Ferguson, media article published in Kansas City Star

My op/ed article, "The media went overboard in Ferguson," is published in today's Kansas City Star. I've gotten lots of interesting feedback, most of it positive. Many of the comments were about my observations about the video of Michael Brown allegedly robbing the convenience story. Is this video relevant, and was it well handled (and properly put into perspective) by the media?

Also, I met with about 25 reporters on Friday at the Kansas City Star. We had a robust discussion about the Ferguson coverage specifically, and generally about media responsibility and ethics. As usual, I learned more from my audience than they learned from me.

Covering Civic Unrest: A Peace Journalism Perspective

The unrest across the state in Ferguson, Missouri has fueled a number of questions about how reporters should cover the violence there. Indeed, how to report about Ferguson (and future Fergusons) will be at the top of the agenda when I meet with reporters at The Kansas City Star newspaper on Friday. As I prepare for Friday's discussion, I have come up with a tip sheet for covering civic unrest. Of course, any suggestions or input you might have would be most welcome.

Peace Journalism and Covering Civic Unrest

Be proactive before violent unrest occurs—engender dialogues, offer a platform to the marginalized, and contextualize reporting about contentious incidents between officials and citizens.

Reporting in general:

A.      Provide analysis and context, not just play-by-play;

B.      Give voice to the voiceless;

C.      Avoid official propaganda, or at least offer critical analysis of this propaganda;

D.     Avoid us-vs-them characterizations (Black vs. White, Christian vs. Muslim, etc.);

E.      Report about the invisible effects of violence;

F.       Use non inflammatory, non-sensational language;

G.     Report counter-narratives that offer non-traditional perspectives on all the players involved;

H.     Give peacemakers a voice; report about sustainable solutions (not just cease-fires)

Visual reporting—questions to consider:

A.      Are these images sensational? Bloody? Offensive to some, or most?

B.      Are the images necessary for a complete understanding of the story? 

C.      Are the images prejudicial in a way that does not reflect the reality of the situation? 

D.     What about the families of those involved—police or protesters beaten, bloody, or otherwise injured? Do we take into consideration the reaction of affected families?

E.      Do the pictures in any way glorify the violence, making it seem attractive? Is our coverage offering 15 minutes of fame to attention-seekers? (Particularly, live TV coverage)

Steven Youngblood
Director, Center for Global Peace Journalism
August, 2014

Call for Papers—The Peace Journalist magazine

The Peace Journalist is a semi-annual publication of the Center for Global Peace Journalism at Park University in Parkville, Missouri.

The Peace Journalist is dedicated to disseminating news and information for and about teachers, students, and practitioners of peace and conflict sensitive journalism.

Submissions are welcome from all. For the October, 2014 edition of The Peace Journalist, we are seeking short submissions (300-550 words) detailing peace journalism projects, classes, proposals, academic works in the field, etc. We also welcome longer submissions (800-1200 words) about peace or conflict sensitive journalism projects or programs, as well as academic works from the field.

The Peace Journalist will not run general articles about peace initiatives or projects, but rather seeks only articles with a strong peace media/peace journalism/conflict sensitive journalism angle.

Please submit your article via email to steve.youngblood@park.edu. Also send a 2-3 sentence biography of the author, as well as a small head and shoulders photo of the author. In addition, please submit photos and graphics that could accompany your article.

Submission deadline is Sept. 15. However, given the limited space available in this issue, it’s recommended that you submit your article early.

The April, 2014 issue of the Peace Journalist can be seen at:

http://www.park.edu/center-for-peace-journalism/_documents/The%20Peace%20Journalist%20Apr%202014-web.pdf

Thank you in advance for your interest in the Peace Journalist.

Steven L. Youngblood, Editor, The Peace Journalist

Director, Center for Global Peace Journalism

Park University

Parkville, MO USA

(816) 584-6321

www.park.edu/peacecenter

steve.youngblood@park.edu

Twitter: @PeaceJourn

 In Mexico City, journalists strive to become agents of change

Despite the challenges, journalists can be agents of change.

This important and encouraging message was the most critical take-away from the symposium, “Journalism for Change”, held last week in Mexico City. Sponsored by the NGO Ashoka, the symposium gathered influential Mexican and Latin American journalists as well as other interested parties like the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ), Poynter Institute, Corresponsal de Paz (Peace Correspondent), and the Center for Global Peace Journalism at Park University.

One intriguing and unique example of journalism for change was presented by Molly Swenson of ryot.org. Ryot.org is a website that links news to action—it’s “what’s going on in the news and what you can do about it,” according to the site. For example, at the end of a story about the Michael Brown shooting in Ferguson, Missouri, readers can learn more, donate now, or get involved (by joining Swirl, an organization committed to cross-racial dialogue). Swenson told a roundtable discussion that Ryot doesn’t pretend to be objective, and that, in fact, it’s okay to not be objective as long as that bias is known up-front to the readers.

Another journalist for change at the symposium was Pablo Espinosa, director of the Columbian magazine Innovacion Social. Espinosa describes his magazine as taking an alternative viewpoint to most of the Colombian press that eschews sensationalism and offers more analysis and solutions-based reporting.

Of course, the practice of change journalism, and peace journalism, faces many obstacles both in Colombia and Mexico. Javier Garza, a newspaper editor and representative of ICFJ, told a symposium roundtable about the obstacles to responsible journalism posed by both economics and by violence in Mexico. He said the Mexican public suffers from “sensationalism fatigue” because of the onslaught of reporting about drug killings. One related, and chilling, scenario was discussed: Can murders become so commonplace that they cease to qualify as news?

A professor from Universidad Iberoamericano (UI) in Mexico City presented survey data that underscored the challenges that Garza introduced. In a UI survey of Mexican journalists, 50% reported having been threatened by criminals or politicians, 60% reported earning less than 10,000 pesos ($760) per month; and 40% said they work for at least two different media outlets in an attempt to make ends meet. The good news is that despite these problems, a majority of Mexican journalists see themselves as agents of change.

The symposium concluded on an optimistic note, as several break-out group participants pledged to unite to disseminate change-oriented stories and to continue to exchange ideas about how to leverage media for positive change.