"Applying an inclusive concept of ‘conflicted societies’ that goes beyond those affected by violent conflict to include traditionally ‘stable’ but increasingly polarised democracies, such as the UK and the USA, contributors engage with longstanding questions and new challenges surrounding co...ncepts of responsibility, trust, public service, and public interest in journalism. The unique span of studies offers international scope, including societies often overlooked in media and journalism studies, such as Northern Ireland, Turkey, Cyprus, Pakistan, The Democratic Republic of Congo, and the Central African Republic. Chapters also feature contemporary case studies, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, as a route into understanding the pertinent issue of fake news, and the ‘local turn’ in journalism." (Publisher)
more
"This article presents and discusses the results of an experiment, which gathered audience responses to television news coded as war journalism and peace journalism respectively, in two countries, Australia and the Philippines. From the peace journalism model, evaluative criteria were first derived ...as a set of headings for content analysis of existing television news as broadcast in each country. The test material was then coded to fall within the upper and lower peace journalism quintiles of the ‘idiom and range’ of local television journalism in each case. Distinctions under the headings were particularized for individual stories by critical discourse analysis, to disclose potential sources of influence transmitted into audience frames. Data about emotional responses, gathered from self-reporting questionnaires, were combined with a textual artefact, with participants completing a ‘thought-listing protocol’ as they watched. Focus groups also viewed the material and provided more in-depth narrative responses. Watching peace journalism left people less angry and fearful, and more hopeful and empathic. Peace journalism viewers were also less inclined to apportion ‘blame’ to one ‘side’, and more likely to think about cooperative solutions to the problems presented." (Abstract)
more
"Peace journalism (PJ), originally proposed by Johan Galtung as a set of ideational distinctions in representations of conflict, has served as the organizing principle for both scholarly research and practical application. Much of the latter has come through media development aid, generally taking t...he form of professional training courses for editors and reporters. The effectiveness of such schemes depends on activating and galvanizing journalistic agency to change the content of reporting. This highlights a paradox: PJ is the policy response to Galtung’s landmark 1965 essay, published with Mari Holmboe Ruge, ‘The structure of foreign news’, which, instead, attributed the chief influences on news content to the political economy of media. This article presents and considers two sets of data. One comes from interviews with sixteen alumni of PJ training courses, in which they disclose which aspects proved most readily applicable in their work. The other is based on a survey of 55 articles from The Peace Journalist, a biannual magazine published by the Global Peace Journalism Center at Park University, Missouri, which, between them, report on training courses in 33 countries over ten years. It shows which aspects of PJ are most often emphasized in such initiatives, and in what kind of conflict contexts. The two data sets are then compared and cross-referenced to show how both trainers and trainees set out to supplement and circumvent structural constraints and thus overcome the PJ paradox." (Abstract)
more
"This book focuses on the reporting of human rights in broadly defined times of conflict. It brings together scholarly and professional perspectives on the role of the media in constructing human rights and peacebuilding options in conflict and post-conflict environments, drawing on case studies fro...m Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia. It also provides critical reflections on the challenges faced by journalists and explores the implications of constructing human rights and peacebuilding options in their day-to-day professional activities." (Publisher)
more