Russia: A Victim of Bad Press?

It's fair to say that Russia has something of an image problem. Despite the opportunity offered by this year's Winter Olympics to win new friends, Russia is in fact doing the opposite. In addition to the obvious, major candidate of Crimea and Ukraine, there is a steady stream of minor news stories relating to issues such as racism, freedom of speech and homophobia.

Screenshot of the Guardian website today

Granted that it's not the most scientific approach ever, but if you take a look a the Russia news page on the Guardian website, it's dominated by the kinds of stories I was mentioning (Ukraine, why killers of journalists aren't caught, taking down the Steve Jobs memorial because the new new Apple chief is gay, the FK Rostov manager's racism), except for one about a debutantes' ball and a library on the Moscow Metro. Compare the pages for most other European countries - no war or restrictions on freedom, more cultural and economical (because there's more room to talk about it) and the occasional minor news story. America has a couple of articles on restrictions on freedom but no mention of war. Russia is, as presented by the news, pretty much as wild and out of control.


Is it a fair judgement of Russia? Yes and no... Russia has more than its fair share of social problems, which aren't getting solved and probably won't any time soon; its state finances are what economists technically term "up shit creek without a paddle"; freedom of speech is being eroded... well, more like hacked away with a machete; treatment of minorities is worsening and this discrimination is becoming normalised in mainstream society. There many causes for concern there and it's absolutely reasonable to highlight them.

However, there's little denying that Russia is a pariah at the moment and so people are looking carefully to find fault; albeit a relatively trivial issue, #SochiProblems is a perfect example - has any other major sporting event been subject to such scrutiny and schadenfreude?

Maybe we should pay more attention to slave labour in building the 2022 facilities in Qatar rather than this? Pic

Russia is not the only country with issues of domestic social problems and bigotry and international conflict, even among nations in the West. Let's contrast Russia and America. In just 6 years, the Nobel laureate for peace, President Obama, has 'spread love and democracy' in the form of drones, troops and bombs to seven countries. In Putin's 15 years of being president or prime minister, Russia has been 'paving a way for a return to the dictatorial Soviet Union' internationally in Crimea/ Ukraine and Georgia/ South Ossetia (escalating under Putin but officially fought while Medvedev was president) and twice domestically in Chechnya. At Obama's rate, Putin would have already bombed 17 countries over the course of his leadership. Both leaders justify their actions on the basis of internal security and protecting freedom and their people, though each has wider geopolitical aims, of course. And returning to what I said about news on the Guardian website, where is the first mention of America's current action in the Middle East? Half way down page three - a clear difference in perception and newsworthiness.

The recent news story about the Rostov manager, [Russian version] is doing the rounds to highlight racism in Russia. No one should make comments like, "we've already got enough black-skinned players, we've taken on six of the things." [Note: using the word Russian штука, shtuka is bad when talking about people individually but acceptable for a member of a group]. Bad, yes; but where's the same moral indignation about xenophobia when British-based  football managers and officials talk about the need for more English players or football club chairmen, as when Karl Oyston, Blackpool FC, said "The next appointment will definitely be a domestic manager." [against UK law - nationality is a protected characteristic - and EU law - discriminating against nationality, therefore restricting the free movement of workers].

Russian: not ok to not want foreigners, quite rightly

British: ok to not want a foreigner for a job?

As for racism in society in general, try telling the citizens of Ferguson, St. Louis in America about the equality in their country. [John Oliver's take on it is worth a watch.]

Free speech... the EU law has a law about the 'right to be forgotten', offering opportunities for privacy and censorship alike. There is mass surveillance of electronic communications, viewed without warrants, and last year the British government threatened legal action to obtain the copies of Edward Snowden's files held by the Guardian, an option which included suspending the newspaper's ability to publish. Fair and free elections with fair media coverage to all political parties... tell that to the Green Party in the UK, more popular that LibDem in the polls but with none of the accompanying exposure.
 

Banksy's graffiti near GCHQ. Source

 
Ok, I realise that I'm probably sounding like an apologist for Russia and some of the actions taking place. That's not what I'm trying to say, rather that there are a lot of objectionable behaviour and opinions and lots of shit places around the world, and that some places are shitter than other others. Politicans worldwide are not exactly garnering wings and halos - thinking about their own (and friends') needs and then their country's and then about the greater good (take Mr. Cameron as an example).

What is shown or not shown is also indicative: I referred earlier to the US's action in the Middle East and the Green's less mainstream ideas being more hidden. For every media image and minute of footage of Ukraine, how many are dedicated to China and Tibet? That's ok because we don't want to upset the business apple cart. What about the British Iranian woman imprisoned for a year? Her crime was to try to attend a men's volleyball match? That's ok, we'll not kick up a fuss because we want Iran's support against ISIS and, anyway, our politicians wear feminism T-shirts to show how much they really care about women's rights.

Leading UK politicians show off their feminist credentials by wearing a T-shirt reportedly made by women working in a sweatshop for 62p an hour. Maybe there is equality if a man could also have had the job?

In spite of problems in the UK, we definitely have a better quality of life, greater freedom and a substantially higher level of equality than in Russia. There is most certainly room for improvement here, but we leave Russia trailing in our wake on these issues. It is reasonable for the media to detail our failings and Russia's, along with those of other countries. Russia cannot complain about the negative light it's being shown in for its international relations or waning equality and freedom. It can, however, complain about the hypocrisy of countries not reflecting on their own shortcomings as critically or its status as the bête noire of the moment and its turn in the spotlight while other, equally guilty countries are ignored.