North Texas Daily

Uploaded on April 13, 2022, a video aptly titled “War In Ukraine,” is a 12-and-a-half minute showcase of the innocent lives affected by the war. Through guerilla-news style reporting and contrasting real stories with big-name media outlet reports, Channel 5 is able to showcase the voices in the zeitgeist that surrounds war talk, delivering an incredible piece of war-time reporting as independent journalists. 

The stand-out work begins in a plaza in the western city of Lviv, Ukraine. As people bustle through the city, shops remain open and buskers continue playing music in the streets. Channel reporter Andrew Callaghan holds his clip-on mic toward the interview subject, a mother from the country’s capital Kyiv. She misses home, her favorite cafe and taking her 5-year-old daughter to kindergarten — but her daughter’s safety is too important. 

When Lviv’s air raid sirens blare, she does what she can to prevent any future trauma for her daughter by telling her it’s big fireworks and that they need to hide. The sirens sound and the Channel 5 team enter a bomb shelter inside of a press building. When they return, Lviv’s streets are filled with people, and life goes on.

Streets feature Putin dummies and sideshow-style humanitarian attractions where passersby can pay to shoot and take home a Putin target with an AK-47 style BB gun, where proceeds go to soldiers, refugees and the Come Back Alive foundation. 

Throughout the video, clips and chunks of coverage from major broadcasting corporations such as PBS, MSNBC, CNBC and Fox News are displayed to help illustrate the difference between the western media and the public’s knowledge of the war in contrast with the first-hand accounts from the Ukrainian public’s experience living in war. 

Additionally, while many Channel 5 videos contain endorsements for sponsors like CashApp, their Ukraine video does not feature any ad breaks or mention of their sponsors, which is a refreshing breath of sincerity in any news media. 

Best known through his work with the channel “All Gas No Brakes,” Callaghan made his signature on independent journalism by delivering a master class in guerilla reporting. While an independent company, the “Channel 5” production crew tends to only cover the special interest beat that’s found when talking to individuals in large crowds at national events, such as the crowd at the Talladega 500, or the streets of Los Angeles on Super Bowl Sunday. They also tackle absurd niche group gatherings like a pick-up artist bootcamp or a QAnon meeting and tend to have humorous undertones by letting sources be themselves uninterrupted.

However, for their first venture outside of North America, they delivered a heartfelt and touching story that humanizes the displaced people of Ukraine, and the efforts made by the people to help their soldiers on the frontline. By maintaining their signature man-on-the-street format of minimal questions and allowing their subjects to openly speak their minds, the interviews provide a special humanity in reporting that is not found in the aforementioned broadcast corporation’s productions.

With minimal editing and questions, the finished product is truly an impartial recount of what was to be witnessed, with minimal to no manipulative framing to drive the story. 

There is no framing to tell you that war is bad. That’s understood. What’s shown is the sense of community and fellowship among Ukrainians, as they all pull together for a common cause.

https://operation-solidartiy.org

https.www.comebackalive.in.ua

Featured Illustration by Miranda Thomas