A few days ago an interesting study, “The Socio-Political Sentiments in Crimea,” was released by the Ukrainian branch of GfK, the well-known German social research organization, as part of the Free Crimea initiative. Intriguingly, the primary objectives of this project, launched with the support of the governmental Canada Fund for Local Initiatives, were to “debunk aggressive Russian propaganda” and to “reintegrate Crimea into Ukraine.” Thus the researchers can hardly be suspected of being Russian sympathizers. So let’s take a look at the results.
The attitudes of Crimeans were studied in January 2015. This representative sample included 800 respondents living on the peninsula, from all age and social categories. The poll had an error margin of 3.5%.
In answer to the most important question: “Do you endorse Russia’s annexation of Crimea?” 82% of the respondents answered “yes, definitely,” and another 11% – “yes, for the most part.” Only 2% gave an unambiguously negative response, and another 2% offered a relatively negative assessment. Three percent did not specify their position.
Read the rest here.
I wouldn't hold your breath waiting for this to get any coverage in the mainstream press/media.
I am broadly opposed to Russia's actions in Ukraine following the deposition of former President Yanukovich, but it is hard for me to work up a lot of outrage about Crimea voting to be annexed by Russia. If the people living there want to be under Putin instead of Poroshenko, it is not clear to me why they ought not to be.
ReplyDeleteBut this gets at your point about this sort of story being ignored by the Western media. I am only a moderately well-informed news consumer. I am hardly a foreign affairs junky. I get almost all of my news from NPR, and yet I am fully aware that popular opinion in Crimea favors the Russian annexation. Evidently, then, the mainstream media cannot be as biased as your concluding comment supposes. Mainstream news outlets in the US are reporting the popular sentiment in Crimea. Otherwise, people like me would not know about it.