Press Freedom Day event promotes peace journalism in S. Asia
I’ve been privileged to have two consecutive meaningful experiences on World Press Freedom Day.

Last year, I spent the day with my colleagues from the Independent Journalism Center and the Independent Press Association protesting Russian disinformation and mistreatment of journalists in front of the Russian embassy in Chisinau, Moldova.

Last Saturday, World Press Freedom Day 2025, I was honored to be invited to speak via Zoom at an event sponsored by Aaghaz-e-Dosti, an Indian-based organization dedicated to building better relations between Indians and Pakistanis. (Aaghaz-e-Dosti literally means, the beginning of friendship). The presentation came at an especially fraught time given the recent deadly attack that killed 26 people in Kashmir, and today’s news of a missile test and military drills in the region. (Reuters) 

I gave an overview of peace journalism, and then answered a barrage of really good questions from the audience, including an insightful query about the role of media in peacebuilding. I pointed to an East-West Center cross-border reporting project that teamed up Indian and Pakistani journalists to report stories as an example of such collaborations can help to set the table for peace. But I was clear that journalists and journalism alone can’t bring peace—that the work we do as peace journalists is only one ingredient in a complicated recipe for peace.

One of the 25 attendees was Ms. Ela Gandhi, Mahatma Gandhi’s granddaughter. She commented that there is a great deal in common between what Mahatma Gandhi said about journalism, and the concept of peace journalism. I agree. The principles he embraced included rejecting “us vs. them reporting,” media as a tool for de-escalation, and media as a tool to foster reconciliation. (See The Peace Journalist magazine, October 2019). 

I admire the work that Aaghaz-e-Dosti does, in their words, “to eradicate mutual hatred and suspicion and desires to create unwavering bonds of peace and friendship. This is because we believe that miscommunication and lack of communication has helped sustain the conflict.  To meet our objective, Aaghaz-e-Dosti has taken several initiatives ranging from interactive sessions in schools to public demonstrations, from art-based initiatives to writing articles and issuing statements. We are moving towards our aim through peace education and advocacy among common people, young minds on both sides of border through widespread network and dedicated volunteers.” 

I share Aaghaz-e-Dosti's commitment to fostering peace and friendship in South Asia.

Young leaders study storytelling, natural resources in Honolulu
There’s nothing like 25 young people to stir things up. I mean that in a positive way, of course.

The young leaders from across Southeast Asia, aged 18-25, are here in Honolulu for a project concentrating on protecting natural resources. They’ll spend 25 days in Honolulu. Then, they’ll travel to Santa Fe, NM for five days, and finally on to Washington, DC for another four days. During this program, they're learning about natural resources and their management while they develop community projects to enhance natural resource protection in their home countries.

I’m meeting with them six times during their stay here, then accompanying them to Santa Fe and DC. Our discussions are geared towards helping them develop successful communications campaigns to promote and enhance their community resource sustainability projects. So far, we’ve talked about storytelling techniques, mis and disinformation, and media literacy. One theme I keep hitting is the importance of humanizing their online storytelling for maximum impact. The young leaders have been active, inquisitive, and engaged—the perfect students.

Their first full week in Honolulu also included a wonderful cruise on a traditional native Hawaiian vessel, a theatrical performance featuring vignettes from actresses portraying female Hawaiian historical figures, and a visit with a giant inflatable whale on Earth Day.

I look forward to being continually stirred during the next month!

Young Southeast Asian leaders arrive in Honolulu
One of the coolest projects I’ve ever been involved in began today with, fittingly, a fun session on how to make (and appreciate) an authentic Hawaiian lei. (pictured)

A group of 25 young leaders from across Southeast Asia has convened here in Honolulu for a project themed on protecting natural resources. They’ll spend 25 days in Honolulu. Then, the cohort will travel to Santa Fe, NM for five days, and finally on to Washington, DC for another four days. All along the way, they’ll be learning about natural resources and their management while they devise community projects to enhance natural resource protection in their home countries.

My role in this project is to teach sessions on mis and disinformation, peace social media, and media literacy, with an eye toward developing a proactive social media strategy to enhance their community projects.

Even after just one day, I can tell that these young leaders, aged 20-25, are smart, dedicated, and energetic. I look forward getting to know them as I teach during the next three weeks, and as I accompany them to New Mexico and DC.

Stay tuned for details.

PS--I’ve already alerted the participants about the joys of New Mexico green chiles, which I plan to consume in nearly obscene quantities!

 

New Peace Journalist magazine hits the newsstands
The April 2025 issue of The Peace Journalist magazine is out, and includes great features about innovative PJ programs in Uganda, Pakistan, Madagascar, as well as a great story about an upcoming symposium by Making Peace Visible (You can sign up for their newsletter at https://www.makingpeacevisible.org/ ) 

The magazine is posted on Scribd--https://www.scribd.com/document/847295036/Peace-Journalist-April-2025 . Enjoy!

Event examines PJ, empathy, rebuilding trust in media
(Milwaukee, Wisconsin)-Re-framing, and re-emphasizing, peace journalism approaches was on the menu on Friday at the insightful 2025 Nieman Symposium sponsored by Marquette University’s Diederich College of Communications.

The event featured two panels and a keynoter addressing the subject, “Journalism in the face of conflict and contemporary politics.”

The re-framing content came from Dr. Sue Robinson from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She framed peace journalism as a practice that should be guided by care—caring about the subjects we report about; and being a caregiver for those who have been marginalized or victimized. Robinson laid out five qualities of care for the audience of students and faculty members. These are attentiveness, responsibility, confidence, responsiveness, and solidarity. She also emphasized the importance of community building, and of listening and learning, that in turn stoke the empathy that journalists need.

While she didn’t use the term peace journalism, I think Dr. Robinson hit upon a key PJ principle nonetheless—that to build bridges, give a voice to the marginalized, offer counternarratives, and do the other things peace journalists do, one must have a foundation build on empathy.

Catherine Gicheru (L), Sudeshna Roy at Marquette Univ.

The event’s keynote speaker, Kenyan journalist, editor, and founder of the African Women Journalists’ Project Catherine Gicheru, re-emphasized many of the most compelling justifications for peace journalism. She talked about the divisive forces corroding society, including political polarization, economic marginalization, societal exclusion, and disinformation. Gicheru challenged the traditional objectivity model, noting that “Journalism is never neutral,” and that it is a journalist’s responsibility to speak truth to power.

She also opined about how journalists can help restore the public’s trust in the media by re-thinking the voices they amplify (“voice of the voiceless” in PJ parlance); working with survivors; and connecting with regular people on the ground through mechanisms like community radio. Gicheru stressed the importance of these connections, noting that, “Building bridges starts with the stories we tell.”

Building bridges is one of the concepts I emphasized in my presentation that began with the basics of peace journalism, then slid into a discussion of my recent PJ work. This includes bridge building cross border journalism programs with Indian and Pakistani journalists, as well as a project that brought together journalists from Northern Ireland and Kosovo to discuss how to responsibly report about past violent events in both places, and how those events are memorialized.

Other informative panelists included exiled journalists Pedro Molina and Juan Carlos Ampie from Nicaragua, and Anuradha Bhasin from Indian-controlled Kashmir. They discussed how journalists were silenced in their countries. Bhasin said journalism was “torn limb by limb” in Kashmir. All three warned that the same can happen here in the U.S., or anywhere. Molina noted that the best way to keep our rights is to exercise them.

Dr. Susan Moeller from the University of Maryland also presented an interesting discussion about what makes news consumers care about the world, and about how peace journalism and ethical journalism are synonymous.

It was an honor to be among these august panelists, and to hear support for the concepts of peace journalism, whether it was called that or not. Hats off to Dr. Sudeshna Roy for organizing this vitally important event.

Exiles journalists' panel, Nieman Symposium