There are many things to look at on TV right now but the thing that is impossible to look away from is the unprovoked and horrifying attack on Ukraine.
Reporting from the scene and from what looks like the trenches are several brave journalists who we all owe a tremendous debt of thanks. It is no exaggeration to say that these people are putting their lives on the line to show the truth and the cost of this war. They are also chronicling the terrible plight of innocent people caught in the cross hairs of history.
Chief among these correspondents, for me, has been Clarissa Ward at CNN. Tall, composed and impressive, she is the Hannah Waddingham of war correspondents.
In the clip above, she is near Kyiv within earshot of artillery and mortar fire raining down just a few kilometers away. As she reports from the scene, civilians, many elderly, some clinging to pets, try to navigate a bridge no longer there in order to somehow get out of the line of fire. Many are heading, Ward tells us, to a train station in Kyiv where they will join tens of thousands of others trying to catch the last train out of dodge.
The clip above shows Ward compassionately pitching in to help a grandma step over debris, all the while narrating the coverage. The scene is heartbreaking, and Ward’s composure is almost as impressive as the courage shown by the citizens who are trying to flee to safety.
Others, such as Matthew Chance, have been performing similar acts, offering hands and hugs and hope. Ward gives a shout out to her cameraperson Scott McWinnie; all of these people are likely doing so much more once the cameras are off.
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It is what they are doing while the cameras are on, however, that offers a glimmer of hope that sanity may eventually prevail.
CNN has been running promotional spots sourcing accolades for its war coverage and it is earning every one of them. (On the other hand, they should take down the promo spots hearalding Chris Wallace’s arrival at CNN+; nobody cares right now.)
The Atlanta-based cable news network is and always has been a dominant source of news in Canada, far more popular north of the border than Fox News. Lately, however, the network seemed to stumble post-Trump, descending into the same parade of partisan commentators that played to the other side.
Putin’s War has brought CNN’s international coverage once again to the fore. The network reportedly has 75 people in Ukraine, including drivers and interpreters. Many are based in Lviv in the west, where Anderson Cooper has been hosting on location for over a week.
They are all bringing humanity and professionalism to very difficult jobs under hard-to-imagine conditions. How much longer they can link and keep sending back uncensored messages must be at issue. To them and many other fine war correspondents at other broadcasters and news networks, our sincere thanks and gratitude.
