Community Journalism for Peace

Red BatarioCenter for Community Journalism and Development

You and the community: A current reality dialogue

• What is my role as a journalist in my community?

• How am I perceived as a journalist in my community?

• What conflict issues have I reported over the last two years?

• What peace issues have I reported over the last two years?

Covering Conflict, Reporting Peace

Looking at the social consequences of news reporting

Journalists are always part of the social process

Conflict is a social process...

...so is the quest for peace

Conventional role of journalists in conflict• Helping parties

communicate where there is no direct communication

• Exploring conflict by carrying messages between parties

• Educating parties

• Convening parties

• Helping to evaluate by assessing possible solutions

• Acting as enforcers by monitoring agreements

• Legitimizing by encouraging parties and giving them support

Potential role of journalists in preventing and managing conflict

• Channelling communication between parties

• Educating

• Confidence-building

• Analyzing conflict

• Identifying the interests underlying the issues

• Providing an emotional outlet

• Encouraging a balance of power

• Face saving and consensus building

• Solution-building

Pre-Conflict During Conflict Post-Conflict

Issues Indirect communication between adversaries of issuing threats

Increased HR violations

Promotion of stereotypes as the “other” including us-as-good and them-as-evil

Heightened tension, including fighting

Displacement of population

Perceptions of others as non-human, psychopaths, etc. to justify violence

Channels of communication broken down

Repatriation of refugees

Implementation of peace settlement

Potential presence of peace-keeping forces or monitors

Demands for justice (atrocities, etc)

Reconstruction

Pre-Conflict During Conflict Post-Conflict

Objectives of pro-active media programming

Help prevent outbreak of violence by providing an information vehicle for groups in dispute

Develop programming which frames the crisis in a manner which encourages a peaceful resolution of the conflict

Provide accountability for human rights abuses

Promote confidence building between parties and identify common ground

Help mitigate the effects of conflict on the population by ensuring they have access to credible and impartial humanitarian information

Produce programming which alerts the population to the role of the international relief community

Provide vehicle for discussion on ways to resolve conflict

Focus on health and security issues

Render participation of individuals in society in a positive light

Continue to give people, especially those directly affected by the conflict, a larger voice

Cover issues of repatriation especially where returnees are part of ethnic minority and build a culture of racial sensitivity and acceptance

‘It is not the things themselves which

trouble us, but the opinions that we have

about these things..’Epictutus, a Greek philosopher

Redefine perceptions for peace building by asking these questions

•What is the conflict about? Which are the groups involved in the conflict and how do they define themselves? What are their goals?

•What are the major issues involved in the conflict, such as economic inequality or political discrimination?

•What are the needs of the parties and what are their fears? Are these realistic?

•What potential outcomes are there, other than one side imposing itself on the other?

•What is the extent of the conflict’s effects, both within and outside the conflict areas?

•What is the history of the conflict? What are the deeper roots, especially cultural? What have been attempts to resolve it?

•Who is initiating reconciliation efforts?

•What is the nature of the relationship between the adversaries?

Conflict can be perceived by local populations as...•Adversarial – viewing conflict as “us vs.

them,” either win or lose, all or nothing

•Reflective – looking inward, reflecting on the hurt and pain the conflict has caused and considering the best ways to achieve real goals

•Integrative – looking both as one’s own side and the need to understand the views of the opponents

As a journalist what would you focus on?

Video

Typical characteristics of war reporting

•Reactive rather than pro-active

•Focuses only on the visible and immediate effect of violence

•Dehumanizes “the enemy” through accounts of atrocities

•Creates an “us” and “them” scenario, helping “our” half-truths while denouncing “their” propaganda

•Equates peace with victory and ceasefire

•Conceals or ignores peace initiatives

•Follows the agendas of the military, other armed force, and/or political elites

Case Study 1Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe has sent in military support to the

Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to back Joseph Kabila’s struggling FARDC forces against the rebel group National Congress for the Defense of the People (CNDP). “Their role is real,” said a CNDP spokesperson.

Commenting on the atrocities committed last week the spokesperson said: “They raped women, looted and maimed and mutilated families.”

He also claimed that these brutal atrocities in Goma town were designed by the DR Congo government troops in a bid to put blame on the advancing rebel army (CNDP).

“Bad things happened in Goma before we ceased fire. When just four kilometers away and before government soldiers withdrew, they killed people who don’t speak Kinyarwanda, and this was planned to be blamed on us to tarnish our image once we took over,” the spokesperson said.

Take another look Rebels in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) say

Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe has sent in military support to the Eastern DRC to back Joseph Kabila’s struggling FARDC forces.

A Zimbabwe government spokesperson denies the claim.

The CNDP spokesperson also says the atrocities in Goma town were designed by the DR Congo government troops in a bid to put blame on the advancing rebel army (CNDP).

The United Nations says it is looking into the claim.

The current outbreak of violence began one week ago and it has left tens of thousands of people homeless.

Spot the differenceTraditional reporting Conflict sensitive reporting

• The story reports a claim by unnamed CNDP sources without proof

• The story is full of blame and lacks proof – there is no evidence of Zimbabwe support

• The story is one-sided and takes sides. It tells the story from only one point of view and there is no effort to seek comment from either Zimbabwe or Kinshasa

• The report does not seek out other interests of points of view

• The report gives some explanation for the violence

• The report seeks out other points of view

• The report brings a human element to the story

What we should ask ourselves• Is this necessary

news? What is the public interest in this report? Is it news because only because it is about the other side?

• Even if the facts are correct, will this report encourage prejudice? Can it be reported differently?

• Are there enough different voices in the report? Did we ask enough different opinions from ordinary people and experts?

• Are there words and comments in the report which offend people or cause prejudice? Are these comments balanced by other comments?

Thinking of journalism in a new way

Media and citizens as fair-minded participants in the determining the news agenda

The journalist as member of the community

Helping flesh out ideas that could solve local problems

Examining power imbalances

Who has the loudest voice?

Who is heard least?

Which story gets told more

often?

• Elite• Positions of

wealth

• Vulnerable groups

• Women and children

• Those with power?

Power imbalances often lead to structural violence

•Not only physical violence (war, murder, rape)

•Manifests itself in unequal chances in society

•Some people are marginalized because they are poor, or they belong to minority groups

•Exploitation, oppression, and deprivation are symptoms of unequal power structures in society

Journalists can begin to...

•Explore the different community layers

•Examine what’s wrong but report also what’s working

•Find ways by which people can resolve local problems

• Expand different voices

We can also

•Spend time to understand the life of the community

•Listen more closely to what people are saying

•Suspend our cynicism

•Brace for biases and opinions

Hindering and promoting peace AN EXERCISE

How do we go about it?• Divide into four groups

(print media, broadcast media, family, school)

• Form four parallel lines at least 10 feet away from the Manila paper

• Round 1: Each member of the group, one after the other, will run to the Manila paper and write down a word or phrase corresponding to something that will hinder peace.

• After finishing writing, the group member should shake hands and offer the sign of peace to the members of the other groups.

• Round 2: Each member of the group, one after the other, will run to the Manila paper and write down a word or phrase corresponding to something that will promote peace.