"When conflicts emerge the media often become, intended or not, a key actor. It is through media that every party within a conflict attempts to convey its own narrative, contributing to a complex reality that affects journalists’ work in many different ways. This article aims to reflect on Bläsi...s (2004) factors of influence on conflict coverage in the context of media development in Burkina Faso and the Central African Republic. Developed from a western standpoint on war reporters covering foreign conflicts, we propose to adapt this model to ‘local’ contexts in order to provide a more holistic analysis of journalism in conflict settings, but also to propose entry points for constructive coordination among multiple media development actors. In this article, we discuss the audience dimension, the pressure put through lobbies, the journalists’ personal features, the situation on-site, structural factors referring to the broader media and information system, and the political climate. We strive to offer a critique so as to adapt to the relevance of ‘local’ journalists living and reporting in conflict-affected areas, in which media development assistance often takes place, in opposition to international foreign correspondents that are deployed to cover far-away violent conflicts." (Abstract)
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"Myths are a way of making sense of reality and in times of crisis, lack of information truthfulness can open the gateways for uncertainties and disorientation. A more culture-centered approach to social media may provide an opportunity to halt misconceptions in these contexts serving as a correctiv...e mechanism against false information. This paper asks: How do fact-checkers combat/halt Covid-19 myths and misconceptions in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Central African Republic? How do they engage in social media networks toward sense-giving and sharing corrective information? It discusses two cases of online media projects, ‘Congo Check’ and ‘Talato’, led by independent journalists that combine fact-checking skills when communicating the pandemic and attempt to engage civil society to better consume information. The data collection comprises of interviews with the journalists, as well as the Twitter handling of these projects. This study sheds light to how independent voluntary initiatives can foster the correction of Covid-19 myths and misconceptions in their localities." (Abstract)
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"This article examines the role of radios in conflict by exploring the tenets of peace journalism in the United Nations sponsored Radio Okapi (Democratic Republic of Congo) and Radio Ndeke Luka (Central African Republic) run by the Swiss Fondation Hirondelle. It is a qualitative research that interv...iewed journalists on how they perceive their role in society and margin of autonomy. It aims at answering the question: To what extent do the conventions of professional practice of journalism affect the way newsmaking is shaped under the peace journalism approach in conflict-stressed environments? The findings pointed that peace journalism encompasses the idea of a symbolic 'rapprochement' and reconcilement. Reporters stressed the notion of using journalism as a pedagogical tool. Many of the journalists have gone through life-threatening situations caused by opposition groups. Nonetheless, the testimonies accounted for a willingness to carry on with their commitment to a responsible journalism." (Abstract)
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"Das Werk bietet, nach Ländern bzw. Regionen aufgeschlüsselt, einen kompakten und aktuellen Überblick über geschichtliche Herkunft, weitere Entwicklungen und aktuelle Herausforderungen der afrikanischen Kirche aus katholischer Sicht. Dabei liegt ein Akzent auf den Beziehungen der Ortskirche zu a...nderen Konfessionen und Religionen. Experten aus den jeweiligen Ländern bzw. Kenner der jeweiligen Situation vor Ort ermöglichen einen raschen und gründlichen Zugang zu den Besonderheiten der Kirchen und ihrer jeweiligen Rolle in den afrikanischen Gesellschaften heute. Dabei werden die Komplexität und die Vielfalt der verschiedenen Situationen innerhalb Afrikas deutlich." (Klappentext)
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"The book includes an extensive section on the echoes of Rwanda, which looks at the cases of Darfur, the Central African Republic, Myanmar, and South Sudan, while the impact of social media as a new actor is examined through chapters on social media use by the Islamic State and in Syria and in other... contexts across the developing world. It also looks at the aftermath of the genocide: the shifting narrative of the genocide itself, the evolving debate over the role and impact of hate media in Rwanda, the challenge of digitizing archival records of the genocide, and the fostering of free and independent media in atrocity's wake. The volume also probes how journalists themselves confront mass atrocity and examines the preventive function of media through the use of advanced digital technology as well as radio programming in the Lake Chad Basin and the Democratic Republic of Congo." (Publisher)
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"In democracies with adjectives, the freedom of press also comes with adjectives." If the political regime is situated between a pure democracy and despotism, the freedom of press is also stuck in an in-between-situation. This statement sums up the results of Marie Soleil Frères empirical analysis ...of the role of media in reporting the election processes in six central African countries (Burundi, Central African Republic, Congo, DRC, Rwanda and Chad) with a long history of violent conflict. By carving out nine major obstacles of the role of media in these elections from the role of the parties' campaign strategies to the dangerous liaison between media and politics, the book describes how and why their role became problematic, and different from the democracy tool kit of international donors. This may not be a new subject, and most of the findings are familiar to readers with an interest in African media. But the empirical rigor and the in-depth analysis of the cases makes the book a good read and a starting point for a new debate on media support in African election processes." (Commbox-DD)
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"This in-depth investigation of the role that local news media play in Central African conflicts combines theoretical analysis with case studies from nine African countries: Burundi, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Chad, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, the Republi...c of Congo, and Rwanda. Each case study presents a comprehensive discussion of media influences during the various conflicts that have spread in the region and their impact on the peace process. Enriching the exploration, a chapter by Jean- Paul Marthoz (former director of information at Human Rights Watch) focuses on the ways in which the media in the global North cover crises on the African continent." (About the book, p.287)
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