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.

Are our projects contributing to positive peace? Ask IEP
How do you know if a society is truly peaceful? How can you measure the benefits of peace, and the cost of violent conflict ($1.7 trillion dollars, by the way)? And for our roles as peacebuilders, how can we assess if our organizations and projects are making a real difference?

IEP, the Institute of Economics and Peace ( www.economicsandpeace.org ) to the rescue!

I had the privilege of meeting with Michael Collins from IEP last week, and even though I was familiar with IEP’s work, our session with Michael was nonetheless a tremendous learning experience.

I had known about IEP’s groundbreaking work producing an annual Positive Peace Report (https://www.economicsandpeace.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/PPR-2019-web.pdf) which evaluates countries for their levels of positive peace by measuring what they call pillars of peace—well functioning government, free flow of information, human capital, good relations with neighbors, acceptance of the rights of others, low levels of corruption, equitable distribution of resources. and sound business environment. 

Positive Peace Pillars

What I hadn’t thought of is how valuable these pillars of peace are when used as an assessment tool for any peace project. For example, in my projects at the Center for Global Peace Journalism, am I having an impact in each of these eight pillar areas? The same with the Greater Kansas City Peacebuilding Conference we co-sponsor each fall with Johnson County Community College: Are we positioning the conference so that we can have an impact across all eight peace pillar domains? For both my center and the conference, the answer is that we hit some of the peace pillars, but not all.

IEP, based in Australia with five other offices worldwide, has also produced another invaluable resource for peacebuilders—a report dedicated to Covid 19 and Peace (https://www.economicsandpeace.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/PPR-2019-web.pdf). Among its many findings: 

--The pandemic raised tensions between the US and China over the role of the World Health Organization (WHO), trade disputes, and the origins of the virus
--The Global Peace Index is expected to deteriorate although military expenditures could drop as countries redirect resources to propping up their economies.
--As economies contract due to shutdowns, countries will find it more difficult to repay their existing debt.
--“The economic downturn will impact food security. A total of 113 million people in 53 countries were already on the brink of starvation even before the onset of the pandemic. Countries such as Venezuela, Burundi and Yemen will see deepening food shortages.”

For peacebuilders, peace studies instructors, and anyone just interested in peace, the IEP’s resources are an invaluable tool for those navigating this complex, dynamic field.