Joe Rogan questions the media's evolving narrative on Ukraine

From a highly corrupt nation with a significant influence from far-right political parties to a bastion of Western liberal democracy, the legacy media's reporting on Ukraine has evolved in recent times.

Joe Rogan questions the media's evolving narrative on Ukraine
The Joe Rogan
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Popular podcaster Joe Rogan has become the latest prominent voice to speak out against the “Russia bad, Ukraine good” narrative, pointing out that the media has done a complete reversal on its reporting on Ukraine, which it previously reported as corrupt in every level of its government.

As detailed by the New York Times in 2017, “Virulent right-wing nationalist groups have found new prominence in Ukrainian politics in recent years. Although extremist political parties make up only a small minority of Parliament, far-right groups have violently clashed with the government on a number of occasions.”

The article detailed how neo-Nazis have repeatedly desecrated Ukraine’s Holocaust monuments and sites as historical revisionism of the country’s racist past has ramped up to whitewash Ukraine’s collaboration with the Nazis in the Second World War and the actions of contemporary neo-Nazis.

Rogan’s criticism of the media draws upon extensive journalistic investigations into Ukraine’s politics over the past decade, which have been seemingly ignored in favour of a new narrative, casting Ukraine as liberal democracy akin to its western neighbours.

“I have this screenshot that someone sent me,” Rogan said, “about the way the people on the left were talking about the Ukraine situation before the war.”

“This is one of the things that’s so weird is that they were very disparaging of Ukraine, and they were talking about the massive corruption of Ukraine, and how horrible it was over there,” he added.

“And now, all of a sudden, they’re looking at it like they’re heroes. The same exact people. This is what’s confusing,” said Rogan, who read out points from the screenshot, declaring Ukraine “the most corrupt nation in Europe,” with an “increasingly corrupt and authoritarian leader” seeking to deepen an “alliance with the far-right.”

The articles in question were sourced to the World Socialist Web Site, the Cato Institute, and Kiev-based publication Ukrainian Independent Information Agency (UNIAN).

“We’re supposed to just veer away from the narrative that was being pushed just a couple years ago,” said the podcaster.

In addition to criticizing the media for shifting its narrative on Ukraine, Rogan slammed Big Tech companies like Facebook and other social media platforms for allowing violent rhetoric against Russians.

As reported by Rebel News, the Russian government is taking action against Facebook as an extremist organization for sanctioning violence against Russians over the war.

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