Seminar saves life (maybe); provides catharsis
Today during an online seminar I was leading, we may have saved a life.

We were meeting with about 30 Indian and Pakistani journalists as part of a Cross Border Reporting project sponsored by the East West Center and the Center for Global Peace Journalism at Park University. As we discussed on Zoom the trauma suffered by journalists who have the awful task of reporting about the Covid-19 crisis in India and Pakistan, this message appeared in the chat:

SOS… Just getting call-Please allow me to take this platform-all friends from India. One of our colleagues from media needs oxygen at CWG at Delhi…if possible to get for him  please call me at 977#&%$#@*%

I didn’t notice this initially, since I was participating in the live discussion. Later, this message was called to my attention by the journalist who posted it as he reported that his friend and colleague not only got the oxygen he needed, but also a precious hospital bed thanks to the intervention of another journalist who was attending the seminar. 

So while we don’t exactly know if we saved this man’s life by holding our seminar, we can feel good that we provided a conduit through which at least one Covid-19 victim found some relief.

As for rest of the discussion, lives may not have been saved, but the journalists present were able to take advantage of a platform to discuss the awful, traumatic burden of reporting the horror of Covid in India, starting with the fact that a reported 150 Indian journalists have died from the virus. We asked the journalists to share their observations in the chat and in the video discussion. Here are some of their comments:

--I just lost a colleague yesterday in Karachi.

--We are all going through a lot. Journalists are being hurt by loss of lives and way they’ve been treated by the government and society. ..Journalists won’t find a mention in the vaccination campaigns. The majority under 45 are still not vaccinated—99%. They are the ones going to cremation grounds, going to the hospitals, interviewing those who are sick. Emotionally and physically they are not protected. They suffer from PTSD; many don’t sleep or have nightmares…The last two days, I’ve seen two very good friends go.

--So many journalists are working with real difficult situations. The pandemic situation is really scary. The last 14 days I couldn’t move out of my house…There is absolutely no clear strategy plan or action by the government. I live in Delhi which is the center of tragedies and sad stories. Two of my colleagues and their families have Covid. A colleague of mine died today. Even though we say we are united, every country closes their borders. In vaccination, the world is not together, and the poor are suffering. 

--In Pakistan we have lost journalists too. We are pushing the government to recognize journalists as front line workers. The government seems to be interested to do this but we are still waiting for the vaccination process to begin. We are very concerned about our journalists out in the field. Pakistan is sending all its prayers and positivity, and your pain (in India) is our pain.

--The situation is very grim here (in India). There is mismanagement of oxygen and life-saving drugs. The people suffering cannot be described in words. It’s unbelievable. Today one of the most prominent TV journalists lost their life. Reporters are doing a wonderful job despite the unprecedented challenges.

--It is quite disheartening too see that journalists are not respected or valued. When we are in need, there is no response at all. And still we are working to send info to public, despite the loss and risking our lives.

--All of us grappling with the mental health aspect of pandemic, and the fact that it’s all been so sudden…We are all going through tremendous anxiety…We have  a lot of panic daily because we don’t know what lies ahead…When you deal with this day to day you become numb. It’s hard to deal with it and process it…and how you come out of it in a way that’s productive as a journalist so that you don’t cave in to these pressures.

--In Pakistan, we are not ready for this as well. We have fewer resources in Pakistan. Compared to India, we have many fewer (Covid) tests. The Pakistani government doesn’t have facilities. Our sympathies and support are with Indian journalists—whatever we can do we are there for them.

This segment of the seminar ended with my colleague Stephen Franklin sharing some mental health tips and resources with the journalists. (For more, see: https://www.journalistsforchange.org/data-reporting-tools-global )

As I told the Indian and Pakistani journalists, I deeply admire their bravery and commitment to their public, their profession, and their colleagues. They are truly an inspiration.

Editor’s note: In part II of my report on this seminar to be published next week, I’ll discuss the second half of the workshop which dealt with applying peace journalism principles to reporting about the pandemic.

Reporting of Northern Ireland unrest 'not telling whole story'
I’m concerned about the surge in violence Northern Ireland, where I recently conducted a year-long project, and about how the unrest is being covered in the media.

Media have all too often exacerbated conflicts by engaging in ‘us vs. them’ narratives and sensationalism. At the same time, there is concern that there should be more to reporting unrest than just the surface.

Una Murphy, editor of View Digital Magazine in Northern Ireland, said via email, “As a journalist working in a society where there was armed conflict I remember the first riot I covered, the first murder scene, the first funeral.  Looking at the TV pictures of the street rioting around Easter time in 'post-conflict' Northern Ireland, I felt for the young journalists covering these events. I thought that little had changed in how these events were framed.  I'm interested in exploring peace journalism, so I felt that counting the numbers and reporting on how many petrol bombs had been thrown and how many police officers had been injured, while important, was not telling the whole story.”

To see how much of “the whole story” is being covered, in a thoroughly unscientific study, I randomly selected 8 articles from US, UK, and Northern Ireland news outlets (see below) and examined their reporting about the unrest. 

The good news first: There was a wealth of accurate information about the multifaceted causes of the violence. Only one story inaccurately framed the unrest only as strictly a “unionist vs. loyalist” event. In general, the youth involved were, under the circumstances, treated respectfully and not demonized. NewsLetter’s article is the only one that used demonizing language from authorities (“shameful and senseless”) to describe the protesters.

Fortunately, none of the articles used a Chicken Little “the Troubles are returning” framing.

On the negative side, each of the eight stories prominently featured pictures and video of mayhem, the kind lamented by Murphy—mostly fires and clashes with police. Were these images overly sensational, and did they accurately reflect the events? Also, none of the reports interviewed any of the youth involved, leaving their motivations to be speculated upon by officials. Only one story (Belfast Telegraph) substantively examined how underlying poverty and other chronic deficits in working class loyalist areas may have helped to stoke the violence. 

In all the articles, there was plenty of posturing and bloviating from politicians on all sides, and boilerplate talk about urging calm. However, while there was expert analysis in many articles (the Politico article especially), none of the stories went in-depth into actual solutions that might address the underlying causes of the unrest.

Additionally, Murphy observed a shifting narrative in reporting about the unrest. “The narrative changed a few days into the story to concentrate on criminal gangs encouraging children to riot, with the Children's Commissioner stating that the behavior of some adults amounted to 'child abuse,’” she noted.

Shifting and superficial narratives seem to be standard practice for journalists covering civil unrest—a pattern seen not only in Northern Ireland but in last summer’s coverage of the BLM protests in the US.

Murphy asks, "When you are reporting on a riot scene you don't have much time for reflection. I am interested in finding out more about how journalists can frame the story differently when violence erupts on the streets."

In my book “Peace Journalism Principles and Practices,” I present seven principles on how to frame stories differently and more responsibly report civic unrest. These principles are shown below, with my comments specifically about Northern Ireland in parenthesis:

1. Report on “them” fairly, respectfully, and with empathy. (Why are these kids angry? Desperate?)

2.  Report about the invisible causes and effects of the unrest. (The geopolitical/Brexit analysis is fine, but what were the proximate causes during the last month that sparked the riots? Are criminal gangs really to blame?)

3. Use precise and objective language (Was it a loyalist uprising, a few angry kids, or something else? Was this child abuse?)

4. Report proactively to facilitate dialogues before violence occurs (How much reporting about the poor conditions in loyalist communities was done before the riots?)

5. Report counter-narratives that provide a different perspective on the protesters, the police, and the community (Profiles of protesters, police, impacted small shop owners, etc.)

6. Report with reconciliation in mind (Where can we go from here? How can we bring these protesters back into society? How does NI heal? Is this an opportunity for Stormont to unite in common cause?)

7. Give voice to peacemakers on all sides during and after the unrest (Were there protesters who attempted to head off or end the violence? Or those in either community—not politicians—who attempted to mediate?)

Media must report when unrest occurs. The hope is that this reporting can be done in a way that doesn’t pour gasoline on the fire, and helps society consider non-violent responses to the conflict.

Articles analyzed
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-56664868
https://www.cnn.com/2021/04/09/uk/northern-ireland-violence-explainer-gbr-intl/index.html
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/explainer-what-is-behind-the-latest-unrest-in-n-ireland
https://www.politico.eu/article/northern-ireland-oped/

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/fears-mount-of-another-night-of-violence-in-northern-ireland-1.4527570
https://inews.co.uk/news/politics/belfast-riots-northern-ireland-violence-what-loyalist-nationalist-stormont-emergency-meeting-947169
https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/loyalist-concerns-cannot-be-dismissed-as-nonsense-arlene-foster-says-40303623.html
https://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/crime/calmer-streets-in-belfast-on-saturday-night-following-violent-clashes-3196245

The new Peace Journalist magazine is here
The April 2021 Peace Journalist magazine has been published. This edition features stories from around the world--Brazil, Yemen, Uganda, India and Pakistan, and elsewhere. 

The magazine can be found on Issuu at https://issuu.com/peacejournalism/docs/peace_journalist_april_2021_web .

A downloadable .pdf copy of the magazine can be found at
https://www.park.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Peace-Journalist-April-2021-web.pdf .

The next magazine will be published in October. It will be our 20th Peace Journalist magazine! See  page two of the magazine for submission details.  Enjoy!

Yemenis learn media literacy; enjoy brief respite
The horrifying war in Yemen churns on, creating a growing humanitarian catastrophe in its wake. (See UN report). In the midst of all this, I offered a group of Yemenis few hours’ worth of escape last week. 

On Thursday, I conducted a media literacy workshop for 57 Yemeni journalists sponsored by the US Embassy in Yemen and US State Department. Most were in Yemen, but a few were scattered elsewhere in the region, in Egypt, for example.

Zennia Paganini from the US Embassy/Yemen
opens the workshop.

The 2.5 hour seminar via Zoom covered in the introductory segment a discussion about whether journalists can recognize fake news, as well as definitions of terms like mis -and dis-information. The seminar transitioned into an overview of news media literacy and its principles. Then, the journalists examined mis- and disinformation case studies, especially focusing on the “Infodemic” of false information about Covid-19.

The journalists noted that the infodemic in MENA is virulent, and takes such forms as touting unproven, traditional treatments; unscientific criticism of the vaccine; false info as to the causes of Covid; social media misinformation running counter to science; and politicized excuse-making for poor handling of the crisis.

The final segment of the seminar armed the journalists with tools useful for combating misinformation. I discussed fact checking, social media verification,  ideas on educating their readers/viewers on how to be smarter news consumers, and how to check their own work and the work of others using content analysis tools, including a coding list.

I gave them the assignment to come up with a coding list to examine MENA news stories for Covid mis and dis-information. This coding list created by the participants (with a few of my suggestions thrown in) is below:

Covid misinformation coding list
--Use to analyze for misinformation MENA media produced stories about Covid. The reviewer would examine stories and look for these terms or themes, the presence or absence of which would indicate misinformation.

Scientific proof
Theoretical, or verifiable
Sensationalizes deaths
Political sources vs. medical (doctors, WHO)
Overly emotional language/approach
Unproven cures…food, herbs
Underplaying virus…political
Vaccine dangerous themes
Vaccine 100%
Covid Not a crisis/problem
Covid Human created
Spread by (any group—Shia, Sunni, Westerners, Chinese, Jews…)

I was glad to hear positive feedback after the event. Saleh Al-Mansoob, a reporter for Al-Jumhuriya newspaper, said, “The training information has been useful to us as journalists. We learned about how we can verify misleading news and rumors. What terms should we use? How do we get real information in light of the Covid-19 pandemic? We have gained new skills. This training was thorough.” Yousra Al-Nahari, an editor at Peace Journalism Platform, said, "The training was good and informative. The training focused on how journalists verify misleading news and images on social media. The trainer indicated that through Google we can identify the misleading images and he mentioned some examples of negative results due to the spread of false news."

Under the terrible circumstances, it was my honor to offer a brief respite to the violence, and provide some information to help the journalists help their public become smarter media consumers. In a very small way, maybe this workshop planted a few seeds that might someday blossom into peace.

Moldovans examine media polarization and the PJ solution
Media around the world exacerbate divisions within societies—religious, political, ethnic, economic, etc. What can be done to mitigate these effects?

This question was central to a discussion I had with about 40 colleagues on Sunday (via zoom) in Chisinau, Moldova at a seminar titled, "Democracy and Good Governance in Moldova," sponsored by the Institute for European Political Studies in Moldova (EISPM). Moldovan journalist Vitale Calgareanu (Deutsche Welle news service) also spoke after my presentation. 

My talk, titled “Polarized media and the peace journalism solution,” used as exhibit A partisan media narratives about the pandemic and the George Floyd protests and how these have further driven a wedge between Americans. I cited two conflicting studies that examined European media coverage and polarization. One study found “yet little evidence to support the idea that increased exposure to news featuring like-minded or opposing views leads to the widespread polarization of attitudes,” while conceding that there are wide country-to-country differences in polarizing media. A second study, however, showed “many indicators” of European polarization while finding that “social media seem to contribute to the process of polarization (such as through echo chambers and filter bubbles that reinforce people’s existing beliefs and reduce their exposure to opposing perspectives).” 

In a country where media are divided into Romanian and Russian language outlets like Moldova, polarization is almost built in, I said. Further exacerbating the polarization is the frozen conflict wherein a breakaway region of Moldova called Transnistria has set up their own government and is supported but not officially recognized by Russia. (No countries recognize Transnistria as an in independent nation). This sets up two very different partisan narratives about the frozen conflict, one from the Russia/Transnistria side, and the other from the Moldovan/pro-EU side.

I said that the solution to media fueled polarization is peace journalism, which rejects ‘us vs. them’ reporting and instead seeks to balance stories, build bridges, and give a ‘voice to the voiceless’ across groups. PJ, I mentioned, would offer counternarrative reporting from and about each side in the conflict.

A lively Q&A followed the session. Question included how to keep journalists independent of financial supporters (I talked about the traditional wall in US media between the advertising and editorial/news sides of the operation); and if media should advocate for social causes (I said report, yes, advocate, no since advocates cross the line and are no longer journalists).

It was wonderful visiting again with my Moldovan colleagues, especially EISPM director Dr. Viorel Cibotaru . My first Fulbright was in Moldova in 2001, and I have visited there many times since to teach, though not for about 5 years. I eagerly await my next invitation to beautiful Chisinau.