Before I begin, I want to announce that I will be working on The Media & Us every two weeks. This will be easier on my schedule and commitments. Hopefully, I will return to weekly newsletters soon.
That above is a clip from this past Friday’s episode of FOX News’ The Five. As you can see, longtime FOX corresepondent, Jennifer Griffin is making it clear that the growing situation between Russia and Ukraine is nothing to shrug off. Her comments in the video came after the hosts of The Five weighed in on President Biden’s warning that Russia is preparing to invade Ukraine any minute now (as of 11:04pm Sunday evening as I write this newsletter).
According to The Daily Beast, the hosts of the show were quick to downplay the warning and even say it’s all a diversion to distract attention from The Durham Report, which is the latest the Trump administration drama that too many in the conservative media made more than it actually is (I highly recommend reading Tangle’s take on this issue, which points out this report raises more questions than answers).
Clearly, veteran reporter Jennifer Griffin was not going to tolerate the hosts from brushing off the danger Russia is bringing to Ukraine and the rest of the world. Before the video clip above started, as per The Daily Beast, she said the following: “This is a very different situation than…the Iraq War and WMDs. And how do we know? We’re seeing it with our own eyes,” she said. “If you can’t look at the kind of Iskander missile battalions that are now in Belarus [and] 30,000 Russian troops there. Half of [Putin’s] air force has now been deployed toward Ukraine. I am told just moments ago from a senior defense official that 40 percent of his 190,000 troops who are on the border with Ukraine are now in attack positions. That is something we have been waiting for.”
This all sounds frightening and upsetting. And yet, there are some people out there who shrug and say who cares, this isn’t a big deal, it doesn’t hurt me, etc.
One of them is J.D. Vance, the author of the 2016 best-seller, Hillbilly Elegy, who is now running for the U.S. Senate in Ohio. This weekend, he was a guest of Steve Bannon’s on Real America Now, saying he really doesn’t care about what is about to happen to Ukraine:
Here’s the thing: both issues matter. Drug cartels sending fentanyl across the border is serious problem. Americans becoming addicted to and OD’ing from fentanyl is also a serious problem. But the likely war between Russia and Ukraine is also a serious matter. It may not affect Americans the same way fentanyl does, but it will. The energy market will be disrupted, which would raise gas prices higher than they are now. At the same time, the European Union gets some of its gas from Russia, and if the U.S. puts sanctions on Russia for invading Ukraine, Russia could likely cut off its gas supply, largely hurting Germany, a major U.S. ally and a heavy importer of Russian gas. There are other economic problems that also lie ahead - plunging stock markets and rising food prices.
Even more so: cyberattacks. Remember those cyberattacks on pipelines last year? There’s a possibility Russia did that, and could easily do that again in reliation for any sanctions if it invades Ukraine.
And more importantly: sowing discord. That’s Putin major chess move in world politics. Divide and conquer, if you will. That happened during the 2016 presidential election and the UK’s referendum from the European Union that same year; even Swedes have said Russian journalists have encouraged immigrants to start violence to play into the narrative that immigrants are causing trouble there. And then there was Russia working with Belarus to use refugees as human shields at the border with Poland to retaliate EU sanctions not too long ago.
Anyway, the point is, the likelihood of Russia invading Ukraine does matter and it makes no sense not to care. Especially since when the invasion happens, sanctions are placed, gas prices skyrocket and cyberattacks happen, many Americans will suddenly care. Even worse, too many will not know who to blame or why it is all happening because they didn’t take the time to read up, listen or watch any news reports that took this event seriously. And that will lead to misinformation, mixed-up information, and even more conspiracy theories - thus playing into Putin’s game of sowing discord which will then undermine Western democracies.
So yes, news like this matters; all Americans should care. You cannot cherry-pick what you should care about or not in the news. When it comes to serious news, you cannot decide what is real or not, what matters or does not, especially if it will hurt your wallet, your 401k, your cybersecurity and so on. Just because you may not see it for yourself does not mean the importance is not there. You cannot choose reality just like you cannot ignore it.
At the same time, too many Americans tend to “Americanize” news events and think if it doesn’t directly effect us (as in, on our soil), then it has nothing to do with us. This self-centered way of seeing world events only from an American point of view does not help us, because the world is globalized, like it or not, and whatever happens on the otherside of the world will come to our shores in some form or another.
Next time, when you see headlines that are not related to sports, celebrities, or entertainment, do not just shrug and say “Who cares? It doesn’t affect me.” Because if gas prices do go up because of Russia’s retaliation against sanctions because it invaded Ukraine, will you be able to afford rushing someone you care about to the hospital, when they’re OD’ing on fentanyl?
And by the way, if anyone says I’m trying to scare or sensationalize what’s going on with Russia and Ukraine, that is not the case. This is because this is not the first time Russia and Ukraine have had conflict; there was some back in 2014 around the time Russia annexed Crimea. Russia also invaded Georgia for five days back in 2008, and built up troops near the border of Estonia in 2014, even kidnapping an Estonian officer after then-President Obama expressed support for the Baltic nation; that same nation is preparing for possible cyberattacks and, along with its fellow Baltic nations, Latvia and Lithuania, is keeping an eye on what both Russia and Belarus will do to them, as EU and NATO members. And let’s not forget Putin’s strong ambitions to be a major player on the world stage.
So no, this isn’t fearmongering or another media person trying scare anyone. The threat is real. Stay tuned.
But what about the threats that aren’t real? Like who wore what at whatever red carpet event or who’s dating who in Hollywood? Let’s go over that next time.
Other readings I recommend:
This is something new I am adding to this newsletter. I will be recommending any articles for you to read that explains how the news media and social media works, how to sharpen your media literacy skills, and further explore your relationship with the media.
My first recommendation? “How Media Bias Works” by Isaac Saul of Tangle.
I not only recommend this piece, but I also highly recommend Tangle. It’s creator, Isaac Saul, is a former political reporter who started Tangle to “untangle” political news by breaking down what the left says and what the right says on the big issues of the day, before giving his take. Although AdFontesMedia lists Tangle as being in the middle, with a slight lean to the right, Saul has been accused by readers as being “too liberal” or “too conservative”. He also surprised some with his views on certain topics.
Either way, I encourage you to read the above link and also look around Tangle’s website. Saul does a great job analyzing the news and helps readers see as much of the big picture as there is. I don’t always agree with him, but Tangle helps me see different views of an issue, which helps me further understand what is going on. And that’s really the point of journalism: laying out the facts to help you form your take on it, even if you don’t like what the facts may be.
Like I said, you can’t choose reality. :-)
We should engage in “important” matters from the stoic perspective, we should always act from first principles, always hold on to individual sovereignty, our humanity, and basic civil rights, regardless of crisis claims, and we should always reject the justifications made using logical fallacies, force, coercion, and duress. If we don’t have the bandwidth to care, then we should simply remain silent on the issue, simply accepting that which manifests.