News Coverage and the Russian Elections

However we may feel about the political state of America, there can be no doubt that there are definitely worse governmental systems that one can have to live through. One excellent example can be found in the New York Times article, "Putin Basks in Election Win Despite Broad Criticism". The article details the win of Mr. Putin's party during the parliamentary elections, as well as the possibility that the newfound power may be used to change the Russian Constitution, allowing Putin to run for another term in office. However, the most important part of the article deals with the possible political corruption associated with the win. Even though accusations are not actually made in the article itself, it is clear that many suspect the election was unfair and was not actually done fairly. This is further complicated by the fact that the United Nations was not able to monitor or enforce the fairness of elections due to the many rules set up by the Russian Government.

However, all of this brings up a very interesting question, where was the Russian press during this difficult period? We often talk about the failure of the press in the American political system, but perhaps far greater failure can be found if we simply open our eyes to the rest of the world. As has been pointed out many times both during the course of class and throughout most of the sources we have been using, it is the responsibility of the mainstream media to report injustices such as this. However, even though it would be far more accurate to apply this principle to the Russian media systems, perhaps we can also find some interesting information to critique in the American system of press as well.

It is stated that the press has "failed" when it no longer provides objective or relevant coverage to important or significant political events. We must ask ourselves, then, why this news was also not given greater relevance. The article in question was not featured on the front page of the New York Times, and it actually takes a fair bit of searching to locate the information. Perhaps this is due to the many other events currently going on in America alone, but yet we would definitely be led to think that there should be a great emphasis placed on an event of this significance. Thus, we must ask ourselves, has the press really failed? Note that even though there have been entire books written on the subject, there is rarely a clear-cut answer to such a question. Instead, it seems as though we must use our own judgment and intelligence when we attempt to answer such questions.

Even though the failure to give greater emphasis to the Russian elections may not exactly mean that the press has failed, it certainly does give one something to think about. Perhaps we should use more careful objective standards when it comes to evaluating the press. These are very important matters and there are questions that need to be asked, but we must also consider the possible political statements and meaning that may come with such decisions and events. We cannot simply ignore the events of the rest of the world as being less important than what is happening within our own nation. Instead, we should take the time and the effort to learn everything there is to learn about the world, so that we can better judge events such as these.