Media's Missing Piece: Uncovering Antiwar Voices (Blog post #6)

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Media's Missing Piece

Uncovering Antiwar Voices

In an era where headlines race across screens and social media feeds, the war in Ukraine has emerged as a focal point in modern news and conversation. This international crisis grips the American opinion with an outrageous flood of social media activism, to Ukraine flags being hung, to the story remaining in the headlines, this war seems to be bigger than some domestic American issues. 


Recently I've come across some articles about the opinions of Americans in this war. From a simple google search, I found that most featured headlines pose Americans' support of the war. Examples include: Most Americans Still Support Ukraine War Effort, United West Divided from the Rest, and Americans Hold Positive Feelings Toward NATO and Ukraine, See Russia as an Enemy. These headlines all have one thing in common: Pro-War attitudes. 

The more I scrolled through the pages of search results, my brief search prolonged as more and more articles just like these appeared. This war that has been going on for over a year has no critics? 

An article published by CNN sparked my interest. The article is titled, "CNN Poll: Majority of Americans oppose more US aid for Ukraine in war with Russia." 

CNN published these stats: 

  • 55% of Americans polled say the US Congress should not authorize additional funding to support Ukraine
  • 45% of Americans polled say Congress should authorize such funding
  • 51% of Americans polled say that the US has already done enough to help Ukraine
  • 48% of Americans polled say it should do more

This one article contradicts many other articles I have read. Which poses the question: Why is there a noticeable absence of discussion about anti-war opinions? 

Reading the articles published on https://www.antiwar.com/ and https://www.theamericanconservative.com/ I noticed that the main theme in these articles is anti-war propaganda. These websites act as platforms for the quiet opinion, challenging the mainstream media opinion regarding pro-war tactics. 

From reading these articles, I noticed that it is harder to find publication of antiwar opinions in the mainstream media. These extreme opinions remain separated from those we see in the typical headlines or social media posts. Bringing more antiwar opinions into mainstream media could be beneficial to the subject at hand. These opinions could spark conversation and discussion between individuals and are also thought provoking. Whether these antiwar opinions are agreed with or not, it is important to have a broad range of opinions in mainstream media. This broadened focus fosters a deep range of opinions that can function in a well-informed society. 


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