mediadev library

Peace Journalism Applied: An Assessment of Media Coverage of the Conflict in Northern Uganda

Linda Nassanga Goretti

Conflict & Communication Online, volume 6, issue 2 (2007), 9 pp.

"The paper explores how peace journalism has been applied in Uganda basing on an assessment of findings from a survey on the media coverage of the conflict in northern Uganda. The paper analyses the findings from the print media coverage of 2 newspapers for 3 years that were used as sample. The anal ... ysis considered several quantitative and qualitative variables including: frequency, type of stories (news vs non-news), authors of stories (journalists vs non-journalists), placement/prominence of story, balance in the story, information sources, language and tone, focus, peace initiatives and use of photographs. The introduction gives an overview of the concept of conflict and why we continue to have conflicts in society. The paper posits that since all people in society cannot have the same definition of a situation all the time, especially regarding the distribution of power and resources, disagreements and conflicts arise, which in extreme cases escalate into armed conflicts or wars. The paper looks at the major causes of conflicts in Africa and gives a background to the conflict/war in Northern Uganda, where the fighting has been going on since 1986, when President Museveni took over power. A synopsis of the findings showed that most of the coverage on the war was done by journalists in the form of news stories, with a few feature articles. This implies that journalists are largely responsible for what people get to learn about the war. Depending on the way journalists report about the conflict, people's perceptions will be influenced accordingly. The analysis showed that the government paper was largely biased towards government and confrontational in its reports, while the private paper used a more conciliatory tone and was more balanced by using various sources for their stories. There was fair coverage of peace initiatives, although this focused most on government efforts. An evaluation of the coverage showed that this had its strengths and weaknesses. While the media had helped in raising awareness about the war, there was self-censorship amongst the journalists, partly due to the Anti-terrorism Act, which makes it a capital offence if a journalist gives information that can aid terrorism. The paper looks at some obstacles that prevent journalists from giving objective reports when reporting on conflicts/wars. The paper concludes with some recommendations on how peace journalism can be consciously applied to contribute more meaningfully to the peace building process in Northern Uganda." (Abstract) more

Live News Africa: A Survival Guide for Journalists
Key Guidance

Brussels; Dakar: International News Safety Institute (INSI);International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) Africa Office (2007), 87 pp.

"Live News: A Survival Guide for Journalists, is carefully tailored to help journalists to prepare themselves mentally, physically and psychologically before engaging on an assignment that can be very dangerous. The guiding tips provided in the text help to prepare the journalists mentally before, h ... more

Peace, Democratization and Reconciliation in Textbooks and Educational Media: Ninth International Conference on Textbooks and Educational Media

Mike Horsley, Jim McCall (eds.)

International Association for Research on Textbooks and Educational Media (IARTEM) (2007), 277 pp.

Guidelines of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe on Protecting Freedom of Expression and Information in Times of Crisis

Strasbourg: Council of Europe (2007), 4 pp.

"[...] 1. As used in these guidelines, the term “crisis” includes, but is not limited to, wars, terrorist attacks, natural and man-made disasters, i.e. situations in which freedom of expression and information is threatened (for example, by limiting it for security reasons); the term “media pr ... more

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Las violencias en los medios, los medios en las violencias: Revisión y análisis crítico de los estudios sobre medios de comunicación y violencia en América Latina 1998-2005

Jorge Iván Bonilla Vélez, Camilo Andrés Tamayo Gómez

Germán Rey (prólogo)

Bogotá: Centro de Investigación y Educación Popular (CINEP) (2007), 192 pp.

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Out of China, into the light

Dominic Waghorn

British Journalism Review, volume 18, issue 1 (2007), pp. 23-27

"Foreign correspondent Waghorn compares long-term assignments in China and Israel and observes: "Whereas in China the challenge was engaging the viewers' interest in somewhere so unfamiliar and alien, here [Israel] it is keeping them interested in somewhere they find over familiar. Rock-throwing, su ... more

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Reporting the Sri Lankan Conflict: Ethnic, Separatist or a Fight for Freedom

Chandrika De Alwis

Media Asia, volume 34, issue 2 (2007), pp. 88-95

"A study by De Alwis (2006) on the reporting of the Sri Lanka conflict under censorship, made comparisons to Western theories and models. The findings disclose the unique techniques used by the local press to circumvent media regulations. Censorship lacks the ability to tighten its hold on the local ... more

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Wie im echten Leben: Von Bildern und Lügen in Zeiten des Krieges

Joris Luyendijk

Berlin: Tropen Verlag (2007), 255 pp.

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The Media and Conflicts in Central Africa
Top Insights

Marie-Soleil Frère

Boulder, Colo.; London: Rienner;Panos Paris (2007), vii, 287 pp.

"This in-depth investigation of the role that local news media play in Central African conflicts combines theoretical analysis with case studies from nine African countries: Burundi, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Chad, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, the Republi ... more

Prensa, conflicto armado y región: Aprendizajes del diplomado 'Periodismo responsable en el conflicto armado'
Top Insights

Marcela Giraldo (ed.)

Bogotá: Corporación Medios para la Paz (MPP);CINEP, Programa por la Paz;Pontificia Universidad Javeriana (2006), 159 pp.

Bosnia's Open Broadcast Network: A Brief But Illustrative Foray Into Peace Journalism

Vladimir Bratic, Susan Dente Ross, Hyeonjin Kang-Graham

Global Media Journal - American Edition, volume 7, issue 13 (2006), [30 pp.]

"This study engages in the examination of the role of journalism in a time of violent conflict and explores the discourse that has come to be known under the umbrella term “peace journalism.” Through a case study of the Open Broadcast Network (OBN) coverage of the Bosnian conflict, the study ana ... more

Políticas de seguridad ciudadana y comunicación: La agenda ausente en el Cono Sur

Elisabet Gerber (ed.)

Santiago de Chile: Fundación Friedrich Ebert, Proyecto Regional Cono Sur (2006), 105 pp.

Voices of the New Arab Public: Iraq, Al-Jazeera, and Middle East Politics Today

Marc Lynch

New York: Columbia University Press (2006), 293 pp.

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Conflict, Terrorism and the Media in Asia

Benjamin Cole (ed.)

London: Routledge (2006), ix, 149 pp.

"There are many different kinds of sub-national conflicts across Asia, with a variety of causes, but since September 11, 2001 these have been increasingly portrayed as part of the global terrorist threat, to be dealt with by the War on Terror. This major new study examines a wide range of such confl ... more

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Operation Balkan: Werbung für Krieg und Tod

Jörg Becker, Mira Beham

Baden-Baden: Nomos (2006), 130 pp.

Reflections in a Bloodshoot Lens: America, Islam and the War of Ideas

Lawrence Pintak

London: Pluto Press (2006), xviii, 374 pp.

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