Don’t mention the war

IN a trend that war-weary observers predicted, the invasion of Ukraine has fallen well down the priority list of news organisations around the world. Just two short months ago, it was the main headline on every newspaper, every TV news show and on the radio too.

This week it’s almost difficult to find mention of it, unless you head straight for the ‘World News’ or foreign coverage sections and programmes. Veterans of the wars in Syria, Afghanistan and the many conflicts on the African continent warned that this would happen – war coverage fatigue – and that the Russians may have been banking on it. Just last week more than 200 bodies were found in a Mariupol basement, according to a Ukrainian official.

Also last week, Russia boosted its operations in the Donbas region. Neither story registered large in global news cycles.

While the genocide and war crimes continue in Ukraine, it seems the West had tired of the story, preferring instead to devote column inches to celebrity trials where participants are airing their filthy linen in public or the tribulations of holidaymakers seeking a few weeks in the sun. The contrast between these two worlds was never so stark, or so depressing.