Maybe. But I suspect that framing the narrative in a way that emphasizes “Putin” as the aggressor rather than “the Russians” can help a sow little less russophobia.
We saw that the media’s emphasis on the providence of the 'Wuhan virus" during the early stages of the pandemic caused a sharp increase in anti-asian hate crimes. The mainstream media and politicians were blamed for this. I wouldn’t be surprised if regulators still have that mistake fresh in their mind and sent the memo not to focus on the country when reporting on this war.
Plus the more they villainize Russians, the more anyone with a trace of slavic heritage is going to side with “the bad guys” because the alternative is the genocidal rage of the ignorant.
Maybe. But I suspect that framing the narrative in a way that emphasizes “Putin” as the aggressor rather than “the Russians” can help a sow little less russophobia.
We saw that the media’s emphasis on the providence of the 'Wuhan virus" during the early stages of the pandemic caused a sharp increase in anti-asian hate crimes. The mainstream media and politicians were blamed for this. I wouldn’t be surprised if regulators still have that mistake fresh in their mind and sent the memo not to focus on the country when reporting on this war.
Plus the more they villainize Russians, the more anyone with a trace of slavic heritage is going to side with “the bad guys” because the alternative is the genocidal rage of the ignorant.