So it turns out the Snake Island incident was just propaganda--- the Ukrainian soldiers weren't killed. They were captured and are alive. Truth is the first casualty of war.
I remember how quickly the audio recordings of their defiance (which was in fact thrilling!) shot around social media faster than a bullet.
BUT the valorization of…
So it turns out the Snake Island incident was just propaganda--- the Ukrainian soldiers weren't killed. They were captured and are alive. Truth is the first casualty of war.
I remember how quickly the audio recordings of their defiance (which was in fact thrilling!) shot around social media faster than a bullet.
BUT the valorization of the Ukrainians as having died rather than surrender followed along. It should have---if it was true. Defiant as they were they did, in fact, surrender. They were not valiant warriors taken down by a vicious army. They did the RATIONAL thing when confronted with an overwhelming force. This made them no less heroic because they allowed themselves to be taken as POWs.
I follow the news pretty closely but I never caught up to the reality of what happened on Snake Island until today while listening to "On the Media" on public radio. I have found the NYT report (which I just missed apparently) and a few other media clarifications of the events but no where near the blizzard of stories that accompanied initial reports of the incident.
All of which leads me to wonder how much of the media coverage of the war is factual and how much is just cheerleading. I suppose it doesn't matter since the righteousness of Ukraine's cause is self evident.
Nevertheless I expect more probity from the media and a greater willingness to admit when they get it wrong.
So it turns out the Snake Island incident was just propaganda--- the Ukrainian soldiers weren't killed. They were captured and are alive. Truth is the first casualty of war.
I remember how quickly the audio recordings of their defiance (which was in fact thrilling!) shot around social media faster than a bullet.
BUT the valorization of the Ukrainians as having died rather than surrender followed along. It should have---if it was true. Defiant as they were they did, in fact, surrender. They were not valiant warriors taken down by a vicious army. They did the RATIONAL thing when confronted with an overwhelming force. This made them no less heroic because they allowed themselves to be taken as POWs.
I follow the news pretty closely but I never caught up to the reality of what happened on Snake Island until today while listening to "On the Media" on public radio. I have found the NYT report (which I just missed apparently) and a few other media clarifications of the events but no where near the blizzard of stories that accompanied initial reports of the incident.
All of which leads me to wonder how much of the media coverage of the war is factual and how much is just cheerleading. I suppose it doesn't matter since the righteousness of Ukraine's cause is self evident.
Nevertheless I expect more probity from the media and a greater willingness to admit when they get it wrong.