How Western Media Is Covering Ukraine

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine rocked the world last week. While the news media has largely  done its job in keeping up with the latest on the situation, there have been some misfires — especially by Western media. 

On Friday, CBS News senior foreign correspondent Charlie D’Agata said about Ukraine:"This isn’t a place, with all due respect, like Iraq or Afghanistan, that has seen conflict raging for decades. This is a relatively civilized, relatively European — I have to choose those words carefully, too — city, where you wouldn’t expect that or hope that it’s going to happen." In another clip from ITV News, correspondent Lucy Watson said, "Now the unthinkable has happened to them. This is not a developing third world nation. This is Europe."

For some, the comments from D’Agata and Watson raise questions about the double standard in how journalists cover conflict in different parts of the world.  Language like “civilized” and “third world nation” can further dehumanize non-white, non-European people living through war. 

For more on this, The Takeaway spoke with Sarah Ellison, media reporter at the Washington Post.