According to the journalists who visited ‘s Last Word program, the situation in Ukraine has sometimes been given an overly optimistic picture.
The war in Ukraine, which has been going on for two years, is starting to show as war fatigue both in the public following the war through the media and in the citizens of Ukraine, it was stated in the Last Word program.
Helsingin Sanami’s foreign correspondent Katriina Pajari has noticed during his reportage trips in Ukraine that the people of Ukraine are not as united as the western media suggests, but it is difficult to write articles on the subject.
– It is as if there is some kind of national agreement among Ukrainians that the things that are maybe discussed at the breakfast table are not very easy to open up to, say, a Finnish journalist.
Editor-in-Chief Maria Pettersson recently wrote In his editorial in Journalisti magazine that the media decided at an early stage that it does not have to be neutral when reporting on the war in Ukraine.
Supplier Olli Seuri asked in the Last Word program, whether this kind of “choosing a side” limits the way the Finnish media reports on Ukraine.
According to Pajar, no conscious decision has been made to limit reporting, but journalists need to think and try to identify what they really see and what news choices are made.
– Certainly during this war, there have been situations where, as it were, there has been a desire to rejoice and make big news about even the small victories of Ukraine and, correspondingly, Russia’s weaknesses. Sometimes it forgets the question of how big a threat a weak Russia is to Ukraine and to Europe as a whole, says Pajari.
Operations on the front lines are accredited and authorized by the Ukrainian army.
– The accreditation card says that we are here to report on war crimes committed by Russia.
In Pajar’s opinion, this should be told openly and mentioned in stories, because transparency seems essential.
‘s foreign editor Justas Stasevskij agrees.
– We may have written a little too optimistically about Ukraine’s success. It is not a good thing that the public gets the impression that Russia is a complete loser and incapable of anything, he says.
Why is it so difficult to talk about peace? Watch the entire “Last word” broadcast from arena.