"This publication is the outcome of the “East Africa Regional Peace Journalism Training Workshop” for journalists covering conflict and peacebuilding in East Africa. Organized by Rongo University’s Center for Media, Democracy, Peace, and Security (CMDPS) in partnership with the African Peacebu
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ilding Network (APN) of the Social Science Research Council (SSRC), the two-day event brought together journalists from five East African countries—Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda—to develop their capacity for reporting on conflict-related issues in an objective manner based on the tenets of the theory and practice of peace journalism." (Introduction)
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"La violencia armada tiene también una dimensión narrativa, acaso tan devastadora como su dimensión física. No sólo destruye vidas y altera relaciones, sino que su ejercicio –especialmente cuando es sistemático– quiebra la propia posibilidad de otra narrativa que logre articular algún sen
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tido alrededor de la experiencia traumática. Cuando las personas no logran modular un significado sobre la violencia padecida, el ejercicio de ciudadanía para contrarrestar sus efectos se antoja imposible. Algo de lo que somos como individuos y como sociedad se transforma –acaso irremediablemente– a través de la experiencia límite del sufrimiento producido por la violencia. Parte de esa experiencia queda atrapada como lo inefable que solo comprende plenamente quien la ha sufrido. Pero como lo recuerda la escritora y periodista estadounidense Joan Didion, nos narramos historias para poder seguir viviendo. El ejercicio de articular una narrativa es entonces el ejercicio de buscar no desaparecer como ciudadanas y ciudadanos, de no sucumbir como sociedad. Lo que somos como seres sociales está constituido por redes de sentido: pertenecemos a un lugar, a una historia y a unas relaciones establecidas con los otros. El lugar que ocupamos en una sociedad lo ocupamos por referencia a la forma en que nos auto-reconocemos y también a la forma en que nos reconocen los demás. Nuestra existencia social es entonces narrativa: nos narramos y nos narran. Narrativas de paz para hacerla posible. Narrativas de paz, voces y sonidos recoge reflexiones, investigaciones, relatos y experiencias alrededor de cómo la ciudadanía aborda sus propias historias para narrar la paz. Un libro para pensar y pensar-NOS, para la resistencia y la reexistencia, para narrar la paz y luchar contra las guerras." (Descripción de la casa editorial)
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"Este libro aborda tres aspectos que explican la crisis que vive actualmente el periodismo tradicional: la crisis de los contenidos, la crisis de estructura y la crisis de credibilidad. Asimismo, profundiza en el papel que tiene el periodismo en la promoción de algunos conflictos sociales, en la ex
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clusión de grupos minoritarios y su papel en el control social. En la segunda parte, desde un periodismo de paz, se definen cambios y propuestas que permitan reformular este escenario. Las reflexiones se apoyan en numerosos ejemplos, principalmente noticias; en investigaciones previas y en las vivencias del autor en la organización de iniciativas de evaluación de la responsabilidad mediática." (Cubierta del libro)
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"This handbook brings together principles of conflict sensitive journalism with practical strategies for election reporting to explore how media workers can play a role in protecting and promoting free and fair elections. It aims to provide some guidelines that both editors and their journalists can
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follow as they strategize around ways of reporting on the build-up to elections, what to do on Election Day and how to cover the post-election period." (Purpose of this handbook, page 3)
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"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 framin
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g 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)
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"Recent studies on conflict and terrorism news coverage have documented an ingroup bias as well as an increasingly negative discourse about Muslims in the wake of Islamist terrorist attacks. Yet, as most of these studies have focused on Western media and settings, the determinants of news media’s
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religious biases and out-group categorizations remain insufficiently understood. In this article, we draw on interviews with Nigerian media practitioners and a comparison of Boko Haram news coverage in two Nigerian newspapers—one Southern-based / Christian-affiliated and one Northern-based / Muslim-affiliated—to argue that it is crucial to consider a country’s political-religious demography in order to understand the way in which religious-based violence is covered in the news. In this respect, we identify micro-, meso- and macro-level theoretical mechanisms through which a country’s demography can promote domestic news outlets—regardless of their background and readership—to cover conflict in a more balanced, nuanced, and objective way." (Abstract)
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"Based on the author’s experience as both a journalist and an independent researcher working regularly in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), this article examines the many constraints that journalists face in areas of armed conflict. It considers two unusual aspects of journalistic practi
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ce observed in the DRC: first, the reporters’ lexical dependence – that is, how the language journalists typically use to describe war is borrowed, sometimes unconsciously, from the war-related rhetoric developed in other fields – and second, journalists’ practical dependence on humanitarian organisations and how this might influence the articles they produce." (Abstract)
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"This study analyzes the scholarship on the classification of war and peacemaking potential of media in the conflict-ridden milieu of Pakistan. Borrowing from peace studies and the existing journalistic practices in the country, the researchers present and empirically test a new model for evaluating
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conflict journalism in terms of its escalatory and de-escalatory trends. For this purpose, news stories telecasted in two leading TV channels (PTV and Geo News) relating to seven deadly conflicts were analyzed. We found support for our model—the higher the intensity of a conflict, the higher the escalatory trends in coverage. Patriotic and elite-controlled media produced more escalation as compared to conflict in which journalists were using relatively free media. Despite the dominance of escalatory coverage, we also found some traces of peace journalism in the reporting of conflicts. The study recommends that to promote peace journalism in Pakistan and elsewhere, the local context of a conflict and the journalistic environment should be studied. A mere replication of Western scholarship on peace journalism in non-Western settings would render it an impracticable ideal in real conflict scenarios." (Abstract)
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"In this chapter I explore the challenge of gaining access, and remaining independent, in an ethnic state where you are expected to be on one side of the conflict or on the other. For decades the military junta restricted access to information and wielded a powerful propaganda strategy. This has had
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a long-lasting impact. There is a massive communication gap between the Burman lowlands and the ethnic states, characterized by historic misunderstandings and misinformation, especially now that social media platforms are the primary way to share information. This has both caused and perpetuated intercommunal conflict between Rakhine Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims. Information is a power and a weapon, with all sides distorting and exaggerating it. It is hard to trust what people say and to do accurate media coverage. Even the words you use to describe northern Rakhine and the Rohingya are highly sensitive. The fact that the military has closed off a large area in the north of the state where the Rohingya historically lived makes access and understanding all the more difficult. In this chapter I use my own experiences doing fieldwork, conducting interviews and building trust to explore identity and language politics in Rakhine State and to explain the challenges of getting to the truth." (Pages 229-230)
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"Los artículos del CAC162 “Narrativas de paz: voces y sonidos” surgen de la mesa de debate homónima presentada en el marco del X Congreso Internacional Latina de Comunicación Social, realizado en la Universidad de La Laguna (Tenerife) en 2018. Nueve textos sobre los retos que afrontan dichas
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narrativas y sobre los espacios que abren en los distintos escenarios donde han emergido. Reflexiones acerca de la forma en que la ciudadanía aborda sus propias historias para conformar narrativas de paz que confronten los efectos de la violencia armada y estructural. Escritos que exploran las experiencias de vida de quienes no se resignan a callarlas, sino que buscan transformarlas en una memoria ejemplar, una que, como señalaba Benjamin, pueda relampaguear en momentos de nuevo peligro." (Resumen)
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"This book focuses on the reporting of human rights in broadly defined times of conflict. It brings together scholarly and professional perspectives on the role of the media in constructing human rights and peacebuilding options in conflict and post-conflict environments, drawing on case studies fro
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m Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia. It also provides critical reflections on the challenges faced by journalists and explores the implications of constructing human rights and peacebuilding options in their day-to-day professional activities." (Publisher description)
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"The aim of this essay is to clarify the basic concepts and critically contrast the quite different conceptions of peace journalism on the side of Kempf (1996) and Galtung (1998). As will be shown, the models of Galtung and Kempf are not only based on different concepts of peace, but rather the auth
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ors also differ in their understanding of violence and non-violence, as well as in the theoretical foundations of their models of peace journalism. Based on a discussion of Lynch & McGoldrick’s (2005) reception of peace journalism, Loyn’s (2008) and Hanitzsch’s (2004, 2008) criticism is examined, and the compatibility of Kempf’s central concept of misperceptions with the social construction of reality is examined and clarified. The conclusion of the essay is a summary of the main results of previous and the most urgent tasks of future basic research on peace journalism." (Abstract)
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"This project set out to look at emerging indigenous mediascapes in Indonesia and at how far they contribute to transforming structural violence that is deeply rooted in the Indonesian state’s treatment of indigenous peoples. More specifically, it was looking at cases in which socalled indigenous
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people use media to fight for their rights and challenge existing power relations." (Page 6)
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"Más de cincuenta años de conflicto armado en Colombia han marcado la forma en la que el periodismo le habla al país. Acostumbrados a leer y a recibir contenidos relacionados especialmente con los desastres y con el dolor que deja la guerra, la firma del acuerdo de paz en noviembre de 2016, trajo
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la posibilidad de revertir esta visión. El posacuerdo abre a los periodistas de las regiones y del territorio nacional una amplia reflexión acerca de cómo deberían narrar y qué enfoques deberían priorizar en su ejercicio de reportería. Todavía ver un noticiero en Colombia es un acto que seguramente traerá angustia y desesperanza, más que soluciones. Un cambio de chip supondría mirar medios de comunicación con periodistas que den cuenta de los cambios que desde el deporte, el arte y la cultura propone la gente de las comunidades en esta etapa de transición. Sí hay una nueva forma de contar el posacuerdo, con la mirada constructiva y con la apertura de darle voces a las personas que conociendo sus regiones y su situación, plantean respuestas. Consejo de Redacción, International Media Support y Constructive Institute de Dinamarca, le apuestan a esta metodología diferente que pretende oxigenar el periodismo en este camino de transición que vive el gremio durante el posacuerdo de paz. El Periodismo Constructivo busca dar luces en el camino de hacer memoria histórica y aportar hacia el futuro. Siete periodistas de Tumaco y Norte de Santander, dos regiones golpeadas por el crimen, el narcotráfico y el conflicto armado, cambiaron el chip. Hicieron tránsito desde un entrenamiento focalizado en el cubrimiento sensible al conflicto, hacia el periodismo constructivo que invita a reflexionar sobre el futuro a partir del pasado, de una forma contextualizada, no focalizada en lo negativo sino en propuestas. En esta guía buscamos recopilamos ejemplos y contamos como fue la experiencia de llevar estas metodologías en la región. El resultado final: siete historias, que van desde un formato audiovisual hasta crónicas escritas, en dónde se muestran experiencias que nacen del conflicto armado; iniciativas de procesos culturales y deportivos que propenden a alejar a jóvenes y a personas adultas de entornos violentos a partir de la confluencia de las voces de las víctimas y de los perpetradores, en un ejercicio de inclusión social y de contexto de vida." (Introducción)
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"This thesis involves an analysis based on the theory of peace and war journalism to show how these theories express themselves in a conflict area. By taking two major media outlets during the war in Bosnia – Borba (Struggle) and Open Broadcast Network (OBN) – as case study this thesis will expl
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ore the way war and peace journalism and the Galtung dichotomy function in practice. In order to better understand the substance of peace journalism, a qualitative content analysis of articles and reports was conducted. The local newspapers and TV broadcasts in the beginning of the war displayed a powerful war journalism framing whereas toward the end of the conflict the coverage of OBN – established with the assistance of international community – exposes a more hopeful peace journalism framing. The most outstanding peace journalism signs are: an unbiased approach, all-parties coverage, and avoidance of dehumanizing language. The war journalism frame is driven by a present focus orientation, a separation of good and evil and an elite angle. The literature on peace and war journalism puts forward the fact that the current media are a key concern to the media and public experts, combatants and contain a perceptive impact on shifting the focus to the conflict field. By using Galtung’s (1998) peace and war journalism frames indicators, Borba and OBN were tested to help see the difference between war and peace journalism in practice. Findings suggest that a third possibility exist, considering that both OBN and Borba have often shown merely objective-reporting signs without making themselves a good fit to Galtung’s dichotomous model of peace journalism. The belief that there is a clear distinction between peace and war journalism is theoretically derived, which was proved in the Bosnian case where the lines are blurred." (Abstract)
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"According to Galtung’s articles ‘On the role of the media in worldwide security and peace’ (1986) and ‘High road, low road: Charting the course for peace journalism’ (1998), war journalism and peace journalism are two competing frames when reporting news on war and conflict. War journalis
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ts reactively report on conflict in a way that propagates violence, victory, and an elitist orientation. On the contrary, peace journalists proactively report on the causes of and solutions to a conflict, giving voice to all parties through responsible, empathetic journalism. By searching databases for multiple examples of qualitative and quantitative literature on peace and war journalism, new paths to best practices of how scholars articulate and measure the concepts of peace and war using content analysis methods can be found. This article reports on studies published in peer-reviewed journals that investigate the attributes of peace and war as they are conceptualized by scholars analyzing newspaper articles, television broadcasts, and radio reports within the context of peace journalism. Results suggest the majority of peace journalism studies examine media surrounding direct violence as it is occurring, and assess it most often by using the war/peace indicator of elite-oriented versus people-oriented." (Abstract)
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"The collection of essays in this volume seek among other things to draw attention to the virtues of conflict-sensitive journalism as a way of transforming the negative effects of ‘war’ journalism. Contributors to the handbook include journalists drawn from the following countries: eSwatini, Les
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otho, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe, who participated in a workshop in Windhoek in July 2018." (Foreword)
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"Toolkit Objectives: 1. Help journalists find practical applications for the “Journalists’ Pact for Strengthening Civil Peace in Lebanon.” 2. Practice reporting on issues in a way that overcomes divisions, provides solutions and develops stronger bonds between all members of the community. 3.
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Familiarise journalists with news assessment techniques that follow a systematic and scientific approach to measure story quality against journalistic values and potential impact on civil peace. The Pact’s 5Ws & H: What? A Journalists’ Pact for Strengthening Civil Peace that includes 18 articles. Where? Lebanon. When? 2013. Who? Launched by UNDP Lebanon in partnership with the Ministry of Information endorsed by 32 media institutions, National Council for Audiovisual Media, press and editor’s syndicates. Why? To support the role of the media in strengthening civil peace in Lebanon. How? By enabling greater ethics in the practices of Lebanese media, focusing on the principles of accuracy, fairness and humanity in reporting." (Pages 4-5)
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