'Racist and dehumanizing:' Western media coverage of Ukraine's plight criticized

Layal Shakir

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A Middle Eastern journalist’s network early Monday called on media outlets and news organizations to be “mindful of implicit and explicit bias” in their coverage of the Ukrainian crisis following several remarks by reporters, media pundits, and political figures, that described Ukraine as more “civilized” in comparison to other war-torn countries, such as Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen, and others.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which continues into its fifth day, is the biggest conflict that Europe has seen since the World War ll. It has shocked the globe, with civilians sympathizing with Ukrainians who are either hiding in bunkers or have already fled the country.

However, correspondents of several prominent media outlets are contextualizing conflict, describing it as more “civilized” than other conflict in the Middle East.

"This isn't Iraq or Afghanistan...This is a relatively civilized, relatively European city,” CBS foreign correspondent Charlie D’Agata said, apologizing for his comment later. 

The Arab and Middle Eastern Journalists Association (AMEJA) condemned and rejected the “orientalist and racist implications that any population or country is ‘uncivilized’ or bears economic factors that make it worthy of conflict,” said in a statement. 

Such commentary “reflects the pervasive mentality in Western journalism of normalizing tragedy in parts of the world,” as it “dehumanizes and renders their experience with war as somehow normal and expected,” it added.

Russian President Vladimir Putin launched an attack on Ukraine on Thursday, with explosions being heard across the country, raising fears of a major war.

Hundreds of journalists have descendent in Kyiv to cover the conflict, commending Ukraine’s resistance to Russia, while also underlying the horror at how such a conflict could happen to people that "have Instagram and Netflix accounts,” and in areas that are not Iraq or Afghanistan.

“This time, war is wrong because the people look like us and have Instagram and Netflix accounts. It is not in a poor, remote country anymore,” columnist Daniel Hannan, who is also a member of the UK Board of Trade, wrote in the British newspaper The Telegraph.

“It’s very emotional for me because I see European people with blue eyes and blonde hair being killed,” Ukraine’s Deputy Chief Prosecutor David Sakvarelidze said in a BBC news segment.

The comments were met with anger on social media, with several users labeling the remarks as “double standards” and other calling for the reckoning of the act.

 

AMEJA also noted the "racist news coverage that ascribes more importance to some victims of war over others."

At least 929,000 people were killed by direct war violence in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Yemen, and Pakistan, according to a report published by Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs, which seeks to promote a just and peaceful world through research, teaching, and public engagement. 

Millions of people living in war zones have also been displaced by war. More than 38 million people in and from Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, the Philippines, Libya, and Syria, have been forcibly displaced post-America’s 9/11 wars.

The recent conflict between Ukraine and Russia triggered immediate sanctions by the United States and the European Union on Russia. 

Thousands of people have also fled the country. The United Nations refugee agency on Saturday said more than 150,000 people had fled Ukraine, seeking refuge in neighboring countries.