Well, not really, but that's what you should expect in the soviet republic of Belarus. Too bad most of the media have more "important" things to blather on about.
Ren -- I have to say, I have no idea what our comment about "most of the media" having more "'important'" things"to blather on about." The very source you cite is from a fairly important newspaper, but more important, they are using an Associated Press dispatch. So what on earth are you talking about? You are using a media report on an issue to criticize the media's coverage of an issue. Yiour very citation of the source invalidates your entire argument.
Isn't it possible that he's referring to volume of coverage or attention, assuming there's a way you would agree on to gauge that? number of reports, etc. Belarus has been politically headed down an unsavory road for quite some time (well, probably since Chernobyl was found to have contaminated most of it) but recent events in Russia and from the last couple years in Ukraine have definitely been written about more extensively. I would think this disparity would have something to do with Russia's importance and past (and our hopes - until recently - for its future) and the drama behind Yushchenko's assension and his country's E.U. aspirations - which are seen within the context of a continuing eastward expansion of less dysfunctional (and this being BigTent, I stress that phrase in a strictly comparitive sense) governments. General knowledge of your typical media consumer might have something to with this as well; I would bet the man on the U.S. street would know a bit more about Russia than Belarus, a country which in all likelihood he has probably never heard of.
MUL -- if he thought something this nuanced, it would not have come out in the form of scare quotes and ham-handed sarcasm. I fully buy your argument, because your argument is not simply an attempt to cheap shot the media. I'm pretty certain that when Ren decided to use scare quotes to impl nefarious motivations about the very media which he cited for this story, he was not thinking in terms of the comparative volume of media coverage in Belarus as opposed to Russia.
Also, it's important to note that Belarus is - like many other countries - no longer a "soviet republic." The current leader's relationship w/Putin and political approach help pave the way for behavior that might make it seem such, but the hyperbole gives the impression that Russia's current situation is much more entrenched than I think it really is.
5 comments:
Ren --
I have to say, I have no idea what our comment about "most of the media" having more "'important'" things"to blather on about." The very source you cite is from a fairly important newspaper, but more important, they are using an Associated Press dispatch. So what on earth are you talking about? You are using a media report on an issue to criticize the media's coverage of an issue. Yiour very citation of the source invalidates your entire argument.
dcat
Isn't it possible that he's referring to volume of coverage or attention, assuming there's a way you would agree on to gauge that? number of reports, etc. Belarus has been politically headed down an unsavory road for quite some time (well, probably since Chernobyl was found to have contaminated most of it) but recent events in Russia and from the last couple years in Ukraine have definitely been written about more extensively. I would think this disparity would have something to do with Russia's importance and past (and our hopes - until recently - for its future) and the drama behind Yushchenko's assension and his country's E.U. aspirations - which are seen within the context of a continuing eastward expansion of less dysfunctional (and this being BigTent, I stress that phrase in a strictly comparitive sense) governments. General knowledge of your typical media consumer might have something to with this as well; I would bet the man on the U.S. street would know a bit more about Russia than Belarus, a country which in all likelihood he has probably never heard of.
MUL -- if he thought something this nuanced, it would not have come out in the form of scare quotes and ham-handed sarcasm. I fully buy your argument, because your argument is not simply an attempt to cheap shot the media. I'm pretty certain that when Ren decided to use scare quotes to impl nefarious motivations about the very media which he cited for this story, he was not thinking in terms of the comparative volume of media coverage in Belarus as opposed to Russia.
dcat
Also, it's important to note that Belarus is - like many other countries - no longer a "soviet republic." The current leader's relationship w/Putin and political approach help pave the way for behavior that might make it seem such, but the hyperbole gives the impression that Russia's current situation is much more entrenched than I think it really is.
MUL --
I agree.
dc
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