Failure and moral distinction in a Ukrainian marketplace of ideas
Journal: Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute
Year: 2023

Abstract This essay examines the generative effects of claiming moral failure within a Ukrainian liberal movement for media reform in post‐Maidan, pre‐invasion Ukraine. The reformers wished to reorganize news reporting around the ideals of autonomy, balanced objectivity, impartiality, and corrigibility, which they believed underpinned Western media. They decried most Ukrainian media as failing such standards, highlighting the individual moral failure of journalists bankrolled by oligarchs in ret