Sahel journalists discuss violent extremism and media
There are few more challenging environments for journalists than the Sahel region of northern Africa, and few subjects more difficult to cover—and more important—than the terrorist threats present in the region.

It’s against this backdrop that I’ve been meeting with about 20 journalists from the region via Zoom as part of a project titled, “Strengthening the Role of Media in Countering Violent Extremism.”

The first of  the project's eight zoom sessions was held last week, and included discussions about problems with traditional media coverage of conflicts, and media and terrorism, including social media.

Yesterday, the journalists and I had a robust discussion about how terrorism is covered in their countries. One participant from Chad said that journalists want to be seen as patriotic, and therefore shouldn’t give the microphone to terrorists for comment. Several reporters talked about the difficulty in covering terrorism stories that include traveling to hard-to-reach or dangerous attack sites and getting information from non-government sources.

One interesting and unanticipated discussion was about the role of international media in terrorism reporting in the Sahel region. One journalist noted that news sources will speak only to international media, while another from Mali stated that the local media are not listened to, and that only international media have credibility. Others discussed laws that restrict what and how journalists can cover (no live coverage at the scene of terrorist attack aftermaths in Burkina Faso, for example) and the lack of resources or training (“competence,” in the words of a participant) as impediments to better, more comprehensive locally-produced coverage about terrorism.

Our conversations will continue in the coming weeks and include discussions about storytelling and narratives, media literacy, and peace journalism. The project will culminate with a face-to-face seminar in Cote D'Ivoire in January.

“Strengthening the Role of Media in Countering Violent Extremism” is organized by Equal Access International, with financial support from the U.S. Embassy in Algeria. Journalists from Mauritania, Mali, Chad, Cote D’Ivoire, Morocco, Senegal, Burkina Faso, Algeria, and Niger are participating.

 

 

Virtual project enlightens journalists from Kosovo
Journalists in Kosovo “on average strive to initiate positive peace,” according to at least one participant in today’s Zoom session.

The session was the second segment of a two part training on "Dealing With the Past/Conflict Sensitive Journalism" sponsored by forumZFD, a German development NGO, and the Center for Global Peace Journalism. The first session was held last month. 

Our discussion today began with a presentation touching upon journalists’ role in fostering positive peace, which is defined as “a more lasting peace that is built on sustainable investments in economic development and institutions as well as societal attitudes that foster peace. It can be used to gauge the resilience of a society, or its ability to absorb shocks without falling or relapsing into conflict.” (positivepeace.org).

How do journalists in Kosovo contribute to positive peace? One participant commented (in the Zoom chat), “Kosovar media reported about an Albanian taking care of an elderly Serbian lady, who was living alone. He would bring her food and everything else. In this sense, Kosovrn media should engage more in initiating positive peace.” Another added, “The media can contribute to positive peace just as they contribute to conflict. information is enough to break down all the barriers first.”

Following up, I asked if Kosovar media fuel conflict. One journalist observed, “Media in Kosovo contribute to conflict as much as for war. We could use an example the simplest news related to Kosovo police. While the police mention nationality for technical reasons, in cases when there was a traffic accident between Albanians and Serbs, media would use their ethnicity to make news even when such an accident/conflict was not an ethnic one.”

We also discussed media as a tool for reconciliation. Responding to media’s role (or lack thereof) in reconciliation in Kosovo, one journalist noted, “I don’t think Kosovar media are impeding reconciliation. For example, the Constitutional Court of Kosovo decided in favor of Decani Monastery of the Serbia Orthodox Church, and the Kosovar media reported about it.” Another added that Kosovar media build neither bridges nor walls. He wrote, “(Each year) from January to June, there are anniversaries of massacres almost every month. It is attended by state leaders, there is suffering that is normal from family members. So in this case, the media certainly need to be careful how they report. These are the cases when the media should promote peace, not hatred. Perhaps the journalists themselves have cases when they are motivated by different stories of family members who have lost their loved ones. But, here the professionalism and the intention for peace must be proved.”

Today’s session concluded with a discussion of peace journalist’s role in battling social media hate speech and disinformation. One journalist recommended that her colleagues use social media to fight stereotypes, myths and misconceptions; to make government and  businesses accountable for their actions; and to connect reporters who are interested in pursuing peace journalism.

From the Times of Israel

In the previous session last month, I covered the basics of peace journalism, and the need for peace journalism in Kosovo, especially in online networks that spread hate. We discussed examples of traditional war journalism vs. peace journalism, including stories and a photo about a recent Israeli attack on Gaza. After the attack, one Israeli newspaper ran this photo of a small brush fire in Israel that they said was caused by a “balloon borne incendiary device” launched from Gaza, rather than photos of the much more substantial damage done in Gaza by Israeli warplanes.

The organizers hope to continue the trainings in person in Kosovo and elsewhere in the Balkans in 2022.

On Counternarratives and PJ
As I prepare for eight sessions with journalists from the Sahel region, I've been working on a bit of text that explains counternarratives and their role in peace journalism. See below. My goal is to help them understand the narratives in their own media, and to brainstorm for counternarrative stories. 

Wish me luck.

Counternarratives are stories that challenge traditional, frequently utilized news media narratives about a subject or group. These counternarratives take a different, unique angle on stories about groups, and look at issues through the lens of those historically marginalized.

Counternarratives seek to provide a more 360-degree view of a group or subject, in the process shattering stereotypes and misperceptions. Peace journalists produce counternarratives that frame stories to encourage a more nuanced, thorough, and constructive societal conversation.

Examples:
Traditional media narrative—Young African Americans as only criminals, or athletes
Counternarrative—Young African Americans as scholars, community volunteers

Traditional media narrative—Asians as “model immigrants”—smart, rich
Counternarrative—Asians aren’t monolith; poverty in Asian communities

Traditional media narrative—Recipients of government benefits are lazy, don’t want to work
Counternarrative—Recipients of government benefits as hard working, holding down several jobs

Traditional media narrative—Africa is place only of war, disease, and poverty
Counternarrative—Africa as multidimensional; Africa as dynamic economic engine

Media for Peace pondered in Munich
I spent a very interesting (early) morning at the Media for Peace symposium organized by University Munchen der Bundeswehr University in Munich, Germany.

Dr. Ines Drefs (Technical University-Dortmund) went over some fascinating media research projects her PhD students are doing in Uganda and Guinea Bissau and on UN peacebuilding operations (the impact of UN radio on local radio markets) and health reporting in sub-Saharan African.

Other panelists included Dr. Sonja Kretzschmar from Bundeswehr University, Dr. Nicole Stremlau from Oxford University, and Dr. Anja Wollenberg from MiCT.

Dr. Stremlau posed some interesting questions about social media, including: Are social media or internet shutdowns ever acceptable? What is the potential of international actors to intervene in cases when social media is being used to instigate violence/mass atrocities? When might this kind of intervention occur, and to what extent could it be justified under international law? Dr. Stremlau used Myanmar, where social media has fueled conflict, as one example that prompted these ”urgent questions.” She finished by suggesting that the time is now for the UN or AU to revisit procedures and rules that might govern such media interventions in extreme cases involving mass atrocities.

My presentation, on peace journalism resources and projects worldwide, is based on the materials pasted below.

A Guide to Peace Journalism

1. Peace Journalism-An Overview

a. Definition, principles   http://professoryoungblood.blogspot.com

b. Overview  https://mediapeaceproject.smpa.gwu.edu/2017/12/14/what-is-peace-journalism/

c. Center for Global Peace Journalism

www.park.edu/peacecenter

2. Peace Journalist Magazine—Current and archived issues

www.park.edu/peacecenter

3. Peace Journalism organizations and projects worldwide--examples

a. Lebanon-Media Assoc. for Peace  https://maplebanon.org/

b. Northern Ireland-Shared Future News  https://sharedfuture.news/

c. Uganda—Refugees Online Network  https://refugeeandmigrationmedia.org/?fbclid=IwAR1waC52sVyM8veHLEK937hP4HPohB2RHRxtTvY8I4z1XR8wA_ZDElvL7cM

d. Center for Global Peace Journalism—see projects page  www.park.edu/peacecenter

e. India-Pakistan: East West Center Project

a. https://www.eastwestcenter.org/professional-development/seminars-journalism-programs/reporting-cross-border-issues-mutual-concern

b. https://www.journalistsforchange.org/

4. References and toolkit

a. Peace Journalism resources list, The Peace Journalist magazine   www.park.edu/peacecenter

b. Transcend media service—Dr. Johan Galtung  https://www.transcend.org/tms/

c. Peace Network-Nigeria  https://www.peacenetwork.org.ng/resources

d. Books—Peace Journalism Principles and Practices (Youngblood); Peace Journalism (Lynch-McGoldrick); Expanding Peace Journalism (Lynch); Peace Journalism in East Africa (Ogenga); Media and Peace in the Middle East (Tiripelli)

 

Kansas City Star project reflects the best of peace journalism
The truth can be painful. Just ask the Kansas City Star’s Mara Rose Williams, who “many times sat at my desk and cried because I knew these things happened. It made me so sad that I just cried.”

Mara Rose Williams

“These things” are a century of neglect of and racism directed at Kansas City’s African American community by the Kansas City Star newspaper. In 2020, Williams decided that the newspaper needed to expose "these things." She developed, pitched, and led a project at the Star called “The Truth in Black and White” that offered an examination of and apology for the Star’s mistreatment of  African Americans. 

This project is exemplary, textbook peace journalism.

Williams’ presentation, part of the Greater Kansas City Peacebuilding Conference, was given yesterday at Park University. The event, co-sponsored by Park’s Center for Global Peace Journalism and Johnson County Community College, was held both in person and on Zoom.

“The Truth in Black and White” analyzed the paper’s coverage of crime, education, civil rights, the 1977 flood, education, redlining, and culture. “It wasn’t enough to write an apology,” Williams said, “(so we) put together a team to research past stories and re-write them they way they should’ve been written in the first place.”

For example, in analyzing the Star's coverage of the civil rights movement, her team found that protests were framed by the paper as riots. Protesters, she said, were framed negatively, and when nothing substantive was found to smear individuals, some tiny negative tidbit was mentioned. For example, it was noted in the Star that a 16-year old black protester had bad grades, or that another black civil rights protester was divorced.

Many other times, African Americans and their achievements and struggles were simply ignored by the Star.

The goal of the project was pure peace journalism—to give a voice to the voiceless, to “transform the way the Kansas City Star attacks journalism, and deals with and writes about its marginalized communities going forward.” Williams believes “The Truth in Black and White” is doing just that—"changing the Star’s DNA.” In response to the project, the paper has formed an advisory committee and hired a race and equity editor, and has begun running African American obituaries.

Another peace journalism element embraced by the project is to “build bridges and break down silos,” according to Williams. “If a newspaper can polarize, it can also unite,” she observed.

Williams told the audience she considers herself a peace journalist. She is not alone in this assessment. Her groundbreaking work provides a blueprint for media of all kinds to reach out to marginalized communities, to give a voice to these marginalized voiceless, to build bridges between seemingly disparate communities, and to give agency to these voices as solutions to societal problems are discussed and decided.

“I wanted to be a part of peace journalism, as a journalist who perpetuated peace,” Williams said. “It’s why I got into this business. I’m happy to be a peace journalist.”

Yesterday’s session at Park was moderated by journalist and educator Lewis Diuguid. The third and final session of the peacebuilding conference is Wednesday, Oct. 27. For more details and to register for free, see https://www.jccc.edu/conferences/peacebuilding/.