Racist media coverage of Ukraine echoes how press reported on Rwanda vs. Bosnia

Aka badly.

“This is a relatively civilized, relatively European — I have to choose those words carefully, too — city, one where you wouldn’t expect that, or hope that it’s going to happen,” said one journalist of the assault on Kyiv. (Photo by Melissa Sue Gerrits/Getty Images)

Journalism is too opaque and misunderstood. Chills gives a behind-the-scenes look at how dangerous investigative journalism gets made. 

---

“It’s only a few days into the war and we’re talking about racism?” was the gist of what one irritated Twitter user wrote this week as the social media volume rose on a conversation about the Ukraine invasion — and how the media is covering it.

We are talking about racism in the media right at the outset of this war, and that is a good thing. There are real-world consequences to how media characterizes events, and even the gadflies need gadflies.

Here are some of the ignorant, racist statements that have come out of some reporters’ mouths since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb 24 (bolding is mine):