by Jeffrey Mo | 20 Jun 2022 | Conflict, Educators' Catalog, Ukraine, University of Toronto Journalism Fellows
Dmytro Shelukhin is a Ukrainian working for a UK investment bank. But like many émigrés, he is finding meaning helping his home nation fight Russia. Dmytro Shelukhin on the way to Ukraine with war materiel (photo courtesy of Dmytro Shelukhin) For the past eight years,...
Like many big global news stories, the war in Ukraine has released a tsunami of ink, making it difficult for journalists to find a fresh angle. Jeffrey Mo, a fellow at the University of Toronto, manages to break new ground with a simple story about a Ukrainian émigré who sends war matériel to armed forces in his embattled home country. Mo lets Dmytro Shelukhin, a Ukrainian working for a UK investment bank, be the protagonist of the story, which discreetly underscores both the high stakes involved in the conflict and the depth of Ukrainian defiance.
Exercise: Ask your students to identify an issue dominating the news around the world – such as climate change or human rights – and to find a local angle. Then they should interview someone directly involved in the local matter and write a story capturing that person’s experiences and thoughts.
by Jonathan Thatcher | 31 May 2022 | Conflict, Eyewitness, Future of Democracy, Human Rights, Politics, Ukraine
Dictators can be loathed. But their abrupt departure from office can trigger turmoil because they have put themselves alone at the centre of power. U.S. President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Geneva, Switzerland, 16 June 2021 (Saul Loeb/Pool via...
by Elaine Monaghan | 13 May 2022 | Conflict, Future of Democracy, Human Rights, Ukraine
Many Russians dream of a democratic future. But an onslaught of propaganda shields Vladimir Putin from opponents and obscures the truth. Russian President Vladimir Putin delivers a speech during the Victory Day military parade marking the 75th anniversary of the Nazi...
by Alan Wheatley | 3 May 2022 | Conflict, Economy, Globalization, Trade, Ukraine
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is likely to prompt firms to re-examine supply chains and bring business closer to home, even if that means lower profits. Pipeline taps at a chemical plant near Cologne, Germany, 6 April 6, 2022. Germany relies heavily on imports of...
by Katharine Lake Berz and Daneese Rao | 28 Apr 2022 | Conflict, Educators' Catalog, Human Rights, Refugees, Ukraine, University of Toronto Journalism Fellows
For more than 150 years, the Red Cross has remained neutral in wars. Today, it still defends that stance against critics as Russia ravages Ukraine. A man presses paper with a red cross on it against the windshield of a bus as civilians are evacuated from Irpin, on the...
For many people, the war in Ukraine seems one of the latest litmus tests of ideological purity: One side is good, the other side bad. So it is with politics in many countries: One side is right, the other wrong. Nowadays it can be difficult, especially for youth, to understand why diplomats speak to all sides in an armed conflict, or why the Red Cross would remain neutral in Ukraine. In their story, Katharine Lake Berz and Daneese Rao, fellows at the University of Toronto, examine why the 159-year-old Red Cross, true to tradition, has refused to condemn Russia’s invasion so it can offer aid to victims on all sides of the conflict. It’s a valuable lesson for a world hungry for harmony.
Exercise: Have your students debate this resolution: “The Red Cross should condemn Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.”
