Peace Journalism and conflict resolution

Despite the optimistic socio-political and economic changes achieved in the contemporary Ethiopia, seen in light of Galtung’s notions of peace, what the country has been able to achieve partially so far is negative peace. This is because intrastate latent and manifest violent conflicts are not totally absent. Moreover, given the volatility and vulnerability of the region and stalemate in its conflict with Eritrea and engagement in Somalia, Ethiopia is subtly and indirectly at interstate war. The writer argues, this does not only postpone the realization of positive peace, but also makes it daunting, complex, and time taking endeavor thereof. Hence, the vision for positive peace in Ethiopia should begin by immediate end of intermittent small and large scale latent and manifest direct violent conflicts and sustainable and comprehensive effort of building harmonious and just society. Thus, the writer concludes, the venture to end direct violence and bringing “absolute negative peace” in the short term and bridging it with addressing structural and cultural violence in the long run requires the uninterrupted furtherance of the status quo relative negative peace. Moreover, besides avoiding lapse and relapse to violent conflicts, the country needs to build and sustain socio-economic and political values and institutions of positive peace.

The main purpose of this practical handbook is to promote the peace journalism approach: a journalistic approach to storytelling that has become popular both in the academic arena and increasingly worldwide over the last 2 decades. More recently it has become of interest among the journalists in Cyprus.

This research examines how the Nation, Punch, Vanguard and Daily Trust newspapers reported Southern Kaduna conflicts in terms of frequency, direction, placement and level of sensationalism between September 2020 and March 2021. The media which are powerful tools of communication can aid in promoting peace, unity and development as well as creating conflict along ethnic, religious and political inclinations. The study which was anchored on social responsibility and agenda setting theories used both content analysis and critical discourse analysis in order to code and interpret the data collected. A total of two hundred and twenty-four (224) editions of the newspapers under review were selected using stratified random sampling technique by days of the week. Out of the sample, only 203 editions were accessed, coded and content analysed. The research reveals among other things that the reports on Southern Kaduna conflicts were mostly straightforward news constituting 92% which lack sufficient context and background. The reports were also given less prominence as almost all the reports were buried or hidden in the inside pages. Also, most of the reports on Southern Kaduna conflicts were inflammatory and sensational in order to keep the audience glued to the newspapers at the expense of accuracy and professionalism. The study therefore suggests that, media organisations should organise extensive training on conflict-sensitive reporting so as to arm reporters with professional requisite knowledge of reporting conflicts such that the reports don’t trigger more conflicts. Also, media organisations should not report conflicts in straight news format only instead; they should use editorials and features which are usually in-depth and analytical with sufficient context and background needed for conflict-sensitive journalism. And, the media should also give prominence and priority to conflict incidences in order to attract the desired government intervention which will bring about lasting solutions.

Somaliland is entering Presidential Election in November 13, 2017. Like this moment a post conflict states are vulnerable political conflict.  In according this political vulnerability, Journalism can play two ways; to trigger enter-ethnical conflict or it can be a preventive measure for such kind of conflict.
So, this study seeks to demonstrate the role of Somaliland newspapers in peace journalist after 1991 from war to peace. It discusses how Somaliland newspaper did help, shape or undermine peace-building process or printing media involved inter-clan conflicts or political competition in the country after 1991. The study also looks at peace building process in Somaliland through the lens of peace journalism. It traces the experience from the conflicts and violence in Somaliland and also describes methodology used in gathering data for the study and presents the result obtained from the study
Keywords:  Peace-making, Peace-building, State-building, peace journalism and war journalism

The study on ‘Curriculum on conflict journalism standard ’ was developed by utilising the documentary research together with a focus group of experts. The concepts of conflict, peace journalism and transformative learning were applied. The target groups of the curriculum are journalists in local and national level. There are three main learning objectives. First, to make participants to understand and realise the principles of conflict and peace. Second, to empower participants to be able to use the blended learning tools with critical thinking to explore means for resolving conflicts. Third, to make the participants understand and be able to apply the principles of war journalism vs peace journalism into their works. The curriculum will be carried on through various platforms and tools, such as the learning activities from heart, head, body and spirit.

Este estudio busca discutir si la representación que hacen los medios de los conflictos socioambientales contribuye a la transformación de los conflictos o por el contrario colaboran con el escalamiento de la polarización. El estudio se basa en un análisis cuantitativo de 933 noticias de noticieros regionales y nacionales de dos casos de conflictos, el de Tía María y el de Conga ocurridos en 2 011. Los resultados muestran que la cobertura de conflictos se concentra en la fase de crisis y en los hechos de violencia. Además, los medios al escenificar los conflictos generan un espacio donde se reproduce y amplía la conflictividad, presentando noticias desde un enmarcamiento de confrontación y de responsabilidad. En cuanto a los hechos cubiertos predominan los discursos que contribuyen a una mayor confrontación, en lugar de hechos que muestran acciones a favor de la resolución del conflicto. Finalmente en las
noticias predominan roles parcializados en contra de los actores de las protestas siendo muy pocas las noticias que
son construidas para contribuir a la resolución de los conflictos.

El presente estudio busca combinar los roles del periodismo
con la perspectiva de la transformación de conflictos
sociales, como lo sostiene Macassi (2012); eso pasa por definir
con mayor claridad los diferentes roles que la comunicación
cumple en el ciclo de vida de los conflictos. Un elemento
clave es entender que los medios pueden ser partes
primarias, secundarias o terceras, siendo este último rol el
más difícil de desempeñar. Kriesberg (1998) aporta a la discusión
señalando tres categorías diferentes de roles de terceras
partes: contribuyentes, mediadores y partisanos. Esto
permite comprender mejor la ubicación de la comunicación
en el ciclo de vida de los conflictos.

Debido a la cercanía a los actores y una mayor comprensión de las problemáticas se suele afirmar que los medios regionales podrían aportar a la transformación de los de los conflictos. Este estudio discute si los medios regionales cubren los conflictos con una perspectiva más positiva que los medios nacionales. Para ello se desarrollaron 10 indicadores de roles contribuyentes que crean condiciones para la transformación de los conflictos y 10 indicadores de roles partisanos que agudizan los conflictos. El estudio analiza 3 conflictos emblemáticos en el Perú: Tía María, Conga y Toquepala, proyectos mineros que en el 2011 generaron intensas protestas, pérdidas humanas y materiales. La metodología consistió en el análisis de 1080 noticias de 5 medios regionales y de 7 medios nacionales. Los resultados muestran que las noticias son construidas con un enmarcamiento donde predominan los discursos que promueven una mayor confrontación. Siendo muy pocos los casos de noticias que aportan a la transformación del conflicto. Los medios regionales presentan menos noticias con roles contribuyentes, mientras que los medios capitalinos presentan un poco más. Además, los medios regionales publican más noticias con roles partisanos que fomentan el escalamiento de los conflictos.

Abstract
This study discusses if the regional media made a coverage of the socio-environmental better than national media, using the nearest to the social actors and the knowledge of the problems for contribute to the transform the conflict. To measure media coverage of conflicts I develop 10 indicators of roles that contribute to conflict transformation and 10 indicators showing partisan roles that exacerbate conflict.  The study analyzes three emblematic conflicts in Peru: “Tia Maria”, “Toquepala” and “Conga”, they are a mining projects that in 2011 generated many protests, and human and material losses. The methodology consisted of an analysis of the 5 regional news media were compared with 7 national news media, making a total of 1080 analyzed.  The results show that the news is constructed with framing where discourses that contribute to a more confrontational predominate. A very few cases of news contribute to the transformation of the conflict. Regional media have fewer stories with a contributor role, while the capital media have a little more. But also, the regional media published more news promoting a partisan role to push the escalation of conflicts.

During the run-up to the 2015 general elections in Nigeria, there was widespread trepidation within and outside the nation that the increasing cases of electoral violence and political intimidation ravaging the country would snowball into full-blown violence, and possibly plunge it into civil war. This fear was largely instigated by the 2011 election, which was marred by pre- and post-election violence. Human Rights Watch (2011) estimated that the violence led to over 800 deaths in three days of rioting which engulfed parts of Northern Nigeria. Since the First Republic elections in the early 1960s, the Nigerian media have been
very involved in the political process. The diverse nature of the media makes its ideological inclination easy to decipher, because of reportage that is often tilted along ethnic and religious lines. Using data obtained through participatory action research involving 40 purposively selected participant journalists, this article proposes an alternative method of news reportage using the peace-journalism model. Developed by Lynch and McGoldrick (2005), the model encourages journalists to report social issues in ways that create opportunities for society to consider and value non-violent responses to conflict, using insights from conflict analysis and transformation to update concepts of balance, fairness
and accuracy in reporting. It also provides a new route map which traces the connections between journalists, their sources, the stories they cover and the consequences of their reportage.

Los medios y la prensa no son entes ajenos ni inocentes respecto a lo que sucede en una sociedad determinada y, en una realidad donde impera la violencia de diversos tipos y niveles, el periodismo suele formar parte de ella de una u otra manera, por lo menos así lo confirma la historia de diversos conflictos armados y guerras.
No cabe duda de que, quien tiene el poder de difundir información, tiene también el poder de configurar el mundo, o al menos, las percepciones que del mundo tenemos, que para el caso es prácticamente lo mismo, sobre todo hoy en día, en la era de la inmediatez, cuando la percepción se vuelve tan relevante, que acaba por transformarse en la realidad que habitamos.
Medios y periodistas dicen existir para exigirle cuentas, transparencia, justicia y reparación del daño a los poderes políticos y económicos, pero: ¿Quién, entonces, le puede exigir al sistema mediático -que es a su vez, un conglomerado de poderes
políticos y económicos a nivel global – eso mismo: cuentas, transparencia, justicia y reparación del daño? Las disonancias internas y externas del sistema mediático son muchas y, al final del día, las narrativas que hoy vemos en los medios surgen precisamente de esta intrincada madeja de intereses y de ambigüedades, que luego se convierten en contenidos periodísticos, cuya maraña de temas se ofrecen para hacer creer a los lectores y receptores que tanto los contenidos como sus hacedores (los periodistas) y sus difusores (los medios) son “objetivos”, “independientes”, “veraces” e “imparciales”

Arguably, no issue evokes so much emotion amongst South
Africans, post-1994, like the land and agrarian question. After
going through various stages of ‘failed’ implementations of the
land reform programme, the government decided to consider the
path of land expropriation, with a Bill to that effect already passing
the motion in Parliament. The Bill, which seeks to provide for the
expropriation of property for a public purpose or in the public
interest, was recently passed by the South African Parliament, with
attendant discordant discourses amongst the populace. Given the
vociferous nature of the South African media and its potential to
influence public perception of sensitive social issues, this article
undertakes a content analysis of media reportage of the land
expropriation Bill with a bid to ascertain how it has impacted on
public opinion and understanding of the Bill, and land reform in
general.

Notwithstanding accusations of the news media of bias, sensationalism and others in the coverage of violent conflicts, the literature indicates that the situation has not changed over many years and these accusations have persisted. What could be responsible for this situation? Does it have to do with a lack of understanding among journalists, on what their responsibility to the society is? Upholding the truth, objectivity, accuracy and fairness are among the known canons of journalism which have earned professional journalists respect and the confidence of their audiences. The normative theory of journalism prescribes working for societal good as a major journalism obligation, into which promoting peace fits. However, journalists face a dilemma between upholding the journalism core values which stress accuracy and, reporting responsibly so as not to exacerbate tension or conflict. In Nigeria, there are those who accuse journalists and the news media of irresponsibility in the manner they report conflicts. At the same time, some others accuse them of suppressing the truth by ‘toning down’ the facts in line with the Peace Journalism Model which argues that journalists should make choices that promote peace by leaving out elements capable of aggravating tension or result in conflict. Amid these contrasting positions, how do journalists perceive their role in the coverage of conflicts?  This paper interrogates this using the conflicts between farmers and herders in four states in central Nigeria as focus. It seeks to understand the level of agreement among journalists with the postulation of the Peace Journalism Model in the coverage of these conflicts. It adopts a qualitative research approach through semi-structured interviews to seek answers to two research questions. The study found that most journalists agree that they have a duty to promote peace but admit that they face a difficulty in balancing objectivity with responsibility. The paper recommends that journalists should report conflicts accurately but without sensationalising them and go further to do follow-up stories that promote peace or proffer solution to conflicts. It posits that journalists can serve as peace advocates in the coverage of the farmers-herdsmen conflicts in Nigeria.