A crucial function of a free press is to present perspectives that critically examine government actions. In major articles from the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal discussing the escalation of the war in Ukraine, however, such perspectives have been hard to come by—even as the stakes have reached as high as nuclear war.
In September, Russian President Vladimir Putin escalated the war by announcing a mobilization of up to 300,000 extra troops (CNBC, 9/21/22) and threatened to use “all the means at our disposal” to ensure “the territorial integrity of our motherland” (CNBC, 9/23/22). A month later, a letter endorsed by 30 members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus was sent to the White House (and quickly retracted), urging a “proactive diplomatic push” to reach a ceasefire in the war.
Both of these major incidents could have been an opportunity for the media to ask important questions about US policy in Ukraine, which is—according to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin (Wall Street Journal, 4/25/22)—to “weaken” Russia. Instead, elite newspapers continue to offer a very narrow range of expert opinion on a US strategy that favors endless war.
Assessing the threat
Aside from Vladimir Putin, this New York Times article (9/21/22) is entirely sourced to “American and other Western officials,” “White House and Pentagon officials,” “Western officials,” the Pentagon press secretary, the British military secretary, President Biden “and other administration officials,” “current and former US military officials,” a National Security Council spokesperson, the director of Russia studies at the Pentagon-funded Center for Naval Analyses, “a former top US Army commander in Europe,” “experts,” a Russian military specialist (and former Marine) at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, “American officials and analysts,” “a former supreme allied commander for Europe,” “US intelligence and other security officials,” “officials,” “a senior State Department official” and the head of the US Strategic Command.
In the two days following Putin’s threats, the New York Times published three pieces assessing them. Of these pieces, expert analysis and commentary was provided by “military analysts” and a “director of Russia studies at the CNA defense research” (9/21/22), a “French author” and “a former French ambassador to Russia” (9/21/22), and several current and former government officials (9/21/22).
In these articles, probably the most critical comment was provided by nameless “Western officials” who have “expressed concern that if Mr. Putin felt cornered, he might detonate a tactical nuclear weapon”—though the Times immediately reassured that “they said there was no evidence that he was moving those weapons, or preparing such a strike.” None of the officials or analysts that the Times referenced in these articles explicitly advocated for changing US policy.
In the same timeframe, the Wall Street Journal ran six articles assessing Putin’s actions, and did not find any space in these articles to criticize US policy.
Russian public opinion of the war was cited in one piece (9/21/22):
Public interest in the invasion was initially high in February but has been declining steadily—especially among young people, who would presumably be those asked to serve in the fighting, according to a poll by the independent Levada Center earlier this month. Younger people were also far more likely to favor peace negotiations, the poll results said.
Strangely, the Journal did not cite US public opinion on peace negotiations in any of its coverage. A poll commissioned by the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft (9/27/22) found most American likely voters supported the US engaging in peace negotiations. Supporting this, an IPSOS poll has reported that most Americans support the US continuing “its diplomatic efforts with Russia” (10/6/22). I did not find a single Journal article that mentioned the Quincy Institute or IPSOS polls. The Journal has done its own polling on American opinion regarding the war (e.g., 11/3/22, 3/11/22); it does not ask for opinions about diplomacy as a strategy.
The Quincy and IPSOS polls are in line with Americans’ attitudes from a Gallup poll taken prior to the war, which found 73% of Americans “say that good diplomacy is the best way to ensure peace” (12/17/19). It seems Americans generally favor diplomacy. A more recent Gallup poll (9/15/22) did not ask about Americans’ support for diplomacy, but whether the US was “doing enough,” which is a vague question that obfuscates whether it refers to military, diplomatic support, or other means. It also asked a question that presented only two approaches for the US to take toward conflict: “support Ukraine in reclaiming territory, even if prolonged conflict” or “end conflict quickly, even if allow Russia to keep territory.” Other diplomatic options, such as those regarding NATO’s ever-expanding footprint in Eastern Europe, were not offered.
Favoring hawkish perspectives
Part of the reason it was so easy to make progressives back away from their pro-diplomacy letter (Intercept, 10/25/22) is that the views behind the letter rarely appear in major media.
The October letter calling on the White House to consider a diplomatic end to the war was signed by 30 members of Congress and endorsed by a number of nonprofit groups, including the Quincy Institute (Intercept, 10/25/22).
To get a sense of how much tolerance there has been for dissenting expertise on the White House’s stance in the Ukraine war, I searched the Nexis news database for mentions of the Quincy Institute. As a Washington think tank backed by major establishment funders spanning the political spectrum, including both George Soros and Charles Koch (Boston Globe, 6/30/19), journalists should have little reservation in soliciting comments from experts associated with it.
In a Nexis search as of November 9, the Quincy Institute was mentioned nine times in the New York Times since February 24, when Russia invaded Ukraine; five of these were in opinion pieces. Of the four reported pieces, two (7/3/22, 9/27/22) included quotes from members of the Institute that were critical of US military strategy in Ukraine.
On the website of the Wall Street Journal, which is not fully indexed on Nexis, I turned up a single mention of the Quincy Institute in connection with Ukraine, in a piece (3/23/22) on Ukrainian lobbyists’ influence in the US.
Pro-war bias
Despite exposés that show CSIS literally functions as a PR organ for the weapons industry (Extra!, 10/16), the think continues to be a favorite source of establishment media.
That lack of coverage is all the more stark in comparison to a hawkish think tank. The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), heavily funded by the US government, arms dealers and oil companies, is a consistently pro-war think tank: A FAIR investigation (Extra!, 10/16) of a year’s worth of CSIS op-eds and quotes in the New York Times failed to find any instance of the CSIS advocating for curtailment of US military policy.
At the Journal, a search for “Center for Strategic and International Studies” in Ukraine stories from February 24 to November 9 yielded 34 results. Four of these results were opinion pieces. For news articles, that’s a 30:1 ratio of the hawkish think tank to the dovish think tank.
In the same time period, CSIS appeared in the Times 44 times, according to a Nexis search, including five opinion pieces—a news ratio of just under 10:1.
It should be noted that, just as Quincy sources weren’t always quoted offering criticism of US Ukraine policy, affiliates of CSIS weren’t always advocating for an unrestrained stance in Ukraine. One even warned that “the risk of a widening war is serious right now” (New York Times, 4/27/22). But repeatedly reaching out to and publishing quotes from a well-known pro-war think tank will inevitably produce less critical reporting of a war than turning to the most prominent anti-war think tank in Washington.
And it’s not that these papers are seeking out “balance” from sources other than Quincy. Seven other nonprofit groups also endorsed the October letter; the New York Times has quoted a representative from one of those groups—Just Foreign Policy—exactly once (3/7/22) since the war began. The Journal has cited none. But considering the stakes at hand, reporters have a responsibility to seek out and publish such critical perspectives in their coverage of Ukraine.
Research Assistance: Luca GoldMansour
Featured Image: A US B-2 bomber from the Center for Strategic & International Studies’ Project on Nuclear Issues page. CSIS receives funding from Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Bechtel, Raytheon, General Dynamics, Jacobs Engineering and Huntington Ingalls—all companies that profit from the manufacture of nuclear weapons.
BAD: US B-2 bomber. GOOD Russian bombing and invading Ukraine. BAD all MSM. GOOD all dogma promoted by Russian activists or trolls and a small cohort of recent college graduates – who haven’t quite yet discovered – that they’re not actually in possession of the only divine truth. Alhamdulillah.
An interesting comment, though one that has nothing to do with the article.
Nevertheless, your sly suggestion of a multiplicity of “divine truths” is quite refreshing. I would be honored to review your research pointing to equivalence between Russian trolls and recent college graduates – a truly alternative perspective!
It is entirely possible to criticise and oppose both President Putin and President Biden by looking from the perspective of the international working class rather than, as this article points out in the case of the corporate media, that of the ruling class of the USA.
Here’s a trick question: Which country was invaded by which country? You seem to have lost all sense of perspective.
I’m guessing you read the NYT & WSJ?
Ummm… Iraq was invaded by the USA and UK?
WTF does THAT have to do with anything? Two wrongs make’s a right ?? What knee jerk dogma shit occurs here is kinda crazy.
Well, the original question was “Which country was invaded by which country? ” To which I gave an answer. As for Russia and Ukraine, can you really and honestly claim that the US and NATO didn’t do all they could to make the Russian people feel encroached upon; that eastern Ukrainians don’t feel closer to Russia than to the EU; and that the US government would react peacefully to a Russian military alliance with, say, Mexico?
What a ridicules response and your troll card showed. Question Do you work directly for the KGB, perhaps FSB or as a proxy through TASS ?
The reply you’ve recd from Ms Bowman amply illustrates the point of this article. I doubt she even recognises it.
The United States invaded Ukraine in 2014 when the State Department overthrew the democratically elected government, and so started the attacks on the Donbass by Nazi battalions, plans by the Ukrainian regime to join NATO and station thermonuclear-armed missiles on the border with Russia, and therefore the present gruesome state of affairs.
Putin couldn’t have said it better!
Good article!
The author hits the nail on the head when he reminds us that our goal in Ukraine is to weaken Russia. Both Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and our top military commander Lloyd Austin have been quoted as saying this.
If I were a Ukrainian I might be madder than hell. I might say something like this:
“My country is being torn apart because the United States wishes to weaken Russia? Why would the U.S. want to do this? I think it’s because the U.S. wants Russia to get out of the Middle East and stop supporting the Assad regime in Syria and interfering with our plans to make the middle east safe for our allies in the region.
If I were a Ukrainian, looking back at widespread devastation in my country, looking at north of 30,000 deaths and millions of refugrees and huge desctution of properly, I would say that Zelensky should have avoided the invasion by agreeing to stay out of the EU and stay out of NATO and should have agreed to honestly run plebiscites in the predominantly Russian speaking areas on the eastern borders of our country to determine whether they should remain part of Ukraine or become independent entities or part of Russia. I have come to dislike Elon Musk, but I totally agree with his assessment on this subject. I also dislike Vladimiir Putin,
I think Zelensky was persuaded by the U.S. to resist making any concessions. I would love to see the full record of the negotiations.
This war is not benefiting Ukraine. It is benefiting other countries.”
Our mass media has happilty encouraged this war in Ukraine in much the same way it encouraged overthrowing Assad and overthrowing Saddam Hussaine and Khadafy in Libya. Which has produced at least millions of deaths, tens of millions of refugees,, destabilizing the European Union and reducing its influence on the world stage, and causing Britain’s exit from the EU.
Even on FAIR, in the comments section of this particular article, the war in Ukraine is being defended by normally intelligent people, too blind to see it for what it is.
I said: “Even on FAIR, in the comments section of this particular article, the war in Ukraine is being defended by normally intelligent people, too blind to see it for what it is.”
I failed to say what it is. Partially, it is part of our country’s struggle for world hegemony. And partially it is to please certain interest groups within the U.S. Partially it is to tell the Chinese “Hands off Taiwan”.
The expression “Yellow Journalism” came from the competition between Pulitzer’s New York World newspaper and Hearst as to who could be the most jingoistic in the run-up to the Spanish-American War. And almost to a man, the mainstream press, including so-called “liberal” publishers are willing accomplices to the MIC even at a time when enormous domestic needs go unmet.
“A crucial function of a free press is to present perspectives ”
Indeed. If only the United States had one instead of propaganda mills working for the deep state.
The corporate media love bloodshed. They were cheerleaders for the invasion of Iraq, the invasion of Afghanistan, the invasion of Libya, and the invasion of Syria–not one of which countries had harmed anyone in the United States in any way. Now Biden will fight Russia until there are no more Ukrainians left to die for him.
The difference between the masses in our Western Mainly White Minority World and the rest is that the latter know they are being fed propaganda and we are too stupid and brainwashed to realise we are similarly being fed mushroom compost.