Media academy unleashes peace journalism passions
(THESSALONIKI, GREECE)—Passions, the academic kind, were on display this week during my peace journalism presentations at the international summer media academy (THISAM) sponsored by Aristotle University.

We had a discussion about how peace journalists should commemorate the past, especially painful or contested events. I then tasked the participants (undergraduate and graduate students and young professional journalists) to come up with a plan on how they would advise Greek media commemorating the 50th anniversary in 2024 of the Turkish invasion of Cyprus. One emotional participant said she could not be objective about this, since the invasion displaced her family. I understood what she was saying, and mentioned to the group that it’s important that we all acknowledge our biases. Other participants said that they would avoid bloody images and sensational wording when commemorating this anniversary. To these sound tactics I added the advice to remember the past but not dwell on it, and to look forward rather than only looking backward. (For more on remembering the past and memorialization, click here.)

Our discussion about media and refugees triggered another passionate student who said she’s mad about the way media marginalize refugees and the way refugees have been treated by governments. We discussed the tragic sinking of the refugee boat off of the coast of Greece, and the dearth of coverage this received compared to the contemporaneous implosion of the submersible exploring the wreck of the Titanic. (See blog). I quoted several passages from a story noting the one can’t discuss marginalizing migrant lives without considering racism and xenophobia. My passionate student, and others, agreed.

There were a number of other fascinating sessions at THISAM. These include:

--A presentation by David Simon of Yale University on reporting genocide and mass atrocities. He analyzed media coverage of the Rwanda genocide, and explained the “responsibility to protect” tenet of international law. Simon gave several ideas about how to practice what he called “atrocity prevention journalism.” These include highlighting genocide risk factors; supporting national barriers to genocide; spotlighting possible triggers of violence; and victim-centered storytelling.

--Thomas Miller from George Washington University discussed visuals, narratives, and frames. He shared photos of refugees, and asked the audience to assess if these pictures were sympathetic to refugees’ plight.

--Renate Schroeder (European Federation of Journalists) and Yannis Kotsifos (Journalist Union of Macedonia) discussed media monitoring tools in Europe, as well as the pending Europe Media Freedom Act, which is under consideration in European parliament.

For the complete THISAM program, click here.

It was an honor to teach alongside such distinguished colleagues. The participants were excellent—inquisitive, engaged, and attentive.

Even though it’s 100+ degrees (F) here, I’d do it all over again.