Greater KC Peacebuilding Conference starts Thursday
Mark your calendars for a terrific event: This Thursday, Friday, and Saturday is the annual Greater Kansas City Peacebuilding Conference. On Friday from 1-4pm at Park University, we're discussing human rights journalism Mary Sanchez, Lewis Diuguid, Bette Tate-Beaver, Sarah Margon from the Open Society Foundation, and journalist Kathryn Johnston from Northern Ireland.

For details about the conference, listen to the Danny Clinkscale podcast about the event and about peace journalism generally--https://tinyurl.com/y2k6hg4k .

You can register for free for the conference at https://secure.touchnet.com/C20110_ustores/web/product_detail.jsp?PRODUCTID=19802 .
We ask that you register especially for Saturday, since a free lunch is provided.

A future for PJ in Northern Ireland? It depends on who you ask

(Belfast, Northern Ireland)-Here at Belfast Metropolitan College, there is some disagreement about the future of peace journalism.

The bright, talkative students in Prof. John Coulter’s journalism class seem to believe that PJ is a “sensible” solution for Northern Irish media. One student said he and his generation are growing weary of what he called “orange and green,” us vs. them style reporting. Another said peace journalism is possible, but that a transition will be extremely slow—generational, in fact. Their student peers in Coleraine agreed with this assessment.

Prof. Coulter, himself a former war journalist during the Troubles, showed off some of his reporting which he characterized as traditional. This included sensational stories like the one headlined, “Vigilantes plan bomb blitz.” Coulter said PJ is not possible “when you have reporters like me...who grew up with the Troubles. I can not make the transition” to peace journalism, he said.

Instead, Coulter is promoting what he calls legacy journalism, in which senior journalists would revisit their reporting from decades ago and “make what we did relevant.” He tossed out the idea of rewriting one of his stories in a peace journalism style. I encouraged him to do this.

The students and I also discussed trauma reporting. We were collectively encouraged that most of the reporting about the recent trauma of the murder of journalist Lyra Kckee was responsible, and followed the guidelines laid out by the National Union of Journalists—NUJ. (See https://victimsandthepast.org/outputs/media-training-workshops/ )


I look forward to continuing our work in Northern Ireland next March. My project, sponsored by the US Embassy London and the US Consulate Belfast, will continue with workshops that concentrate on trauma journalism.

PJ and language: What exactly is a massacre?

(Coleraine, Northern Ireland) The most lively discussion yesterday at Ulster University (UU) in Coleraine centered around language, and specifically the word “massacre.”

I was in Coleraine visiting with UU master’s in journalism students as part of an ongoing peace journalism project in Northern Ireland sponsored by the US Embassy-London/US consulate Belfast.

One bright, skeptical student (my favorite kind) said he understood avoiding inflammatory language when reporting controversy. But he believed that using terms like “massacre” is okay in stories like school shootings since “no one is on the shooter’s side.”

At UU-Coleraine. Photo by Allan Leonardrd

Another articulate student said he thinks it’s acceptable to manipulate words and emotions in a story like a school shooting if it can stir people into action.

I disagreed with both students.

To the first student, I commented that in instances like mass shootings, the point of PJ more about rejecting subjectivity and avoiding sensationalism. “Massacre” is an imprecise term—how many killed, exactly, constitutes a “massacre?” The term also starts us down a slippery slope towards sensationalism. If “massacre” is okay, then what’s next—“bloody slaughter?” Present the facts, and let the reader decide if a massacre occurred, I said.

As for the second student who wants to stir people into action, I asked, when is it okay for journalists to feed people’s emotions? Who decides? As journalist Allan Leonard (who attended the session) pointed out, it’s ironic that peace journalism is often criticized for not being objective, yet in this instance it’s a traditional journalist who is willing to cross the line into advocacy.


I appreciated the thoughtful discussion (one of the best I’ve had) and the invitation by Prof. Milne Roundtree to come to UU. I look forward to my next visit to Coleraine.

The October Peace Journalist magazine has arrived!

The new Peace Journalist magazine is out, and features Prof. Raj Gandhi discussing peace journalism as well as dispatches from Ghana, South Korea, Cameroon, and elsewhere.

You can access the magazine as a .pdf file at:
https://www.park.edu/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Peace-Journalist-Oct-2019-web.pdf .

Or, you can view the magazine in a flip-through format at:
https://issuu.com/peacejournalism/docs/peace_journalist_oct_2019-web .

The next edition of the magazine is April, 2020. Submission information can be found on page 2 of the magazine.

Enjoy!

Steven Youngblood
Editor, The Peace Journalist
Director, Center for Global Peace Journalism
@PeaceJourn

Kansas City peacebuilders exemplify Peace Day's spirit

Note: This article also appears in the Kansas City Star at:
https://www.kansascity.com/opinion/readers-opinion/guest-commentary/article235150442.html

When you open the paper or turn on the TV and see the daily flood of tragic news about violence and its victims, it’s easy to feel discouraged, even hopeless.

While we regularly view stories showing the heart-wrenching impact of violence on its victims, the media report much less frequently about what’s being done to stem this violence and build peace. For example, a recent Nexis Uni news search (for Sept. 12, 2019) showed a greater than 4 to 1 ratio of hits for crime and violence stories than for peace and peacebuilding stories.

Yet, even though they’re frequently out of the spotlight, it’s encouraging to know on this International Day of Peace that Kansas City’s peacebuilders are ubiquitous, and actively engaged to make our community more harmonious.

The nascent Greater Kansas City Peacebuilding Coalition has compiled a list of anti-violence, peace-promoting organizations in the KC area. This list includes 113 organizations that address poverty and homelessness (Bishop Sullivan Center at bishopsullivan.org and Cherith Brook at cherithbrookcw.blogspot.com); international connectedness (Global Ties KC at globaltieskc.org and the Sister City Association of Kansas City at kcsistercities.org); and peacebuilding education (the Center for Global Peace Journalism at Park University at park.edu/peacecenter the Johnson County Community College Office of International Education at jccc.edu, the Buchanan Initiative for Peace and Non-Violence at Avila University at avila.edu/academics/avila-centers-initiatives/buchanan-peace-nonviolence and Global and Multicultural Education-GAME-kcglobalconcepts.org/game/).

Among these entities, Kansas City is fortunate to have numerous “rock star” peacebuilders and peacebuilding organizations. For example:

--The Center for Conflict Resolution (ccrkc.org), which does programming in area schools designed to “teach skills that prevent normal conflict from becoming verbally or physically violent.” They also provide mediation and conflict resolution training.
--Ad Hoc Group Against Crime (adhocgroupkc.com), which promotes healing and justice by serving as a bridge between the community and law enforcement. They also provide support to victims of violent crime, and work to prevent violence in KC.
--International Relations Council (irckc.org), which works with partner organizations to bring a global perspective to the community. IRC hosts international speakers, student forums, and smaller discussions about vital issues affecting our society.
--Rotary International (rotary.org), an international service organization, has a strong area presence. There are 21 Rotary Clubs in the KC area on the Missouri side, and 17 more in Kansas, engaged in peacebuilding projects like anti-bullying initiatives in schools and collecting shoes for South American orphans.

Volunteering with one of these organizations is a great way to contribute to peace, but if you’re not a “joiner,” don’t despair. According to the U.S. Institute for Peace (usip.org) and Mediators Without Borders (mwbdr.com), you can still build peace by:

--Volunteering to help those in need (there is a strong connection between poverty and violence)
--Attending an event like the annual Greater Kansas City Peacebuilding Conference on Oct. 31 (11:30 a.m. at Avila University), Nov. 1 (1:00 p.m. at Park University), and Nov. 2 (8:30 a.m. at Johnson County Community College). This year's theme is Human Rights and Peacebuilding, and the keynote speaker is Sarah Margon, foreign policy director of the Open Society Foundations. For more information, see https://www.jccc.edu/conferences/peacebuilding/ .
--Spreading the word about organizations that work to help victims of violence
--Sharing a meal with someone from a different community
--Learning about and employing techniques to resolve conflicts non-violently
--Facilitating dialogue between communities, especially those in conflict
--Creating or contributing to an artistic work or video that emphasizes peace themes
--Writing blogs, op-eds, and letters to the editor about peace
--Attending a peace rally
--Organizing a community project, especially one that builds bridges across communities

So while it’s understandable to be discouraged by the violence and discord around us, conversely, it’s easy to be encouraged by the numerous peacebuilding efforts in Kansas City, and to be empowered by the knowledge that each of us can help make our world a more peaceful place.