"This book offers an in-depth view of how intricate and intractable conflicts can be and how the communicative aspects of conflict are equally challenging. The author reviews and guides readers through classic and contemporary analysis in the field, providing a truly interdisciplinary work. Handbook
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of Conflict and Peace Communication is divided into five navigable sections - Theory Development, Method Development, Traditional/Digital Media and Peace and Conflict, Case Studies, and Innovative Approaches - that help illuminate workable and innovative peace communication strategies relevant to today's conflicts. Readers will also find: informative contributions from a collection of outstanding scholars, practitioners, and activists; comprehensive explorations of past conflict communication theory in the context of contemporary theory; practical tools to navigate complex local and global conflicts; in-depth examinations of strategies of peace communication from the margins that acknowledge and elevate solutions for and from the most vulnerable." (Publisher description)
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"With the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, international criminal justice is back in the headlines. It had its golden age 30 years ago with the creation of international tribunals. Today, international justice procedures have become more complex, including non-judicial mechanisms for truth-seeki
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ng and reparation. They are constantly evolving, and it is up to the media to help people understand them." (Page 1)
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"This volume responds to the great need to rethink journalism from various perspectives including journalism training, research, the contents of the news media, language, media ethics, the safety of journalists and gender inequities in the news media." (Publisher description)
"This book explores the imprint that the peace process involving the guerilla organisation FARC-EP left on Colombian TV fiction. To that end, it scrutinises the phenomenon of Colombian reconciliation telenovelas, which are intrinsically linked to the national Transitional Justice process. Based on a
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thorough analysis of the telenovelas and expert interviews, it examines their reconciliatory potential and assesses the benefits and dangers of incorporating mass mediated formats of popular culture into peace processes. The telenovelas, which could be mistaken for shallow entertainment, turn out to be an integral component of the Colombian Transitional Justice strategy." (Publisher description)
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"Using lessons learned from the work of the Global Initiative for Justice, Truth and Reconciliation (GIJTR), this policy brief gives an overview of the opportunities and challenges that arise around media coverage of transitional justice processes, and recommendations for activists who wish to engag
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e with journalists and less traditional media figures around issues of memory, truth and justice." (Introduction)
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"Theoretical scholarship on media democratisation neglects the role of representing groups in civil society, which in new democracies emerging from authoritarian regimes are frequently marginalised. These groups may also contest the form of democracy that has been implemented, and the way in which i
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t deals with key transitional issues such as past human rights violations. This study focuses on how such groups are represented in one postauthoritarian society: Uruguay, which returned to democracy in 1985. Through examining media access for civil society groups in the newspaper coverage of two critical plebiscites on transitional justice issues (1989 and 2009), combined with interviews with journalists and civil society representatives, it argues that there are significant barriers to media access for civil society actors in the return to democracy, which relate both to changes during the democratisation process and domestic journalistic norms. This signals the need for both greater attention to the normative media role of representation during processes of democratisation and a more critical approach to media democratisation theory." (Abstract)
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"This essay argues that communications and narrative must occupy a much more central part of the vision of transitional justice, as in the early years of the field. In some cases, the opportunity is ample, because a clear and inclusive nation-building project is underway. Then, it is critical for tr
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ansitional justice institutions to latch their work onto the project, so that a critical mass of citizens may internalise that work as an organic aspect of the broader process of reshaping the society’s values and identity. If transitional justice is not part of such a nationbuilding project – because it never existed or was abandoned – narrative becomes even more important. In these cases, the primary goal of the transitional justice institutions’ communications strategy must be more in the nature of community building, in the literal and normative sense of the term. Such work implies identifying and if necessary forging coalitions of the groups and individuals who are most invested in a larger nation building and value transformation process. This constituency can include victims’ families, survivors, civil society and youth groups, ethnic and religious leaders, and all those in the media, academia and politics who have a broadly shared vision as to why the legacy of past abuse must be faced and never repeated." (Page 1)
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"Despite the significant impact of the media in transitional justice processes, this relationship remains underexplored. The role of the media in building narratives of conflict and past human rights violations was traditionally framed within the dichotomy of promoting peace vs inflicting war. Yet,
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these roles, as well as the media systems themselves, need to be placed within more complex frameworks. This article analyses some of the key themes that connect transitional justice (the right to truth, justice, reparations and guarantees of non-repetition) and the media. The primary conclusion is that we need to go beyond the role of the media as an observer, and frame it as a possible agent of the overall process of conflict transformation and transitional justice." (Abstract)
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"Since the collapse of the Somali state in the early 1990s, the country has been one of the most dangerous places in the world for journalists. Many have been killed with impunity and the majority of those that have been killed where the perpetrator is known have been connected to political groups,
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including a range of actors such as government forces, parastatals including the Islamist group, Al-Shabaab and businessmen. The lines between such authorities are often blurred. While the targeting and assassination of journalists is certainly one key aspect of potential transitional justice process, it is not the only one. This article explores the variety of ways that journalists contribute and participate in violence and how transitional justice processes must grapple with these nuances and complexities. Drawing on examples from other countries, including South Africa and the former Yugoslavia, the article reflects on the different ways that media intersects with transitional justice processes in Somalia." (Abstract)
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"The visual presentation of the Serb accused in TV news was based on iconic images of the accused combined with symbolic images of the state and its power, with nearly complete absence of visuals of atrocities and victims. In contrast, the visual presentation of the Croatian, Bosniak and Albanian de
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fendants draws meaning mainly from sequences of images displaying victims, war destruction or attacks as “palpable” proof of crimes. This supports a sentiment of collective victimhood of the Serb population and creates the impression of the indicted persons’ guilt even after their acquittals by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). Since the research project has been limited to three Serb TV channels, comparative work on TV media in other states of former Yugoslavia would be required in order to assess how ’special’ the case of Serbia is regarding these visual strategies. The much disputed legitimacy of the ICTY and the important role of media have also become obvious in focus groups interviews with students in Serbia: The students displayed a striking lack of knowledge about war crimes; nonetheless, they strongly rejected the ICTY as a biased institution. At the same time, they were perceptive of new facts and interpretations, showing that they have a genuine need to understand the past and obtain objective information. A major problem is that in their perception there are few, if any, objective, neutral institutions which to put trust in. The expert interviews, conducted in Belgrade and The Hague, underlined the critical state of mainstream TV media in Serbia: They were assessed as not really independent, driven by entertainment formats, suspect to governmental pressure and failing in their watchdog functions. The interviewees also expressed a widespread disappointment about the state of affairs of transitional justice in Serbia." (Summary)
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"In the western Balkans, where post-war societies are still trying to rebuild their lives, and tensions lie just below the surface, media messages influenced by the politics of the day are destabilizing. For some, this is poorly disguised propaganda, a kind of political “spin”, “spun” by man
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y of the same political elites who were in power in the 1990s and delivered to the public by the mainstream media. In doing so the media is perpetuating divisive rhetoric, and not allowing societies to have reprieve from, or reflect on their traumatic pasts. In this kind of environment, the space for journalists and actors to investigate all sides of a complex story, and to report on present and past events based on facts, in turn challenging dominant societal narratives, is limited. And not only limited, but dangerous. In this 13th edition of Balkan Perspectives, authors from academia, journalism and law, Dafina Halili, Dinko Gruhonjic, Dushica Nofitoska, Dr. Lejla Tutcilo, Sara Velaga, Serbeze Haxhiaj, Teofil Pancic, and Zhaneta Zdravkovska, reflect on the current state of media in the region, the structures supporting it, and what could change to give space and attention to all sides of a story, in order to challenge dominant interpretations of the past and bring about constructive discourse on these topics." (Editorial, page 5)
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"The Law of Victims and Land Restitution, ratified in June 2011 and enforced since January 2012, constitutes an unprecedented attempt to end armed conflict in Colombia by applying a transitional justice framework and fostering rural development. Drawing on a methodology that integrates framing and r
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hetorical analysis, this article analyses the role of seven national and local Colombian newspapers in promoting governmental or alternative actors and frames regarding institutional, developmental, and peace and human rights agendas linked to this legislation. In addition, it evaluates the influence of rhetorical framing on media’s role and the resulting quality of media coverage. The results show that the media promoted governmental frames regarding institutional and developmental issues, and alternative frames advocated by other actors in relation to peace and human rights issues. In addition, they confirm the key importance of rhetorical framing in shaping that role. This was detrimental to the quality of media coverage geared towards sustainable peace and human development." (Abstract)
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"With Kosovo as its case, this article explores the context and challenges of journalism education in transition societies. Journalists in Kosovo have lived through constant changes from authoritarian to democracy. In this struggle, journalism education has never been stable and steady. The past con
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flict events of the destruction of Yugoslavia haunts present day journalism in challenging human rights, ethics and even business model of Kosovar media. The traumatic past, conflict and ethic animosity is still present in the public discourse among Kosovar journalists due to political resistance of the leadership of the entire region to take steps towards recognizing conflicting past and the atrocities that happened. Over the last decade, new journalism schools have been founded both in public and private sector which reflects significant increase in quality reporting. By utilizing previous research, including data from the Worlds of Journalism Study (WJS) in Kosovo, the article discusses the aspect of transitional journalism in Kosovo, which focuses on transitional justice and looks at the problems from a human rights approach, including the education of journalists in the field of human rights but instead of learning from top down approach. The data in the article show journalistic roles shifting from traditional watchdog to activist role which challenges journalistic professionalism at a time when journalism education in higher education is in its infancy. The article exposes the need for practical, tailored training about the realities of political pressure, history and the transition. As one of the significant gaps in the teaching journalism in Kosovo is in relation to dealing with the past, a lack of taught courses for journalists entering the media market is seen as a weakness of the education system in Kosovo along with other structural problems in the media. Technology, globalization, rapid development of social media leave much to be desired in the journalism education in Kosovo." (Abstract)
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"Arriving at a collective memory of the past is one of the greatest challenges facing a post-conflict society because it implies reaching a degree of consensus in a polarized context. While truth commissions attempt to present an objective account of the events of a society’s repressive or violent
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past, they inevitably contend with multiple perspectives and interpretations of this history. In essence, truth commissions and other transitional justice mechanisms must mediate this confl ict to bring society to a shared version of this past, which arguably entails a society-wide admission that egregious human rights violations occurred and that victims must be acknowledged. However, for this end to result, transitional justice eff orts rely on the media to encourage consensus making about the past—a daunting but crucial undertaking if society is to escape sliding back into conflict. Ultimately, the media has the potential to bridge the gap between yesterday’s enemies by replacing fearmongering with a focus on empathy, by illustrating how much people have in common and championing victims’ rights to truth and justice. Especially in contexts where the media played a destructive role in the process of the dehumanization of “the other”, which usually laid the groundwork for massive human rights violations, it is precisely in this arena where the shift from denial to acknowledgement must happen. In addition to amplifying messages of acknowledgement coming from transitional justice processes, the media can produce and commission content which will feature voices of victims to humanize them again, and demonstrate that empathy for the other is not an act of betrayal of national or ethnic interests, as wartime ideologies almost always teach." (Conclusion, page 17-18)
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"The enormous collection of user-generated content (UGC) in the form of YouTube videos from the Syrian war provides an unprecedented and diverse collection of shared digital memories of conflict and violence. The central question of this article asks what the value is of UGC on YouTube for legal evi
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dence of war crimes and future Transitional Justice. It is beyond doubt that the surge of uploaded videos from the Syrian uprisings revolutionized the way in which contemporary wars are observed and documented. The sheer amount of user-generated content online has given rise to manifold ways of interpreting what is happening on the ground, inspired creative resistance, led to a surge of professional and independent Syrian documentary films and increased the connectivity between those who undergo the war inside the conflict zone and those who are observing the situation from a safe distance. Many YouTube clips from Syria are likely to be rejected as stand-alone legal evidence though, as it often lacks sourced information about meta-data, date, time, geographical coordinates, identity of the participants, the identity of the perpetrator, and other contextual information crucial to establishing judicial facts for war crimes prosecution. The everexpanding body of videos from Syria will give rise to a wide and varied landscape of interactive media that has surpassed the old approach of political mainstream media to inform and possibly manipulate their audiences for their own agendas, whatever those may be. As a platform of digital memory and space to express moral outrage, YouTube served a crucial and important role in the Syrian crisis and the UGC is of immense value for digital memorialisation and historicization of the Syrian crisis. The vast amount of UGC on YouTube was categorized in 8 different types of footage and we can conclude that only small number of videoclips on YouTube can in fact function as crime-based evidence for war crimes. This does not mean that the UGC on YouTube has no value, however as a legal evidence it can be problematic to use YouTube videos if not corroborated and verified properly. The main issue is the lack of meta-data in many of the UGC on YouTube. The YouTube video revolution in Syria did bring to the surface many brave video activists who are now professionally involved in producing high quality footage for international news broadcasters, the most recent example of that is the important work of Waad al Kataeb inside eastern Aleppo with the British Broadcaster Channel Four News (Channel 4 2016). Through a series of edited 5-6 minute mini stories from the ground, Al Kataeb’s work provides a credible and important source of evidence." (Conclusion, page 22-23)
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"This chapter explores the role that the media plays in transitional justice settings where countries embark on a mission to redress past histories of atrocity. These accountability mechanisms will be reported on by the same media outlets that operated during times of repression and violent conflict
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. The author argues for a proactive discussion of how the media fits into transitional justice projects, and contends that those who design transitional policy may need to ask whether the media should be expected to promote the transitional justice agenda as well as censor divisive and potentially misleading statements from those opposing the transitional justice process." (Abstract)
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"This book analyses the use of communication in resolving conflicts, with a focus on de-escalation and processes of peacebuilding and peace formation. From the employment of hate radio in the Rwanda genocide, to the current conflict between Russia and the Ukraine following events in the Crimea, comm
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unication and the media are widely recognized as powerful tools in conflicts and war. Although there has been significant academic attention on the relationship between the media, conflict and war, academic efforts to understand this relationship have tended to focus primarily on the links between communication and conflict, rather than on communication and peace. In order to make sense of peace it is essential to look at communication in its many facets, mediated or not. This is true within many of the diverse strands that make up the field of communication and peace, but it is also true in the sense that a holistic and interdisciplinary approach is missing from the literature. This book addresses this widely acknowledged lacuna by providing an interdisciplinary perspective on the field, bringing together relevant, but so far largely isolated, streams of research. In doing so, it aims to provide a platform for further reflection of the meaning of, and requirements for, peace in our contemporary world with a focus on de-escalation, conflict transformation, reconciliation and processes of peacebuilding - as opposed to conflict escalation or crisis intervention." (Publisher description)
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