CNN spreading misinformation..... In the morning of Aug.11 (Kiev time) I saw on a show anchored by you, Rosemary, video of a train sitting at the Donetsk train station accompanied by an on-screen chyron headline Russian-speaking Donetsk residents flee to Moscow. (Im attaching a photo of the TV screen.) You provided a v/o to that video from which international viewers not deeply acknowledged in the Ukrainian context could assume that Russian speakers were fleeing ONLY to Moscow and started doing it right now because there was some danger for the Russian speakers. As if there are some Ukrainian speakers who are pushing the Russian speakers out of Donetsk. As a Russian-speaking citizen of Ukraine I can assure you that it is ABSOLUTELY wrong to frame this conflict as Russian-speakers vs. Ukrainian-speakers or ethnic Russians vs. ethnic Ukrainians. In this conflict there is absolutely NO difference what language someone speaks or of what ethnicity they are. The rift in this conflict runs through completely different falt-lines. By using simplifications such as Russian speakers flee Donetsk CNN is dangerously misleading its viewers prompting them to think theres some ethnics grounds under this conflic. Again, as a Russian-speaking citizen of Ukraine, I assure you, theres none. This conflict is about Russia and the KGB-mafia trying to preserve control of Ukraine--for both geopolitical reasons and money-flow control reasons. This, on top of the local Yanukovych mafia trying to preserve at least something of what theyre bound to lose. The Russian language and Ukrainian fascism rhetoric is used by the pro-Russian forces exclusively to fool not very well educated people and to mislead the world. And by pro-Russian I mean pro-Kremlin, not pro-ethnic Russian. News editors need to realize that outside of the conflict zone (we call it here the ATO area referring to the Anti-terrorist operation) there are millions of ethinic Russians and Russian-speaking Ukrainians who dont flee anywhere living right next to, together with, married to Ukrainian-speaking Ukrainians without any problems whatsoever, often not even noticing what language is spoken by the other party. People flee Donetsk not because they speak Russian, but because there are bombs exploding in their neighborhoods. It doesnt matter what language they speak. They just want to run for safety with their families if theyre still able to do so. Can you imagine a chyron headline Spanish-speakers flee Miami fearing hurricane? It will be 100% true, but also a 100%-deforming reality. Yes, its very possible that 100% of those who got on that train that was on that photograph were Russian speakers but thats because Donetsk is a predominantly Russian-speaking city and also because most of the Ukrainian-speakers fled the city long time ago as terrorists were beating people up and even murdering them for a simple fact that they spoke Ukrainian in the street! Thats when peoplle were in danger because they spoke a particualr language, not now when any person in their sane minf would try to run away from the city under consant shelling. Also, it is wrong to assume that people getting on the Donetsk-Moscow train flee to Moscow. The train makes many stops between Donetsk and the Russian border and ALL of those stops are in the government-controlled Ukraine. So, some people fleeing Donetsk on that train could be getting off elsewhere in Ukraine. The train also makes several stops between the russian border and Moscow where people could also be getting off--theyd get off anywhere where they have friends or relatives willing to give them shelter--if they only have such relatives in Russia, theyd go to Russia, and not because Russian is their native language. Even more, just a couple of days ago, I came across some info that Moscow and Crimea wont be accepting any more Donetsk refugees wholl be sent to other regions in Russia (even as far as Kamchatka.) You see how much is wrong with that 7-word chyron? Im wondering who came up with that wording? I wouldnt be surprized if it came from a Russian news agency, part of Putins propaganda machine. What the flow of refugees from the Donetsk region could really change, far from the ethnic landscape (as there are still millions of Russian-speakers and ethnic Russians living in Ukraine, feeling totally Ukrainian without any allegiance to Russia), it could change electoral preferences in the region as many of traditionally pro-old rule voters will have fled be the time the next election takes place. I wish CNNs news editors could read my modest insight and think twice before they mislead viewers. Please, dont describe the sides of the Ukrainian conflict as Russian speakers vs. Ukrainian speakers--this is not the division line!
Posted on: Tue, 12 Aug 2014 15:54:43 +0000
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