Role of Journalism in 'Peace Building'

1. Zeenia Ahmed
Roll # 01
MPhil Sociology (UOS)
zeeniaahmed@yahoo.com

3. Contents:
 Definition of peace Journalism
 Definition of conflict according to peace
 Introduction
 History
 How Journalism can build peace?
 Role of Media in Peace Building
 How conflict leads towards peace building?

4. Contents
 Contrast peace Journalism and War
Journalism
 Development and future Directions
 Conclusion
 References

5. Peace Journalism
Definition:
‘When editors and reporters make choices of
what stories to report and about how to report
them’
And it also creates opportunities for the society to
consider non-violent responses to conflict.
Major Focus:
 Analyze the conflict

6. Peace Journalism
 Transform the conflict to update the concept of
balanced fairness and accuracy in reporting
 Tracing the connection between journalists
and their sources and stories they cover and
their consequences.
 Build an awareness of non-violence.
 Creativity into the practical job of everyday
editing and reporting.

7. Conflict according to peace:
According to peace journalism, conflict is:
“Relationship between two or more parties
(individuals or group), who have or think they
have incompatible goals, needs and interests”
 ABC of Conflict, A= Attitudes like Hatred
 B= behavior like violence
 C= contradiction like issues , independence.

8. Introduction:
 Its new conception in shaping news of truth. It
shapes facts rather than propaganda.
 It uncovers the dark sides of pictures.
 Media performs the crucial role in promotion of
peace it focuses on the issue of peace
keeping and peace building.
 It modify the attitudes of people towards peace
process.

9. Introduction:
 It has the quality to escalate and de-escalate
the conflict.
 It requires professional values and neutrality.
 It stands for ‘truth’ as opposed to ‘propaganda’
and ‘lies’ (-Galtung 2005:5)
 Different theorists named it differently like
‘good Journalism’, ‘accurate Journalism’, ‘post
realistic journalism’, ‘conflict analysis
Journalism’, ‘de-escalation oriented conflict

10. Introduction:
reporting’ and ‘responsible Journalism’.
 It helps to promote peace initiatives.
 It allows the reader to differentiate between
stated positions and actual goals.
 Peace journalism is superior than conflict
reporting (Hanitzsch, 2004 & 2007)
 Media can contribute to conflict ending and
promote peace.

11. History Of Peace Journalism

12. History:
 Concept of ‘Peace Journalism’ was originated
1973 by ‘Johan Galtung’
 Peace Journalism give the structural and
cultural causes of violence, as it effects the
lives of people.
 It provides the platform for all conflicting
parties and provides all the possible solutions
to reduce the intensity of conflict.

13. Propaganda:
 “ Perceptions are deliberately shaped,
and cognitions manipulated to achieve a
response that furthers the desired intent
of the propagandist ” (Jowett & O’
Donnell 1999: 6)

14. Influence of Media on the
Process of Peace:
In broad spectrum, media can have some
contributions on any peace process like:
a. They can assist the political settings in which the
peace can exist.
b. Media has vibrant control on policy and approach of
stake holders to conflict.
c. Media has strong impact of discourse on peace
process, and can strengthen or weaken public
opinions.

15. Example in Pakistani context:
Political
conflict b/w
govt, Taaliban
and presssure
groups
Disturbed the
economic and
social
conditions of
communities
Causes
insecurities
and threats
from Taliban
and military
Population
leaving FATA
and forced to
migrate other
parts of
country
Population is
more
vulnerable to
violence

16. Cycle Of Violence

17. Breaking the cycle

18. Intervention for physical security

19. Peace Journalism And War
Journalism:

20. Development and Future
Directions
 The value of peace Journalism lies in the
possibility of it bringing a positive change in
the media’s coverage of conflict situations.
 Give a better understanding to the people
about different conflicting issues.
 It is actually a paradigm shift of traditional
media approach towards conflict.
 All the Journalists and Conflict resolution

21. experts have to make it applicable in their
own domains.
 Journalists have to face various threats
and it restricts the press freedom.
 The press freedom has to restore, because
peace media is almost absent in Pakistan.
 The main intention of television news is not
to inform audiences but to keep them
energized enough to carry on watching.

22. Conclusion
 Peace is unstructured and wide ranging.
 The sentiments associated with it are delicate,
individual and internal.
 Peace Journalism attempts to depolarize the
conflicts by presenting the black and white of
all sides.
 Journalism can build peace in the country.
 Media is considered as a tool to de escalate

23. Conclusion
conflict.
 Journalism influence the policy makers
towards peace.
 It brings hidden stories in front of audience.
 It’s the prime duty of journalists to adopt a
balanced stance during conflict situation.
 Peace Journalism help bridge the gaps
between the enemies.

24. Conclusion
 Lack of education is taken as an
impediment to proper reporting.
 Journalists should develop the complete
perception of the conflict to their audience
in order to mirror the reality.
 Negative minded journalists frame news in
terms of tension creation.

25. References:
 McGoldrick.A, Lynch. J. ‘Peace
Journalism’, reporting the world.
(http://www.transcend.org/tri/downloads/Mc
Goldrick_Lynch_Peace-Journalism.pdf)
 Lynch.J, 2007. A course in peace
journalism. Conflict and communication
online. (http://www.cco.regener-
online.de/2007_1/pdf/lynch.pdf)