News coverage of the events in Kyrgyzstan is rapidly drying up here in the US. Apparently, if there's no longer any violence or bloodshed, there's little media interest. Boooo. Also, much of the remaining coverage revolves around whether or not this will affect the US base (er, "transit center") at Manas, just outside Bishkek. [I should point out that the US base and the Manas Airport - as in the place you fly in and out of if you visit Kyrgyzstan - share the same facility. Granted, civilian passengers and US military are partitioned off from one another and don't mix, but the first thing you see when your airplane lands in Kyrgyzstan is a row of US fighter jets and transport planes.]
Additionally, I've noticed so many Western journalists struggling with pronunciation, concepts, facts.... I mean, take this fellow below - from CNN. I just want to smack him. Be sure you take a good look at the map that pops up on the screen at the very end. In fact, I'll go ahead and post the map underneath the video...
Additionally, I've noticed so many Western journalists struggling with pronunciation, concepts, facts.... I mean, take this fellow below - from CNN. I just want to smack him. Be sure you take a good look at the map that pops up on the screen at the very end. In fact, I'll go ahead and post the map underneath the video...
Now I know that Central Asia isn't a part of the world most Americans can visualize all that well (even despite our involvement in Afghanistan) - but this is CNN. They should know better. See below.
I have to admit, I was even disappointed by this week's Friday News Roundup on the Diane Rehm show. I love Diane Rehm, and the Friday News Roundup makes up my favorite two hours of the podcasting week. She led the international hour with the situation in Kyrgyzstan, but her guests didn't seem to know that much about what was going on over there. One referred to Roza Otumbayeva as "Okunbaev" and another kept calling the place Kir-ZIK-stan. And of all the issues the show covered, Kyrgyzstan got the least amount of attention. Boooo.
This certainly isn't to say that all news sources have been lacking... My friend Elena, whom I've mentioned and linked to several times during this crisis, was interviewed by Global Voices regarding the impact her blog has had on the coverage of these events. Score!
Most of the really informative videos I've been able to link to have been from Al Jazeera English and Russia Today... which I suppose shouldn't surprise me, as Kyrgyzstan does fall under their regional coverage area. Still, I'm a little disappointed that the US media is moving on already...
5 comments:
I will translate your post! Thank you!
cool! :-)
I've really enjoyed (wrong word maybe since people have lost their lives) your round-ups on the revolution. The internet is at its best during situations like this. How awesome that private citizens can get instant information from personal contacts!
As far as the mainstream US media coverage, I'm impressed this got as much play as it did. Aside from the handful of Americans who have been to Kyrgyzstan or have friends/family there, who really has much interest in the place? How many people really even care that there is an airforce base there which services Afhagnistan? How many Americans give daily thought to the war in Afghanistan? For that matter, how many Americans pay attention to domestic issues which may directly impact their lives?
The MSM is already losing so much ground to alternative media, it doesn't make much sense for them to cover situations people don't care about. Cynical and sad, but true.
People who are likely to want to raise their awareness of world events likely aren't watching CNN anyway with the wealth of vastly superior information on the internets.
Actually, flying into Manas, you don't see anything at all because you arrive in the middle of the night. Then you get met by a panicking Nargiza and a grumpy taxi driver who yells at you in Russian for even daring to look at a seatbelt in his Lada. Fun times :)
Jane, that map mistake is not a mere error. The long standing dispute between the Tajiks and Uzbeks has reached the US news media. I bet some Tajik oligarch bribed the CNN computer graphics guy to improve on the map. On whose side is Fox in this debate? And on whose side is Olbermann?
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