Ukraine-Russia: Media marginalize peace
Several days ago, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said what Prof. Johan Galtung, the father of peace studies and peace journalism, has been saying for weeks. “Regardless of our righteous indignation with Russia aggression,” Galtung wrote on Twitter, “they (Ukraine and Russia) will have to talk or agree on some type of armistice sooner or later.”

Given this immutable fact, have the media responded appropriately by giving the inevitable negotiations their rightful place in the public discourse? Has the coverage of peace been proportionate to the blow by blow accounts of the war?

A small survey of news articles searched through Google (24 May, 2022) provides an unsurprising answer. A search for “Ukraine Russia war” produced 324 million hits. Related terms also had tens of millions of hits, including “Ukraine Russia  attack” (208 million); “Ukraine Russia war crimes” (51.3 million); “Ukraine Russia battle” (40.8 million); “Ukraine Russia victory” (48.1 million); and “Ukraine Russia weapons” (24.3 million).

The number of articles in our Google news search discussing the inevitable armistice and peace talks pales in comparison. This includes “Ukraine Russia negotiations” (20.2 million); “Ukraine Russia peace talks” (8.6 million); “Ukraine Russia peace proposals” (2.59 million); “Ukraine Russia peaceful solution” (3.4 million); and “Ukraine Russia peace treaty” (2.87 million). Only a paltry 125,000 stories mentioned a cease fire, while just 20,800 mentioned an armistice.

These findings echo what anyone who’s been consuming news about the war already knows: that the daily coverage of territorial gains, casualties, weaponry, and attacks is crowding out news about peace efforts, negotiations, and cease fires.

This is the antithesis of peace journalism, which seeks to make peace initiatives and proposals more visible and viable, regardless of their source. More responsible, more forward looking reporting would more frequently offer detailed, nuanced examinations of the obstacles to a negotiated settlement, and daily analysis of efforts to overcome these obstacles. 

Media consumers should seek out views about peace from a variety of sources, including those critical of both Russia (“Putin’s fate istied to war in Ukraine”) and the U.S. and NATO  (“Washington’s anti-Russia rhetoric is an obstacle to peace”). 

Media must offer as much analysis of the tactics of peace as we do the tactics of warfare. We need much more reporting like “A realistic plan for Ukraine and Russia" (Time magazine). As Dr. Galtung suggests on Twitter, let’s explore the question, “What stands in the way of #peacepolitics?”  

Peace journalism by itself can’t create peace, but it can help keep peace on the political agenda while spotlighting an “off ramp” for leaders on all sides.