Panic in Isolation

"Remembering the first week of the invasion of the Crimea by Russian forces" by Jordan Busson is licensed under CC BY 2.0

The conflict happening in the world seems like it's impossible to miss or not know about. We've lived through many historic events in what seems like a short period of time, and it has only been the beginning of what is yet to become. The Guardian does a great job publishing the world news of the Russian- Ukraine invasion that is going on but, we're specifically going to focus on Peter Beaumont’s story ‘Everyone was fighting to get on the train’: the desperation of Ukrainians trying to reach for safety. Published Today, Sunday 27, February 2022.

As mentioned in the beginning, it is almost impossible to get away from the news about the Russian- Ukraine invasion going on. The situation is extremely heartbreaking and is leaving many people on the edge of their seats because of this historical event. This article in particular talks about Ukrainains trying to flee their country for safety and having to fight each other to get a spot on the train going to Poland. The multimedia used in the story does a good job showing the conditions of what Ukrainains are dealing with and creates a vivid image and a better understanding of the fear that these citizens are going through. The first thing you see is a picture of a mass of people at the metro station as the header for the story, and two other pictures throughout the story of the situation, and a snap slideshow of images of citizens in fear and panic. I think the media does have a good impact on how the story gets out to the audience creating an emotional connection.

When analysing the structure of the article, the organisation of it flowed smoothly with the media provided. The quotes used by citizens being interviewed would talk about their struggles and give a brief description of the person they have interviewed and in a sense brought it together. Although they did interview normal citizens, they also threw in other people you would probably never think of. For example, towards the end they interviewed a student from Nigeria who was studying abroad during all this and not quite knowing what his next steps were. The structures between the media and the text had a good space between them and also had a description. The stanzas are quite short, which is normally seen in news articles. Especially this mass amount of information given, it provides a good space where the reader can quickly grasp the information given. The interviews give it originality and the fear of ordinary people and as mentioned, the media truly helps create imagery with what is helping in the world.

People walking around a train station in Kyiv, Ukraine. One person sits on a ledge in the foreground, overlooking the people below. Pierre Crom/Getty Images)

While furthering my analysis, the story does a successful job making an experience from outsiders witnessing and wanting to get informed with news like this. It provides a good amount of pictures so the audience can engage with the story and just get a better understanding rather than just statistics of how bad the situation Ukraine has been put in. Although the storyline and media was good, something I would have done differently is definitely added more forms of media; such as more pictures, videos, and maybe social media posts/ videos people have been posting and interacting with.

In conclusion, I enjoyed this storyline and analysing this article, not only because it is interesting to see the ways news articles, publishers, and authors realise their style of work and provide information but because this is an important event happening. Many people have lost their lives, homes, valuables, and are fleeing for safety and men of age are left behind to fight. Everything was all very informational and I do have hope that there will be a resolution and peace for both countries.