Select Page

Job Seekers - Achev - Connecting Skilled Newcomers with Employers 2
Job Seekers - Achev - Connecting Skilled Newcomers with Employers 2
Freedom Heart Ukraine
Job Seekers - Achev - Connecting Skilled Newcomers with Employers

Who is Winning the Information War?

Oct 7, 2015 | Politics, Newpathway, Featured

At the 2015 Bloor West Village Toronto Ukrainian Festival, the New Pathway talked to a Canadian journalist and author Victor Malarek, who currently is a senior reporter for CTV Television's W5 show. In 1997, Mr. Malarek won a Gemini Award as Canada’s top broadcast journalist. He also received four Michener Awards, during his tenure with The Globe and Mail and while at CBC's the fifth estate. We talked to Mr. Malarek about the results of the information war that Russia has waged against Ukraine in the global media.

NP: Who is winning the information war in terms of the public opinion in the West and in Canada in particular? Do the public believe that Russia invaded Ukraine or that it's a civil war?

VM: When we look at the public opinion in North America and Europe, public is well aware that Russia invaded Ukraine. There is this incredible disinformation campaign in the social media, television and everywhere by Russia. But the public in the West, and more specifically in Canada, is well aware of what is happening. Because there are a number of people on the social media and a lot of very smart journalists who are contradicting Russia's lies, picking up on them. People do not believe anything that is coming out of Russia because they know what Putin, the oligarchs and Yanukovych stand for, they are not buying any of it. I think that on the information level, North Americans and Europeans are well aware that what has happened to Ukraine is a terrible injustice, that there is a war and that Ukrainians will, I guess, forever be enemies of Russians after this because nobody is really standing up in Russia, just a handful of people who believe that this is wrong.

NP: Are you finding any information coming out of Ukraine itself, be it the Ukrainian government or journalists? Or do you get your information mainly from the Western media?

VM: I would prefer that the Western media go there and get its own information. I never trust information coming from governments because governments have a huge bias and they tend to twist the truth. If the Western journalists go there, I would expect them to dig for information and get all sides so that the public can make a judgement as to what is true.

NP: Has the Western media covered Ukraine enough?

VM: No, they have not. Right now, everything is on Syria. Why isn’t there anything on Ukraine? The problem is that the media, especially in North America go for the flavour of the day and they put all their resources in there and they seem to forget that there is the war in Ukraine and people are being killed there every day. Sure, there is a flood of Syrian refugees in Europe, but what would they do if Ukrainians start doing that? It really bothers me as a journalist that we don’t look at all kinds of things. Say, there were a couple of days recently when CNN and Fox News and other networks spent days on coverage of Donald Trump. That seemed to be the only news. Why do you waste your time on him when the situations in the world are falling apart and people are being killed.

NP: What is the reason for that? Is the media dumbing down the people or is it people who demand this kind of news coverage?

VM: In the United States, it’s dumbing down. It’s editors and senior producers making decisions on what they believe is the news. And what they believe is the news is not necessarily the news. In Canada, we go all over the place. CTV has done a very good job covering Ukraine.

NP: In Ukraine, there are conspiracy theories that the West is trapping Russia in the Crimea and in Ukraine in general. That the West is using Ukraine as a battlefield to beat Russia. What do you think about that?

VM: There are all kinds of conspiracy theories and I never go into them. Russia has come out with all kinds of conspiracy theories about NATO and what the United States are trying to do by using Ukraine. You have a piece of garbage called Yanukovych and the guy deserves to go to jail and spend the rest of his life there. That is what the Ukrainian people in Maidan wanted to get rid of. When you look in the conspiracy theories, which I’ve done, there is basis for them.

NP: What do you think about the Western response to the Russian aggression in Ukraine?

VM: I am disappointed with the Western response. Prime Minister Harper had a very strong response and he challenged Putin to “get out of Ukraine”. But I don’t understand why the Americans and the EU are sending all kinds of weapons to fight the IS and why don’t they properly arm the Ukrainians. Just give them a chance if you believe in democracy and freedom, not to be slaughtered by a far better equipped army.

Share on Social Media

Announcement
Pace Law Firm
2/10 Years of War
Borsch

Events will be approved within 2 business days after submission. Please contact us if you have any questions.

Manage Subsctiption

Check your subscription status, expiry dates, billing and shipping address, and more in your subscription account.