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Sashadroogie · Posted: Sat Jun 22, 2013 10:54 am Post subject:

Excellent post, Teacher X.

teacher X · Posted: Sat Jun 22, 2013 1:05 pm Post subject:

Thank you. While I'm on the subject of The Guardian (of which I am a reader and do enjoy to a point) I am frequently amazed at how much of an agenda they have regarding Russia.

As English teachers, I'm sure we are all aware the impact a single word can have when chosen over another.

A few months ago they reported that one of Putin's aids had stepped down. I forget his name and I haven't been able to find the article again, but it was his chief of PR. Now, if I were to write a headline I would probably say; "Kremlin's Chief PR Aid Steps Down'.
I feel that this is a fairly neutral headline.

The Guardian, on the other hand, chose this;
"Putin's Henchman Removed" Or something to that effect.

Of all the words they could have chosen, they went with 'Henchman'. Now, if the exact same thing happened to Obama, they would have gone with the headline;
"Obama's Key Aid Retires"

And this was just in the headline! The rest of the article was scattered with mafia references and allusions to criminality when the essential core of the story was simply that one of Putin's cabinet was moving to another position within the Kremlin. Now, perhaps he was forced, perhaps he wanted to move. The fact is, we have no proof either way and a newspaper shouldn't assume to tell us facts which they do not know.

The other day I read a Russian related article in The Guardian and was pleasantly amazed that it was completely neutral. I thought to myself, 'who is this journalist? I like how he allows me to form my own opinion on the subject'. I scrolled up to see who had written the article to find the word 'Reuters'. I should have known.

What puzzles me is WHY they feel the need to report negatively on every single story about Russia. Even the positive stories, such as the one about Putin encouraging kids to exercise more, was somehow turned into a negative commentary on Putin's history (and strangely included very little about the health drive itself). Bad mouthing Russia surely isn't going to shift more papers than neutral stories. I don't understand their thinking behind this.

coledavis · Joined: 21 Jun 2003 Posts: 1838

"Bad mouthing Russia surely isn't going to shift more papers than neutral stories. "
I think it is general policy for the media produce negative news. As I think I've said before, people don't pay for good news. How would these go down?

French nuclear plants work well;
Responsible British teachers produce good exam results in many schools;
Barack Obama makes quite a lot of well-considered decisions;
Russian government brings in anti-smoking legislation.

Well, actually, they recently did publish the last on my list. If they are sceptical about enforcement, that is not an unreasonable caveat.

Sashadroogie · Posted: Thu Jun 27, 2013 3:37 pm Post subject:

Printing bad news sells, sure. But where is the negative slant on the news from other countries? You know, the slant which seems to say that there is something inherently evil at the heart of said country...

coledavis · Joined: 21 Jun 2003 Posts: 1838

How much positive stuff do you get on Israel? Given the behaviour of their opponents, I think Israel is also rather traduced, also while not being completely innocent of all charges.
Even France, not politically alien to the western media, tends to have its negatives highlighted, but not often its positives these days.

Sashadroogie · Posted: Thu Jun 27, 2013 7:22 pm Post subject:

France? Seriously? The age-old enemy?

GF · Joined: 08 Jun 2003 Posts: 238 Location: Tallinn

And the US is not demonized by the international press?

Sashadroogie · Posted: Thu Jun 27, 2013 7:47 pm Post subject:

Not by the 'objective' BBC....

teacher X · Posted: Wed Jul 03, 2013 4:37 am Post subject:

I have to say that I loved China's newspapers. China Daily's English version was great.
While Western newspapers will put a negative slant on everything, the Chinese papers give the world a positive slant.

Rather than reporting a problem, they report the solution.

I like to think that I am intelligent enough to see the real story behind what's reported. But if I am to chose between reading negative lies or positive lies, I would rather chose the positive lies. It cheers me up far more.

chinesearmy · Joined: 08 Apr 2010 Posts: 394 Location: canada

It's anti-Putin, not anti-Russia.

Sashadroogie · Posted: Sat Jul 20, 2013 9:33 am Post subject:

Not sure I'd agree there. Even articles not about Putin still manage to paint a picture of a barbarous country on the verge of collapsing under its own evil culture. Apparently there is nothing good at all to report.

coledavis · Joined: 21 Jun 2003 Posts: 1838

Well they let that chappy out of court this weekend so he can think about running for mayor of Moscow. I suppose that's positive!

teacher X · Posted: Sat Jul 20, 2013 7:04 pm Post subject:

coledavis · Joined: 21 Jun 2003 Posts: 1838

Although the arrest may have an effect on the polls.

Sashadroogie · Posted: Sat Jul 20, 2013 8:10 pm Post subject:

I wonder what poll support rating Lenin had when he alighted from his train onto the Finland Station...?