By Maddie Thompson
It’s apparent the news we consume everyday is a main media contributor to American war culture. When reading American headlines on current conflicts, I’m not always aware of the effect these different forms of media have on me. With that said, I chose to analyze a recent article as my cultural text to interpret how a journalist represents the Russia-Ukraine War to American subscribers of the New York Times. I was drawn to the article titled “Ukraine’s Arms Industry Is Growing, but Is It Growing Fast Enough?”, written by Lara Jakes, as the title expresses urgency and appeals to audiences who are interested in Ukraine’s current plans. Moreover, the article provides various images which seem to define war on the reliance on competition and production of weapons. I couldn’t help but notice that the people in the photos are not the main focus; there is a theme of isolation when scrolling through the images of artillery shells and wooden boxes.
“It’s about showing that we don’t sit and wait until you come help us,” Mr. Kamyshin said. “It’s about trying to make things ourselves” (Jakes)
When Jakes quotes the Strategic Industries minister of Ukraine, Alexander Kamyshin, she highlights that this interview was conducted “in his office in a nondescript brick building in Kyiv tucked away among restaurants and apartment blocks.” This addition of storytelling to her report caught my attention, as her decision to illustrate an image of war not centered around destruction and violence shifts the focus to how war is lived in different phases. Furthermore, it’s evident that Jakes writes from a more liberal point of view when she discusses the Republican blocking of aiding $60 billion to Ukraine for military and financial support. She implies that as a result, Ukraine needs to focus on rebuilding their defense team; however, she includes that discussions between the two political parties on another aid package is in the works. I believe this is important to acknowledge when picturing how this article interprets war within an American political context. While the article isn’t explicitly building a consensus or resistance around war, I believe Jakes’ incentive is to promote aid for Ukraine with the notion of resisting war by Russia.
“We will join you and NATO one day,” he said confidently. “So if you procure from us, you’re building up abilities, and that will become part of the joint capabilities one day. So why not invest in your joint capabilities?” (Jakes)
While reading Jakes’ article, I began to think back to our class discussions on Don’t Let Me Be Lonely: An American Lyric, written by Claudia Rankine. Although Jakes isn’t making a major statement on war, her cultural text still contributes to American war culture simply by spreading information on the topic on a large-scale. Kamyshin’s quote above specifically reminded me of Rankine’s emphasis on her frustration and hopelessness with the harsh reality of how the media normalizes war. In this context, I believe Jakes’ article contributes to defining war as a business deal. I reviewed Jakes’ background as a well known journalist who is currently reporting from Kyiv on the West’s role in aiding Ukraine on diplomatic and military levels. On her profile, she quotes the Journalist’s Creed by saying, “the public journal is a public trust.” With that said, I began to think back to the switching of channels in Rankine’s novel and became more aware of Jakes’ article being another form of media reporting the sad reality of war and how it is lived. I almost felt guilty as I remembered Rankine’s quote of “You don't remember because you don't care” because I haven’t actively been researching about the Russia-Ukraine war as much as I have in comparison to two years ago. I began to wonder if other Americans could relate based on how war culture is prevalent in the news we consume and is constantly shifting.
“‘We’re throwing all this taxpayer money to Ukraine and to Israel, and we can’t even take care of our own people,’ said Jeffrey Jackson, a 55-year-old Republican from Granbury, Texas. ‘The U.S. government needs to take care of our own people and then worry about the rest of the world later’” (Groves and Sanders)
“Chris Bahr, a 41-year-old from Houston, Texas…[says] ‘It helps another allied country defend itself and helps America economically — getting rid of a lot of our older weapons as we’re ordering new stuff,” Bahr said. ‘I think it would save lives in the long run just to not let Russia become expansionist again’” (Groves and Sanders)
After reading Jakes’ article, I was curious to see the recent political division of American parties on the United States funding for Ukraine based on this cultural text. This other article titled “U.S. adults split along party lines in support for Ukraine military aid, AP-NORC poll finds,” written by Stephen Groves and Linley Sanders, continues to illustrate similar economic themes in war culture that Jakes’ article includes. Once again, it felt as if I was switching through channels that were covering an expansive discussion on the Russia-Ukraine war in the cultural realm of America. As said before, it seems these news reports condition audiences to accept the normalization of war culture. Jakes’ article as a cultural text brings attention to this idea by placing a focus on the relationship between Ukraine and the United States.
Works Cited
Groves, Stephen and Linley Sanders. “U.S. adults split along party lines in support for Ukraine military aid, AP-NORC poll finds.” PBS, 29 Feb. 2024, https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/u-s-adults-split-along-party-lines-in-support-for-ukraine-military-aid-ap-norc-poll-finds
Jakes, Lara. “Ukraine’s Arms Industry Is Growing, but Is It Growing Fast Enough?” The New York Times, 2 Apr. 2024, https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/02/us/politics/ukraines-war-weapons-industry-russia.html
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