Recommendations of the Editorial team
Ukraine has been at war with Russia for 4 years, 3 months and 12 days. That’s 1562 days that have become hell for the people of Eastern Europe. While the catastrophic situation of those bombed by Putin in Ukrainian cities is well known and clips of it appear in the news, little is known about those fighting against Russia.
Joko Winterscheidt and Klaas-Heufer Rumpf wanted to change that and used the 15 minutes of airtime they received from ProSieben for their victory in the show “Joko & Klaas against ProSieben” were given as a gift in order to get very close to the front. In the end, a quarter of an hour turned into more than three hours of broadcast time “Joko & Klaas Live – #dontlookaway”.
A drone pilot, a surgeon, an evacuation helper, an employee of the Kherson city administration and a police officer answered questions from a contact person living on site and thus brought drastic truths about the war in Ukraine that are otherwise mentioned in asides to the reporting on the war situation.
You can see people here doing what needs to be done in this situation. Helping others, giving orientation in an emergency, preparing weapons for use, fighting your own cynicism. Hand-held camera footage from the affected war zones can be seen again and again. At first it seems as if everything is fine, until suddenly burned-out cars and people are seen in a state of shock.
The Ukraine war appears to be one conflict among many
Without a commercial break, Joko and Klaas showed up close what a never-ending war does to the people who have to fight it. But the question remains why two entertainers have to come up with the idea of showing the stark reality in Ukraine, which also influences the security situation of all other European countries, with a live broadcast.
That would actually be the job of the serious news media, which in recent years has perhaps become too accustomed to only reporting the bare minimum. Between the concern for the victims and the display of statistics, the view of the daily experience in the permanent state of emergency was sometimes lost.
In recent years, the comedians’ 15-minute acts have lost some of their relevance. In 2021, however, they managed a coup that is quite comparable to the Ukraine campaign. Nurse Meike Ista’s entire morning shift was broadcast in real time under the hashtag #NotSelf-Course. She works in the bone marrow transplant and intensive care unit at the University Hospital of Münster and was given a body camera so that her everyday working life could be followed in detail. In addition to the live shift, numerous other nursing staff had their say in recordings, reporting on chronic staff shortages, poor pay and overwork, especially during the Corona period.