which is fine. I'm just unclear what editorial purpose this serves for MediaPost or what the call to action is. And I'm not sure how many people here are reading newspapers.
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Ed Papazian from Media Dynamics Inc, June 23, 2023 at 1:37 p.m.

I must say that I'm surprised by the claim that there is virtually universal support for Ukraine among our "leaders"---which I would like to be the case----and that the traditional media is getting it wrong by contending otherwise. For example, it's sadly evident that many hard core Trump supporters do not consider aid for Ukraine to be all that important and as I recall, 50-60 likeminded members of Congress voted against recent aid bills for Ukraine supposedly on the grounds that dealing with the border problem and other matters should take priority. While they are right---other problems must also be dealt with----I sense that their feelings about Ukraine---negative feelings---are fueled by domestic political issues ---but I'd rather not get into that for now.

And then there's media folks like Tucker Carlson who has many fans, it seems, who has gone out of his way to fuel the anti-Ukraine sentiment. As for the voters, while these aren't "leaders" of the nation, a shocking number of them respond to interviews about the war by indicating that it's none of our business and one lady, in particular, said that its fake, that what we are seeing on our TV screens are "actors"---in short, to this lady, there was no "invasion".I saw her say exactly that that to an interviewer on a YouTube video.

I am 100% in support of Ukraine and feel that its survival is of vital importance to the U.S. and western democracy in general, and I don't think that the media are doing us a disservice by pointing out that we aren't all seeing Putin's willful aggression ---with its dire implications for the future--- as a great danger. Some of us---"leaders" as well as voters---- need constant reminders about this emerging threat. It's a real one.