The portraiture of the Ukrainian war from an article of The New York Times.
It is now more than ever a current topic that the media often creates different dimensions around many global issues and people have misconceptions about what is going on in the world. Let’s take a look inside an article from an estable newspaper, in order to try practicing our critical judgment.
The New York Times’ article with the title ‘Life in a Ukrainian Unit: Diving for cover, Waiting for Western Weapons’ is published in page 10 of section A, signed by the editor Andrew E. Kramer with the help of the reporter, Maria Varenikova. This article describes the situation prevailing in a Ukrainian Unit in Pryvillia, where the Ukrainian army does not have sufficient equipment to deal with the Russian troops, while the latter are obviously better equipped and ready to shoot down opponents.
The title gives us a true idea of what is discussed in this article. The phrase ‘diving for cover’ is literal as the Ukrainian soldiers have no other means of fighting off the Russian pyre. Through this article we can get a glimpse inside this Ukrainian Unit. It is clear that the Ukraine army, without the proper equipment, is at a disadvantageous position. They are truly waiting for the help of western allies, the shipment of more advanced weapons.
The next step in order to break down this article and see how objective it is, is to analyze the language techniques, and the author’s style.
With a figurative way, the author lists the sequence of events in absolute detail and thus gives the reader a sense of the fear and anguish of the Ukrainian soldiers (e.g. “Every few hours, they dive into trenches to escape shells that streak out of the sky.” / “The warning is “air!” Soldiers have about three seconds to dive into a trench before shells hit.”).
There is a display of a plethora of quotations of the governors’, authors’ and presidents’ words. “They have our position fixed, they know where we are”, said Sgt. Anatoly Vykhovanets. “It’s like we are in the palm of their hand.” / “There is no place to hide” said in an interview, the commander of a reconnaissance brigade who is deploying units into these fights. He asked to be identified only by his nickname, Botsman. “It’s like looking down at a chess board,” he said. “Each side sees the other sides’ moves. It just depends on what striking force you have. Everything is seen. The only question is, can you hit that spot?”. Τhe columnist likens a soldier on the watchtower to a guard dog: “To do so, they appoint a listener around the clock. He stands, like a prairie dog on guard, in the center of the unit, listening for the distant boom of Russian outgoing artillery” to give the reader a better understanding of these unfortunate events.
The matter whether or not an article is objective is in the hands of the author. Andrew E. Kramer remains neutral without taking a clear position and quotes the facts without coloring his speech. This can be seen from the absence of adjectives, either with a positive or negative sense. He places the events in chronological order and starts with the important information of the situation and then develops the topic in detail, while trying to provoke reflections and thoughts in the reader. He presents the advantages and disadvantages of both sides and all the facts whether or not he likes or agrees with them.
Objective reporting is meant to portray issues and events in an unbiased manner, regardless of the writer’s opinion or personal beliefs. The author has been successful in obtaining a neutral position while at the same time, with all those powerful sentences we examined earlier, he displays the seriousness of the war and tries to raise the awareness of the readers that it is still a dominant issue, even though the article is not on the front pages.
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Sources: nytimes.com
