Webinars spread word about peace journalism basics; PJ & war
Even though I’m a Fulbright Scholar here in Moldova, my activities as director of the Center for Global Peace Journalism continue, including producing the Peace Journalist magazine (new issue in April!) and giving webinars to various groups around the world. 

Dr. Uchenna Ekwo, at GMU event

I presented at two such webinars last week. The first was a presentation for students at Hong Kong Baptist University. I introduced the concept of peace journalism, then discussed some questions that journalists and media consumers should be asking about war coverage. These include questions about balance (Does the coverage present all survivors as worthy? Do the stories and images accurately portray suffering on all sides? Does coverage generalize, stereotype, scapegoat, and demonize “them”? Is the coverage biased? Is it “good guys vs. bad guys”? Are voices heard from only one side?); whether the coverage is contextual; and whether peace plans/proposals are reflexibely dismissed by the media as unworkable, unrealistic, and/or undesirable.

I was challenged by one participant who believed that peace journalism is not objective. I appreciated his observations, though I disagreed. I mentioned the words of Dr. Johan Galtung, PJ’s “father.” He told me that no one accuses a war reporter of being biased in favor of war. Why can’t a peace reporter get the same consideration? I also said that objectivity is a chimera at any rate, and that journalists make hundreds of subjective choices (whom to interview, angle, lead, word choice, etc.) with each story. Why not add one more choice that considers the consequences of one’s reporting?

At the second webinar, I was one of three panelists on a peace journalism event sponsored by Rotary District 7620 and George Mason University-GMU (Fairfax, VA). I started with an introduction of the basics of peace journalism. Then Turkish journalist and educator Ayce Ozerdem gave a great presentation on the connections between PJ and media literacy, and how PJ can provide a framework for evaluating media content. I’ve often though that PJ and media literacy are two sides of the same coin—one dealing with creating and disseminating information, the other with receiving and interpreting this information. The final speaker was Dr. Uchenna Ekwo, author and president of the Center for Media and Peace Initiatives in New York. His insightful comments touched on the importance of journalism in peacebuilding, the challenges of peace reporting in post conflict situations, and the conflicting interests that challenge reporters.

It’s always great to connect with students and colleagues across time zones—in this case, the 13 time zones from Virginia to Hong Kong.