NPR interviewed a Russian representative to get their side of the story

[CreekDog]

is it important for fairness to make sure that the armed invader of a sovereign nation gets to tell their side of the story?

Andranik Migranyan, the director of the Institute for Democracy and Cooperation, offers the pro-Russian view of the country's recent move to annex Crimea.

http://www.npr.org/2014/03/18/291172120/the-view-from-russia-crimeas-long-awaited-return

[alarimer]

1. I was dumbstruck by this.

Did they get the other side too, because that's the only way that makes sense?

At least they were up front about who they were interviewing. A lot of times on the MSM, you don't really know what anyone's agenda is at the time.

[Niceguy1]

2. nothing wrong with

Hearing what they have to say....

[DisgustipatedinCA]

3. Good grief. Please stop with the Red Scare stuff.

It really is a good thing to get all sides of a story.

[CreekDog]

4. i don't have a problem hearing what they think

but the idea that i need to hear "sides" to figure out who is right...that's BS.

[LiberalAndProud]

23. Do you really think that our understanding of the world should be entirely dependent

on our own US centric views?

No fan of Putin or Russia's land grabbing aggression here, but to shut down the dialogue and to stop listening will do nothing to help us mitigate that aggression. I'm really shocked at your umbrage, Creek.

[CreekDog]

5. i have another question for you

do all Russians agree with the person who was interviewed?

[DisgustipatedinCA]

7. Of course they don't. Why do you ask?

As for your previous post, in which you stated you don't need to hear both sides of a story in order to inform your opinion, well ok, but you're left with a weak, anemic, one-dimensional story. The world is nuanced and tricky, and the Crimean situation certainly is. I'll leave one-dimensional thinking to the baggers.

[Marr]

22. +1

[Earth_First]

6. Fox News has plenty of fair and balanced journalism...

...perhaps you'd prefer NPR followed their business model as well?

I'm open to journalism giving both perspectives of current events an equal springboard. In this situation it isn't going to affect my opinon.

However in the future I would hope that one would not expect editorialized journalism from NPR.

[Petrushka]

8. What the Western Media Won't Tell You . . .

What the Western Media Won’t Tell You: Crimean Tatars and Ukrainians Also Voted to Join Russia

http://www.globalresearch.ca/what-the-western-media-wont-tell-you-crimean-tatars-and-ukrainians-also-voted-to-join-russia/5373989

[CreekDog]

10. So you think they voted to be kicked off their land and ethnically cleansed?

don't play games with us. save the propaganda for those who want it.

Moscow Times

Crimean Tatars Asked to Vacate Land, Regional Official Says

RIA Novosti
Mar. 19 2014 09:11

Ukraine's breakaway region of Crimea will ask Tatars to vacate part of the land where they now live in exchange for new territory elsewhere in the region, a top Crimean government official has said.

Crimean Deputy Prime Minister Rustam Temirgaliyev said Tuesday that the new government in Crimea, where residents voted Sunday to become part of Russia, wants to regularize the land unofficially taken over by Crimean Tatar squatters following the collapse of the Soviet Union.

"We have asked the Crimean Tatars to vacate part of their land, which is required for social needs," Temirgaliyev said. "But we are ready to allocate and legalize many other plots of land to ensure a normal life for the Crimean Tatars," he said.

Temirgaliyev emphasized that members of the Tatar community could receive senior political positions in the new government, in an apparent move to ease ethnic tensions in the region.

"I think that Crimean Tatars will be well represented in the government and parliament," he said.

The Crimean Tatars, a historic people of the region, were deported en masse to Central Asia by Soviet leader Joseph Stalin 70 years ago. Although many of them returned in the early 1990s, they were unable to reclaim the land they had possessed before their deportation.

Many Crimean Tatars have taken over unclaimed land as squatters by building houses, farms and mosques. Ukrainian authorities have in the past failed to settle the land disputes.

The Tatars, who make up 15 percent of Crimea's population, remain amongst the staunchest supporters of the new government in Kiev that ousted Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych last month.

[Petrushka]

12. Link, please. (eom)

Nevermind . . . I found it.

P.S.
You forgot to include the following bit of info from the same article:



Crimea, a largely Russian-speaking autonomous republic within Ukraine, was part of Russia until it was gifted to Ukraine by Soviet leaders in 1954.

Putin signed a decree Monday recognizing Crimea as an independent state, following a referendum Sunday that saw voters on the peninsula overwhelmingly support secession and reunification with Russia.

Nearly 30 percent of Crimean Tatars voted in favor of reunification with Russia at Sunday's referendum, Temirgaliyev said.

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/crimean-tatars-asked-to-vacate-land-regional-official-says/496451.html


Edited to add:

P.P.S.
If I'm not mistaken, in this country, it's called the "Right of Eminent Domain" . . . like it or not.

[Bluenorthwest]

14. You left out the word 'remaining' 30% of remaining, post ethnic cleansing Crimean Tatars.

They were the majority there for hundreds of years. Deported, land stolen, given to Russians who now vote 'as the majority'. Creepy stuff. What is really creepy is the refusal to acknowledge that fact. Even when it is pointed out.

[Petrushka]

17. What I posted is a copy-and-paste . . . I didn't leave out anything. (eom)

[CreekDog]

21. so you support kicking out the Tatars?

wow. so bold.

[Petrushka]

24. Show me where I said anything about support or non-support.

Unlike certain others, I'm slow when it comes to sorting out, processing, and digesting so much information, misinformation, disinformation, etc.

[Petrushka]

13. Something interesting about your news from Moscow . . .

Last edited Thu Mar 20, 2014, 09:07 AM - Edit history (1)

The Moscow News' editor(s) obviously believed in not only reading other news sources but also bringing those other sources to the attention of readers:

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/what-the-papers-say-march-20-2014/496510.html


All best!

[geek tragedy]

15. Nice conspiracy nutjob website. Got a link to a real source instead of a bunch of crazy people?

globalresearch.ca is a sewer of insane conspiracy theories that makes Fox News look credible.

They're Sandy Hook Truthers.

And Birthers.

[Petrushka]

18. Perhaps you're right. I wouldn't know. After all, I wasn't there.

Were you?

[geek tragedy]

19. "I wasn't there." Where are you talking about? nt

[Petrushka]

20. Crimea. Ukraine. Russia. And . . .

. . . any and every editors' and/or news directors' office anywhere and everywhere in the world.

Capische?

[TreasonousBastard]

9. Why not? NPR has had a lot of international opinion...

including Ukrainian, in its coverage.

[Blue_Tires]

11. They did what journalists do and get different sides of a story?

"Getting both sides" doesn't always mean giving EQUAL WEIGHT to both sides, but you at least have to seek them out...

I do however wish they would spread the interviews around and not keep going to the same guy, though...

[treestar]

16. that person didn't do a very good job

of stating the Russian side. All I see is some vague claim that Ukraine intended to crush the Russian language.

[Petrushka]

25. Does our choosing "sides" help today if, 4 years ago, a Ukrainian clergyman called for revolution---

---a revolution "...to be sure no Chinese, Negro, Jew, or Muscovite will try to come and grab our land tomorrow."?

Rev. Mikhaylo Arsenych in 2010:

"Today we are really ready for a revolution.
Would the fighters of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army tolerate Tabachnik and Yanukovych today?
The only effective methods of combat are assassination and terror!
The right way to communicate with the enemies is to fire at them!
Our message to them is the message of death by hanging. We'll send all communists to the gallows-tree in our forest!
The message is our cry for vengeance -- take your weapon and chase all fear!
It is not a good time to be afraid!
We have been waiting for 20 years!
The situation will get better only if each of us makes a contribution to the construction of our national state.
We must first knock down the old house, and then build the new one.
We must rebuild our political regime and create a new sovereign state.
Only then will we live in our own country - in a country that takes care of our needs.
We want to be masters in our own house and decide for ourselves.
We want to be sure that our children will go to Ukrainian school.
We want to be sure that no Chinese, Negro, Jew or Muscovite will try to come and grab our land tomorrow!
Our success depends on each of us. We shouldn't waver, we must keep covered todays political regime. The ground will be burning under their feet, like our torches are burning today!
Our hand must be firm! Glory to the Ukraine!"

&list=UUTx3rFYRJTe6SN0cl7B021g


Oh, dear! This reply was meant for the OP . . . sorry 'bout dat, treestar!

[Petrushka]

26. My reply #25 to treestar's #24 was actually meant for the OP . . .

. . . so . . . if you care to reply (or not), CreekDog, that's fine.
I'll probably be back again tomorrow to check in.
(God williln' 'n' th' crick don't rise.)


All best!

[HereSince1628]

27. For fairness? No. For potential insight, YES.

Understanding why people who seem to be your opponent do the things they do, is essential to developing an effective way of living in the same time and space.

Of course there is opportunity for an interview to be taken hostage to a propaganda cause...that's an inherent risk.

But, the attempt to understand the opponent is essential to going into the future.

[Enrique]

28. of course they did

because they are a legitimate news source.