A Win for Brave Russian Reporters. A Loss for The Academy. And All Our Coverage of The Slap. | Winners & Losers in Today’s Green Room

MEDIA WINNER: Independent Russian Journalists Who Interviewed Zelensky

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was interviewed over Zoom by independent Russian journalists Tikhon Dzyadko, Mikhail Zygar, Ivan Kolpakov, and Vladimir Soloviev, and it was an eye-opening chat for multiple reasons.

CNN senior global affairs analyst Bianna Golodryga, who was born in Moldova and is fluent in Russian, reported on their conversation in a long Twitter thread, providing English translations. (Dzyadko has since tweeted part of the video with English subtitles.)

As Golodryga reported, Zelensky started the interview by discussing how Russian dictator Vladimir Putin was not expecting such fierce resistance from the Ukrainians. What followed was a frank discussion of the brutality of Russia’s siege of Mariupol, Zelensky’s communications with his troops, reports of dead bodies in the streets and Ukrainian children being kidnapped by Russian soldiers, and Zelensky’s personal feelings of being “deeply disappointed” in the large number of Russians who voiced support for the war and how he expected this war to result in long-lasting hatred between the people of the two countries.

Unsurprisingly, the Kremlin did not look too fondly upon the journalists’ interview of Zelensky, who has been a major stumbling block in their propaganda efforts to spin their relentless attacks on civilians as “denazification.”

CNN’s Jim Sciutto tweeted that Moscow’s media watchdog Roskomnadzor issued a statement Sunday warning Russian news outlets against rebroadcasting or distributing the interview. The fact that these brave comrades in journalism put it online anyway is a testament to their principles and courage. These reporters participated in the interview and promoted the video on Twitter using their actual names and with their faces unhidden, knowing full well they risked invoking the Kremlin’s ire. Bravo, gentlemen.

MEDIA LOSER: The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

With concern over Covid-19 fading and groundbreaking nominees poised to make history, the 94th annual Academy Awards should have been a glitzy celebration of the best of movie magic. Instead, the broadcast dragged on with awkwardly unfunny hosts, a missed opportunity to meaningfully support Ukraine, and any good moments doomed to be overshadowed by The Slap.

Will Smith’s über-viral strike across Chris Rock’s face (more coverage of that in the A-Block) is all anyone is talking about, and all anyone is likely to remember from the night’s festivities. And that’s a real shame for the creative talents behind films like CODA, which won both Best Picture and a historic Best Supporting Actor for deaf actor Troy Kotsur.

Some of the Academy’s challenges are admittedly out of their control. It’s illogical to suggest they could have predicted or prevented Smith’s Slap, and this year’s nominees came from the second year in a row of movies released with theaters mostly shuttered due to the pandemic. But once again, many Americans haven’t seen or perhaps even heard of the films nominated for those shiny golden statuettes, making them unlikely to be interested in tuning in (and the preliminary ratings confirm that to be the case).

The Academy is responsible for the uncomfortably bad hosting trio of Amy Schumer, Wanda Sykes, and Regina Hall. After a lazily-written opener fell flat, they followed up by mocking the seriousness of a pandemic that’s killed nearly 1 million Americans and a highly questionable bit that had Hall groping Josh Brolin and Jason Momoa on stage. Not a great look for the industry that condoned Harvey Weinstein for so long.

And somehow the best they could do for Ukraine was a brief on-screen message asking people to “support Ukraine in any way you are able,” promoting the #StandWithUkraine hashtag instead of any of the numerous well-vetted charities that are actually helping. Thanks for wearing ribbons, though.

Links We Like:

Democratic Donors Are Getting Bamboozled
– Lauren Harper, The Bulwark
You can’t save the Oscars by making them sponcon
– Alissa Wilksinson, Vox
When They Attack ‘Dark Money,’ They’re Really Attacking Free Speech
– Alex Baiocco, Reason
The Revenge of the Normal Republicans
– Tim Alberta, The Atlantic

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