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Peace Journalism

In: The Routledge Handbook of Mass Media Ethics
Lee Wilkins; Clifford G. Christians (eds.)
New York; London: Routledge (2020), pp. 356-373

ISBN 978-1-138-68133-0 (pbk); 978-1-315-54592-9 (online)

Signature commbox: 10-Ethics-E 2020

"Framing effects research has found that news consumers respond to journalists’ framing of a socially important event rather than to the actual event itself. Peace journalism, as a conscious and deliberate act by journalists, can offer significant insights on a hitherto unexplored aspect of framing theory. Indeed, if framing can be a conscious act involving intent, journalists must then confront the issues of moral accountability, and can no longer seek refuge in the notion that how they cover the news is merely shaped by journalistic routines, social norms, and organizational cultures and constraints that are beyond their control. Tehranian (2002) suggests that the locus of media ethics be expanded from the individual journalist to institutions, nation-states and international communities in order to advance peace journalism. This is a laudable proposal indeed, as more is needed institutionally, be it in the form of infrastructure or sanction, to support ethical journalistic work. But until journalists covering war and conflict are willing to acknowledge and overcome their internal biases and external influences, rethink their over-reliance on objectivity and detachment, and break free of the professional shackles that detract from universal proto-norms of nonviolence and respect for human dignity, peace journalism will always remain a child of its time, never to come of age." (Pages 368-369)