"It probably does not need saying again, but the media market in BiH is a mass. Not just because there are too many outlets fighting for an audience and seeking all too little available money, but because noone knows much with any accuracy. So claim and counter claim for audience share, coverage, ci
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rculation and advertising revenues contribute to the general prevailing atmosphere of suspicion and distrust. Undoubtedly many outlets will fail in the next few years, and it will be a challenge for all those who care about Bosnia to ensure those that do fail are not those who are making a genuine contribution to society. Ten years ago there was chaos in the media, and a great many of the outlets were pernicious; this was followed by a period of anarchy in which anyone could do what they liked – some of what blossomed then was reasonable, much was not. Now, there is some sort of stability. The electronic media is highly decentralised but print remains, in the main, centralised in the two entity capitals. There are a number of decent organisations close to sustainability. We believe support should continue to be focused on those who are, and who are also demonstrating, and continue to demonstrate, a genuine contribution to building democracy, to promoting open debate, and to helping to hold government, institutions and all centres of power, to account." (Conclusions, page 26)
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"The bloody conflicts of the past decade have focused international attention on the strategic role of the media in promoting war and perpetuating chaos. Written against this backdrop, Forging Peace brings together case studies and legal analysis of the steps that the United Nations, NATO, and other
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organizations have taken to build pluralist and independent media in the wake of massive human rights violations. It examines current thinking on the legality of unilateral humanitarian intervention, and analyzes in graphic detail the pioneering use of information intervention techniques in conflict zones, ranging from full-scale bombardment and confiscation of transmitters to the establishment of new laws and regulatory regimes. With its focus on the role of media in preventing human rights violations, Forging Peace will influence policy and debate for years to come." (Publisher description)
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"A concise overview looking at the approaches, activities, and challenges of governmental, international, and nongovernmental organizations in the field of media and peacebuilding." (commbox)
"The media cannot be neutral towards peace: While news journalists may react strongly against such a claim by holding their ’professional objectivity’ above everything else, they must realise that the way in which they report on and about a certain conflict can drastically affect the audience’
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s perception of the situation and thus may influence further developments. While we would not want to endorse the idea that the news media may be controlled and used for specific purposes, even that of peace, the perception that journalists ought to be ‘neutral’ needs to be overcome. Simply by being there and reporting on a conflict, the media alter the communication environment and are thus inherently involved in the conflict and non-neutral. Furthermore, there is a very fine line between discarding one’s objectivity and viewing events with a certain attitude towards conciliation. In other words, though the media are usually run for profit, and, moreover, conflict sells better than cooperation, journalists should ensure balanced reporting with a view to preventing the escalation of tensions. It is possible to move in this direction by covering peace initiatives - at the very least – in as much detail as renewed escalations, by choosing to counter hate speech, and thus reducing the negative potentials of the media in conflict situations. Media that are sensitive towards the task of promoting tolerant and diverse viewpoints can be both informative as well as entertaining and have a large potential audience. In strengthening local capacities’ efforts, assistance can focus on three different aspects of local media structures: creating an open media culture that allows different voices to emerge and be heard, enhancing professional training and education for journalists, and supplying technical equipment to local media institutions." (Pages 2-3)
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"The purpose of this study is to provide a ‘map’ of media assistance. Like all maps, this one has artificial limitations. It is confined largely to the post-Soviet period. It is a map of media assistance efforts, based almost wholly on experiences on activities emanating from Europe and the Unit
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ed States, though a richer analysis would include a much wider geographical net. Unlike the cartographers who map mountains and lakes, we benefit from the cooperation of those being mapped as they help make the document more accurate. Nonetheless, it is a project in process and the complexity of the sector makes it almost impossible to provide every detail in what is inevitably a superficial map. Our method will be to develop broad outlines of the sector and then focus in on a few features of the terrain. As in many industries, there are dominant players at each level, but also many niche participants who play a critical role and are necessary for understanding the overall picture. The sector is growing rapidly and changing in many ways. Donors or ‘investors’ and entities in the sector are always looking for new areas (subject matter, geographical) of growth. Those who require funding seek to expand the pool of suppliers of funds and try to describe an expanded notion of need or demand for their services. There are areas of intense competition and areas of cooperation if not collusion. Over time, ‘successful’ models emerge and some participants withdraw, either because their product is unsupported in the marketplace, or because the nature of the demand changes. Media assistance primarily takes the form of journalism training, direct support to news organisations, efforts to aid media law reform, support for professional journalism and broadcast associations, support for developing financial sustainability of media outlets, and initiatives designed to transcend national, religious or ethnic barriers in the media." (Introduction, page 1-2)
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"In order to get a sound base for its future decisions on the role of media for peacebuilding, the Political Department IV of the Swiss Foreign Ministry has asked the swisspeace Center for Peacebuilding (KOFF) to initiate a process for compiling the current knowledge, existing experiences, and futur
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e challenges in this field. This should support the decision process in the Ministry on how media assistance could play a major role in their endeavor to contribute to peacebuilding efforts. The first step in this process was to commission a study on the state of the art in the field of media and peacebuilding. The second step was to convene a workshop, in which the first draft of the study was presented and discussed by experts and representatives of Swissbased media NGOs. In this workshop the media NGOs were also given the opportunity to present their view of the role and strategic position of media in peacebuilding and formulate the challenges they see for media projects in peacebuilding. The workshop participants also formulated common recommendations and open questions. This report compiles all the workshop’s input and presentations, and it summarizes its recommendations. In combination with the study “Media and peacebuilding: Concepts, actors, challenges” it hopefully contributes to the international debate on the role of the media and supports the ongoing process of reviewing their contribution to peacebuilding efforts." (Introduction, page 1)
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"Since 1995, Search for Common Ground (SFGC), a US non-profit organization based in Washington, DC, has implemented a program in Burundi with the goal of reducing ethnic conflict and encouraging reconciliation. To this end, SFGC currently runs four in-country programs: Studio Ijambo, an independent
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radio production studio in which twenty-one ethnically diverse journalists work together to produce accurate and unbiased radio programming designed to promote reconciliation and eased ethnic tensions; the Womens’ Peace Center, a forum for unifying and strengthening civil society and promoting democratic processes; the Youth Project, a cooperative project which brings together ethnically mixed youth leaders from throughout Bujumbura and Bujumbura Rurale, as well as organizes other peace-building projects for youth; Integration Initiative: This new project maximizes the synergies among and around SFGC projects as they expand both geographically and in scope. SFGC has commissioned an independent evaluation of its work in Burundi, pursuant to its various grant agreements and as a part of it commitment to carry out regular in-depth assessments of its work." (Introduction)
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"Talking Drum Studio - Sierra Leone (TDS-SL) began start-up operations in April 2000. Within a few months TDS-SL created five radio programming strands that are currently airing on eleven stations for a combined airtime of over 10 hours per week. Though each programming strand has a different format
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, all of them have the same goal: to encourage peace and reconciliation. Over the last two years, TDS-SL has been successful in reaching all areas of Sierra Leone. This was evident from the surge in the percentage of listeners, from about 40% in December, 2000, to 85% in March, 2002. Consistent with SFCG’s policy of conducting periodical comprehensive evaluations of its projects, an evaluation mission was conducted in March 2002, in order to assess the effectiveness of TDS-SL in achieving its goals and objectives." (Executive summary, page iv)
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"Kurze Darstellung und "lessons learned" von 7 Fallbeispielen, v.a. Radiosendern. Der Autor stellt u.a. fest: "Medienprojekte werden von westlichen NGOs erst dann gestartet, wenn ein gewaltsamer Konflikt vorbei ist. Medienprojekte mit ausgesprochenem Präventionscharakter sind nahezu unbekannt, auch
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wenn sie dringend nötig wären" (Seite 39). Er empfiehlt u.a. eine "Revitalisierung" der früheren GTZ-Medienarbeit, denn diese stelle eine "gelungene und international renommierte Mischung aus professioneller Beratung bei der Institutionalisierung von demokratischen Mediensystemen und Sozialarbeit mittels Medien" (Seite 47) dar." (commbox)
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"This guide considers the role of media in conflict and crisis areas, examines media projects established to provide information to affected populations in conflict situations, either during crisis or in the post-conflict period. Its four main sections discuss: Designing programmes for populations i
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n crisis; Humanitarian information programmes; Media projects for peace-building; Measuring impact: The difficult field of impact evaluation. Produced with the support of the European Commission Humanitarian Aid Office (ECHO), the guide originated from a conference in 1998 entitled Strengthening Lifeline Media in Regions of Conflict, which brought together media professionals and experts in conflict resolution to examine how media could impact on peace-building in conflict situations." (https://reliefweb.int)
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"A great deal has now been written about the patterns of media exploitation as they contribute to a vortex of destruction. Less has been elaborated about the efforts of international governmental organisations ("IGOs") and non-governmental organisations ("NGOs") to intervene so as to maintain a more
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stable and peaceful world order either in anticipation of conflict, during the conflict or in the ordeal following the conflict. This paper focuses, as a background for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization ("UNESCO") Geneva Conference, in May 2000, on post-conflict patterns that emerge, primarily drawing from four case studies—Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, Rwanda, and Cambodia." (Introduction)
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"The international mission, as U.S. and Western representatives saw it, was to reconstruct a viable multi-ethnic media, as well as to prevent further conflict. NATO was seeking to build, under the Dayton Accords, a plural society out of pieces that seemed fractured beyond repair. The OHR believed th
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at a pluralistic, peaceful media was an indispensable part of the rebuilding process. The Office proclaimed its desire to "use the opportunity to remove one of the most serious obstacles bedeviling our efforts to re-establish civil society in Bosnia" - the fact that the media was ethnically based.358 NATO and OHR actions must be judged after a reasonable period of time elapses to see if a more democratic Bosnia-Herzegovina, supported by the pluralism that comes from a free and independent press, emerges. Still, one of the great dangers of information intervention is that it provides apparent democratic justification for any nation to use its police power to close down media outlets. Each time the international community intervenes to shut down a media outlet that it does not like, the line between information intervention and censorship becomes blurred. The real test is not only whether an information intervention transforms a society but also whether the intervention comports with the spirit of democratic change. Ends can justify means, but it is helpful if the means themselves are compatible with those ends." (Conclusion, page 111-112)
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"The main purpose of this guide is to highlight some of the benefits, challenges and options when considering funding of media and communication interventions. This publication is not designed to be a ‘how to’ guide for designing and implementing such programmes. Rather, it aims to guide DFID st
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aff, responding to conflicts and other emergencies, on: when to support media initiatives; what types of assistance to provide to media organisations; how to appraise and monitor media based interventions. Thematically, most attention is given to the role of media in conflict situations as this is where most experience has been gained to date. However, sections on natural and man-made disasters are also included. Furthermore, the main focus is on electronic media, such as local, national and international radio and TV broadcasting. This focus has been adopted because the bulk of media initiatives undertaken in areas of conflict fall within these categories." (Introduction, page 6-7)
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