The questions started even before I had finished introducing
myself: How did I get involved in peace journalism? How is peace journalism
different than traditional journalism? Is peace journalism biased? Objective?
This was my kind of crowd.
The attendees of my informal presentation today were
communications professors and two PhD students at Eastern Mediterranean
University in Famagusta in northern Cyprus.
The back and forth banter between the professors and I
lasted about 40 minutes—before I had even gotten to the first item on my
lecture outline. As professors, of course, their questions were both pointed
and informed. Our discussions about American media coverage of Egypt (and the
Muslim Brotherhood), Ukraine, and the Middle East were especially interesting.
They also asked me about Fox News. To the professors’ delight, I shared data
from a recent study that showed that Fox News viewers are the most ill-informed
American media consumers, scoring lower on a news quiz even than those who
self-identified as consuming no news at all.
Once I got into my lecture outline, we discussed some PJ
basics, and some ideas about teaching peace journalism. I also presented examples
of successful peace journalism projects, including the Center for Global Peace
Journalism’s projects in Uganda, Lebanon, and Kyrgyzstan. Finally, I shared some
excellent peace journalism resources (www.park.edu/peacecenter ).
I enjoyed connecting with my peers, and hope that this
presentation will mark the beginning of a long professional collaboration
between EMU and Park University.
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