New Center for Global Peace Journalism takes baby steps

Park University’s newest innovation is just 10 days old, but already standing in the crib and clanking a metal cup along the bars.

First, a beta website has been posted. On it, you can find some basic info about the center and its activities. Be forewarned: the emphasis here is solely on the content, thus, you will notice that the design is somewhat lacking. Soon, this will be converted by a real designer into a presentable website. For the time being, your comments about the content would be most welcome.

Second, the center has made tentative steps in identifying and contacting potential partner organizations and individuals. I’ve already received encouraging responses from Uganda, Somalia, Lebanon, Afghanistan, and Nigeria. I’ll be contacting soon potential partners in Romania and Moldova. One potential partner, the Stanford University Peace Innovation Center, has contacted me, and would like to discuss how a Peace Journalism Challenge they’re sponsoring might fit into the work done by our center. More on this soon.

Debating Peace Journalism

Yesterday in my PJ class, students debated the pros and cons of peace journalism. Their debate was centered around the academic arguments framed in a chapter from my book titled, “Peace Journalism—The Academic Debate”. Among the points of contention: Is PJ objective? Ethical? Is PJ “good” or “proper” journalism? Should journalists be patriotic? Don’t media have to be sensational to attract an audience? Are peace journalists biased, and does it matter if they are?

The debate was won by the pro-PJ faction. They will be feasting on free donuts during the next class courtesy of anti-PJ debaters.

--Follow me on Twitter @PeaceJourn --