Dr. Gao's 'Trade 101' presentation to the Pacific Islands journalists.

Pacific journalists analyze trade, investment, peace journalism
(Honolulu, Hawaii)—In my textbook Peace Journalism Principles and Practices (now available free online), I wrote chapters applying PJ principles to lots of different kinds of reporting—crime, terrorism, migration/refugees, politics, etc. What’s missing was a chapter on reporting business, trade, and investment using Peace Journalism. 

Thus, when the East-West Center organized a project to bring 10 Pacific Islands here to Honolulu to cover this week’s Pacific Agenda Investment, Security, and Shared Prosperity Summit, I knew that I’d have to give some thought to applying PJ to these domains. I was initially concerned how stories about money could be infused with PJ’s humanistic orientation. But as you see below, the tips I shared with the journalists yesterday are a natural outflow from the principles of peace journalism:

Journalist Tim Vula discusses trade in Fiji.

Tips for applying PJ principles to economic, trade, and development reporting:
1. Give voice to the marginalized: Move beyond the perspectives of CEOs and government officials. Report on the impact of investments and trade (and trade disputes and tariffs) on everyday people—farmers, fishermen, workers, etc. Interview these people.

2. Build bridges, not walls: In international trade disputes, avoid nationalistic stereotypes and language (trade war, battle for market share, economic onslaught) that demonize foreign competitors and present trade as a zero-sum game (“we win, you lose”). Highlight the human stories of everyday people to build empathy and understanding across borders.

3. Examine structural economic inequality: How do trade and investment policies and deals fuel economic discrimination, poverty, and social injustice? For example, how might trade and investment deals exacerbate structural inequalities and fuel the displacement of indigenous communities, pollute traditional fishing grounds, marginalize poor communities, or impact tourism workers?

4. Ensure accountability: Following the investigative model used for the Solomon Islands' COVID-19 stimulus, PJ reporters should expose corruption and track whether investment funds actually reach the marginalized groups they were intended to assist. (see Story) This also means critically analyzing government and corporate statistical claims—such as job creation or green investment promises—instead of reporting them as undisputed facts.

5. Report counternarratives: This would include:
a. Reporting on peace dividends (stories where business and trade have successfully fostered reconciliation or stability, or strengthened ties between countries)
b. Reporting on the invisible effects of economic conflicts like lost jobs, small business degradation, and natural resource depletion.
c. Stories that shift the focus from the "US vs. China" narratives. Instead, report on how specific trade or security deals impact the daily lives and agency of local Pacific Islanders.
d. Highlight how shared interests and economic and trade collaboration can create mutual benefits for everyday people. (instead of framing trade as a “we win, you lose” zero-sum game).

Randy Smith presents on trade, business reporting.

Yesterday’s workshop for the 10 journalists from 9 Pacific Island countries/territories also included informative presentations by Stewart Yerton (Honolulu Civil Beat reporter); Dr. Guanlin Gao (professor, Chaminade University); and Randy Smith (Univ. of Missouri professor emeritus; president Alfred Friendly Press Partners). Smith discussed the basics of business and trade reporting, including the importance of making the complex understandable, and infusing each story with people (per peace journalism’s suggestion), data, and expertise. Yerton explored the nuances of reporting about trade deals, reminding the journalists about balancing the pros and cons while holding officials accountable. Dr. Gao gave a lively presentation, sort of a Pacific Trade and Investment 101, where she emphasized that products are mostly jointly produced (“co-production”), with different components and different manufacturing steps for any single product taking place in many different countries.

Today, the Pacific Islands journalists begin reporting about the Investment Summit. I'll write about their experiences during the summit, and at a field trip to the Civil Beat newsroom, later this week.

Journalist Leilani McQuinn from the Marshall Islands.