MEDIA In Peacebuilding
and Conflict Prevention Documentation 2008
850 delegates from
90 countries representing 320 institutions
Afghanistan Albania Algeria Argentina Austria Belgium Bolivia Brazil Bulgaria Cambodia Canada Cape Verde Chad Chile China Congo Denmark Egypt Estonia Ethiopia France Germany Ghana India Indonesia Iran Iraq Israel Italy Japan Jemen Jordan Kenya Kuwait Lebanon Luxembourg Malaysia Mexico Mozambique Myanmar Nepal Netherlands Niger Nigeria Pakistan Palestine Philippines Portugal Russia Senegal Sierra Leone Singapore Slovakia South Africa Sri Lanka Sudan Sweden Switzerland Syria Tanzania Thailand Tunisia United Arab Emirates Uganda United Kingdom Ukraine United States of America Uzbekistan Venezuela Zimbabwe
Deutsche Welle Global Media Forum 2008
Media in Peacebuilding and conflict prevention
Conference Documentation
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DEUTSCHE WELLE GLOBAL MEDIA FORUM 2008
Contents 10 Foreword
Erik Betterman Peter Croll 14
Keynote speech
Shirin Ebadi 18 Media in peacebuilding and conflict prevention
Marc von Boemcken 23 Panels and presentations:
23 Worldwide deployment – What can and must Europe do to prevent conflicts? 26 Crisis prevention via media intervention 30 Crouching tiger, hidden dragon - Economic development, political stability and the role of the media in Asia 35 How can the truth survive? In Africa journalists are often caught between the battle lines 38 Reading between the lies – Perception and prejudice in the Middle East 42 The use of TV and radio in peacebuilding: Concrete examples 44 The AoC Rapid Response Media Mechanism (RRMM) 45 Citizen-state relations? Expectations - trust: Introducing the public sphere concept into the state-building debate 46 UN experiences in the area of radio/media projects in conflict areas and sustainability 47
Workshops:
47 The German Armed Forces and their engagement in conflict prevention: the media in a mission of the armed forces? 51 Terrorists online 54 Resources, conflicts and the role of the media 58 mediaME - Sharing tools and approaches for monitoring and evaluation in media development 62 Covering hostile environments: From conflict zones to organized crime 67 Globalization, cultural identity and conflict: Cross-cultural communication and media’s challenge in Asia
contents
74 Populism and press freedom 79 The path to peace - Can popular media contribute to freedom of opinion? 83 When telling the truth becomes a crime 84 Side events 90 Symposium: Journalistic training in conflict-related situations
90 Introduction 92 Opening address 93 Session 1: Opportunities through education 93 Journalistic training in conflict-related situations – experiences from the BBC World Service Trust 96 The future of Radio Television Afghanistan (RTA) 97 The role of media in peacebuilding and conflict prevention: opportunities through education – A Nigerian perspective 101 The role of journalistic training in Pakistan 102 Session 2: Quality journalism – journalistic training in conflict-related situations: challenges, trends and strategies 102 Journalistic training in conflict-related situations 105 Journalistic training in West Africa 108 Session 3: Quality Journalism - Journalistic training in conflict-related settings: challenges, dangers and limits 108 Significant characteristics of journalistic t raining in conflict-related situations 112 Training courses of the International Institute of Journalism (IIJ) 114 Conflicts, challenges and conflict training programs in Nepal 119 Journalistic training in Cambodia 120 Iraq – Bridging the gap between education and the working realities of journalists
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ession 4: The Bonn Network – Enabling S rapid action in conflict situations 122 Background and activities of the Bonn Network 124 Visions for the Bonn Network strategy 127 Session 5: Media diversity – Training for a digital world 127 Media diversity – training for a digital world 129 The evolving role of digital media in Africa: Kenya and Zimbabwe 133 Aspects of digital media 135 Experiences of a blogger 136 Training journalists for the digital world 137 Need for speed and the erosion of media ethics 140 Session 6: Impact on peace and conflict: What journalists and peacebuilding practitioners need to know about it 140 The role of media in peacebuilding: theory and practice 142 Conclusion 144 Press clippings 176 The role of the media in peacebuilding – A classic case of Mega FM Radio 178 The role of the mass media during the 2007 post-election violence in Kenya 192 Conference program 196
BICC authors
196 List of participants
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foreword Erik Bettermann, Director General, Deutsche Welle, Germany
We promote intercultural dialog and work to further international understanding and tolerance. This is one of the key sentences of our mission statement. Since 1953 Deutsche Welle has been reporting independently, comprehensively, truthfully and on a pluralistic basis – via radio, television and the Internet. We provide comprehensive and uncensored information to countries that lack free media, particularly crisis regions and war zones. Yet to achieve sustainable development, our efforts must go beyond the production of high quality media services: strengthening free media – and the people producing it – needs strong ties and networks, too. Our DWAKADEMIE provides training for media professionals from developing and transition countries and young, upand-coming journalists. Many of the course participants from developing countries who were trained at the DWAKADEMIE now hold high positions in their countries. To take these measures one step further we have established the Deutsche Welle Global Media Forum. The basic idea was to seat media representatives from around the world, high-profile experts from intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations, politicians, artists, entrepreneurs and scientists at the same table. And, with all modesty, the Deutsche Welle
Global Media Forum 2008 was a huge success. About 900 guests and participants took part in lectures, discussions, workshops, and presentations. The conference was an opportunity to make new contacts, gain insight and develop innovative methods of resolution for the role of the media in peacekeeping and conflict prevention. In total, there were more than 400 national and international media companies, NGOs, scientific institutes, governmental, intergovernmental and donor institutions from nearly 100 countries. This just goes to show how important it is to provide a forum that connects the globalization players – not just internationally, but also interdisciplinary as well. And it encourages us to organize another Deutsche Welle Global Media Forum in 2009 again in close cooperation with the Bonn International Center for Conversion (BICC). It is important to me that we carry on with these discussions and efforts. So I eagerly look forward to the opportunity of meeting you – and our sponsors as well – from June 3 – 5, 2009, in Bonn. We will maintain an international and interdisciplinary approach, this time focusing on technological issues related to media usage and the global exchange of information. For more details about the program and the agenda, please visit our website, www.dw-gmf.de, regularly for updates. I look forward to seeing you again in Bonn. Sincerely, Erik Bettermann Bonn, September 2008
foreword
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Peter J. Croll, Director of the Bonn International Center for Conversion (BICC), Germany
The media have a crucial role to play in post-conflict reconstruction efforts. As many projects and publications of BICC demonstrate, peace processes are usually highly complex, time-consuming and precarious affairs. They will hardly be sustainable if not adequately communicated to the people they affect. To a large extent, the successful conversion from war to peace thus depends on the professionalism and responsibility of especially local media outlets. Indeed, the media ought to do more than simply report the facts of war and violence. For example, with regard to the African continent, international broadcasters should also report on positive developments, often brought about by indigenous (rather than external) efforts. Peace – not war – should be the focus of media reporting. It is in this sense that, in my view, the media can go a long way in contributing to the promotion of security and the prevention of violent conflict. I thank the Deutsche Welle for addressing this important issue and congratulate it on its highly successful Deutsche Welle Global Media Forum 2008 on Media in Peacebuilding and Conflict Prevention. It was with great honour and pleasure that BICC could contribute to this success by hosting a workshop on the role of the media with respect to resources and conflict.
Above all, by bringing together a large number of experts from all over the world, the conference succeeded in identifying various ways in which the media can make a positive contribution to peacebuilding activities. To name just a few examples from the highly informative panel presentations, it can facilitate dialogue and reconciliation across cultural and religious divides, challenge stereotypes and spread the values of nonviolent conflict resolution. In this sense, the support of local media sources should be amongst the priorities of development assistance policy, especially in conflict and post-conflict environments. Concrete recommendations included the stepping up of concerted efforts to train media workers on the practices, values and standards of “peace journalism”. Another participant made the useful suggestion for establishing an international “media monitoring system” as an early warning device for detecting the spread of hate messages. I hope that these and other insights and recommendations of the conference will be followed up in coming activities. Indeed, with its focus an applied research, consultancy and capacity-building services, BICC is well suited to support them. As for the moment, I look forward to a fruitful cooperation with Deutsche Welle on these and similar issues in the future.
Peter J. Croll Bonn, September 2008
DEUTSCHE WELLE GLOBAL MEDIA FORUM 2008
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keynote speech
Dr. Shirin Ebadi, Lawyer and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Iran
Your Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, I am proud to be taking part in a conference at which officials and managers from important international news agencies, journalists and information experts are present. I have always described journalists as good colleagues of human rights defenders because without your cooperation we would not be able to convey reports pertaining to violation of human rights in Iran and throughout the world to the people and seek assistance from public opinion. You journalists and conveyors of news are the spokespersons of the victims of human
rights abuses. For that very reason your colleagues are harassed and persecuted by non-democratic governments that oppose the free flow of information and seek to transmit their version of the news to the people. Freedom of expression constitutes the most important tool and instrument for the healthy survival of a medium. I have, therefore, devoted my speech to the freedom of expression and factors that restrict that freedom. One of the fundamental human rights and the first step toward democracy is freedom of belief and expression. Democracy is devoid of any meaning or import as long as a nation does not enjoy the freedom to express its
keynote speech
beliefs. Although democracy is defined as the rule of the majority in a society, the majority that comes to power through free elections does not have the right to govern in whatever manner it wishes. Democracy has a framework that should be observed. We must not forget that a great many of the world’s dictators initially came to power through democracy. Yet, because they failed to respect its framework, they have not earned a good name in history. The framework for democracy is human rights law. In other words, the majority that comes to power does not have the right to act in any way it wishes. For instance, it does not have the right to neglect women, who constitute one half of the population. It does not have the right to breach the rights of the minorities. It does not have the right to restrict freedom of ideas and expression. And most important of all, it does not have the right to endorse laws in a bid to justify breaches of human rights. We must not forget that human rights stand above internal laws and even the constitution of every country. Internal laws must conform to human rights criteria. World dictators do not have the right to exploit internal laws to justify violation of human rights. Freedom of expression constitutes the most important principle of human rights and the first step toward democracy. And, of course, that means freedom for the opponents of the government because it is evident that the supporters are free to praise and eulogize the government all the time. It is the opponents who should be free to disseminate their views in any way they wish. In fact, the freedom of expression that is endorsed by human rights oversees the minorities’ rights to freedom of expression. Otherwise, it is evident that the majority that has come to power would grant itself every right and prerogative. Therefore, the followers of divine religions in a secular government, the secular individuals in a theocracy and the advocates of capitalism in a socialist government should be able to express and promulgate their beliefs in total freedom and enjoy immunity from persecution. On the basis of human rights criteria, the only instance when restrictions could be applied to human rights concerns propaganda aimed at inciting war and discord. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights has banned any declarations that could lead to war on a national or international scale. That is why in some countries, including Germany, any discus-
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sion or expression of doubt in respect of the Holocaust is officially against the law and is punishable because it is possible that expressing any doubts on the issue could lead to a repetition of atrocities, as witnessed by history in the Second World War. Naturally, this ban is justified in the sense that it averts wars. On that basis, we must avoid issues that justify war. As you know, after the disintegration of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War, a number of theorists mooted the erroneous theory of clash of civilizations to justify military spending and the world’s perpetual need for an American military force, and to help justify wars in the Middle East. That is why we must be alert and take heed that news and reports are broadcast and published correctly and are not exploited by war mongers. Unfortunately, there are a few in the media that pay less attention to that issue. For example, when they publish reports on the arrest of a terrorist or criminal who is not of Christian faith, or is an immigrant in Europe, then after the name of the offender they immediately mention his faith or nationality and in so doing indirectly turn the attention of their readers to the fact that the culprit or criminal does not belong to their faith or nationality and that his civilization is different to theirs. We must take heed not to fall into the trap of the war theorists, thus allowing the Middle East wars to be justified. It is the individual who should be held accountable for the crime he has committed, not his religion or the civilization to which he belongs. Therefore, publishing the religion or nationality of offenders in the media is wrong and conducive to war. Another issue that should be highlighted in respect of freedom of expression is censorship, which is sometimes open and blatant; meaning that the government openly makes the publication of any book or journal subject to the issuance of a permit. And, naturally, it is very severe in respect of its opponents. Such a form of censorship, which one could describe as state or official censorship, often leads to another phenomenon called “self-censorship”. This means that a writer or artist who needs to obtain the consent of the government and attain a permit but knows that he does not have total freedom to publish his work, tries to think and write in a manner that would allow his work to be published. That is how literary potential and artistic creativity are destroyed. If we compare the DEUTSCHE WELLE GLOBAL MEDIA FORUM 2008
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p ublication of a literary or artistic work to the birth of a baby, then censorship means that the baby would enter the world either stillborn or deformed.
such a line of thinking as a product of the Western culture; nor does it believe in the equality of men and women.
Such a form of censorship exists in certain countries, including Iran. In Iran publication of a book is subject to obtaining the written consent of the Culture and Islamic Guidance Ministry. No publisher is allowed to publish a book without a permit. The most significant problem concerning censorship in Iran is that it is not based on any criteria but is dependent on the viewpoint and preference of the individual commissioned to read the book to determine whether or not it merits a permit. The existing variety and assortment of viewpoints on similar subjects have thrown writers and publishers into a state of confusion and led to a growing disruption in the sphere of book publication. Even translations of well-known literary works are not exempt from the sharp blade of censorship. They do not allow just any book to be published, or they force the translator to omit sections of the book. More importantly, sometimes a book is granted a permit only to be rejected by the prosecutor and the Press Court afterwards, who subsequently punish the translator and publisher. In other words, even obtaining a permit cannot provide the writer or translator with a safety margin and save him from punishment.
The government in Iran has also filtered many internet sites, and sent a number of bloggers to prison on the charge of criticizing the government. The following are a few of these individuals: Ruzbeh Mir-Ebrahimmi, Omid Me’marian and Arash Cigarchi, each of whom has had a spell in prison.
Censorship in Iran often becomes so extreme that one cannot help feeling astonished. For instance, according to the Press Law, any criticism of the constitution in the press and public media is forbidden, and any infringements would lead to the closure of that publication. The sorrowful tale of censorship in Iran has always been the same. In other words, under the previous regime we also encountered extreme censorship. It was only in the first year of the revolution that we enjoyed a better situation. In the subsequent years, the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran would not allow books that opposed the official ideology of the ruling establishment to be published. Moreover, recently a decision was made not to issue permits for publication of works or production of films that promoted nihilism, secularism and feminism. It is interesting to note that the ruling system does not consider feminism as valid, because it regards
Currently, several of our best journalists and writers are also in prison. I honour the names of [Mohammad Sadeq] Kabudvand, [Emadeddin] Baqi and [Adnan] Hasanpur. In the past three years, a great number of publications have had their licences revoked or have been banned. They include ‘Sharq’, ‘Jomhuriyat’, and ‘Women Monthly’. The areas off-limits to the press are becoming wider by the day. There is even a ban on reporting of certain court cases. I could highlight the case of one of my own clients, Zahra Bani-Ya’qub. Zahra was a young doctor who was arrested by the morality police while she was engaged in a conversation with her fiancé in a park. She was subsequently sent to prison on the orders of an inspector. Sadly, after two days her dead body was delivered to her family. The prison officials alleged that she had committed suicide. But of course the allegation is neither compatible with the evidence presented in the case nor accepted by her parents, who maintain that their daughter was killed in prison. When such an issue is not permitted to appear in the Iranian newspapers today, then the fate of important issues, such as nuclear energy and any news related to it, or the possibility of a military attack against Iran and discussions about its consequences, is clear. Another kind of censorship, which is not as apparent as the first kind, yet acts more vigorously, is a censorship that is rife in some Western countries, such as America. In such instances, the government does not officially and openly impede publication of books and media, nor does it incarcerate an individual for the crime of writing. Yet, it acts in such a way that opponents are prevented from embarking on any form of activity. This applies to a situation when the major publications and media
keynote speech
come under the control of several groups that follow a particular ideology. They only promote ideas that they agree with and are not prepared to publish other work. In such a system, independent media and non-affiliated publications do not have the chance to compete against the big publishers and are soon crushed. Thus, the print and publication market remains in the hands of a few, destroying literary and artistic creativity. For example, if we look at the list of shareholders of major media corporations in America, we see the names of five big corporations on all the lists. These five big corporations, which are the principal owners of American media, control and manage assets that amount to five thousand billion dollars. This concentration and accumulation of capital becomes so powerful that it eclipses the role of the individual in society. The big media merge together; they become bigger and bigger and more and more powerful. For example, the Time Corporation merged with Warner Brothers and created Time Warner. And subsequently Time Warner formed a merger with A.O.L. The new corporation holds assets amounting to over 300 billion dollars, and it controlled over 300 media companies in 2005. This is one instance which I wanted to draw your attention to. And what is more interesting is that the heads of the aforementioned companies all belong to the same faction and share the same ideology. Thus, an independent-minded writer or journalist who holds a different view to theirs has very little prospect. The aforementioned concentration of power operates with such force that opponents are robbed of all initiative.
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t housand people. According to the most recent statistics, there are even some 50 million people in the world who have never seen a telephone. In such a world, how could a writer or artist create artistic work and make it accessible to his or her fans? This is perhaps the reason why the majority of literary and artistic prizes are awarded to artists and writers in the developed and industrial world. This is an unequal race. If a strong runner races against a crippled one, then the result is known even before the race commences. Winning in such a race is nothing to be proud of. Distinguished friends; What I have just told you represents merely a portion of the problems faced by your colleagues, in other words the writers and journalists who live in the non-industrial and developing countries – which in majority of cases are also non-democratic – and face severe censorship. They encounter innumerable obstacles whilst attempting to make their voices heard by the rest of the world. To that end, they need your help. I hope that following your productive discussions in this seminar you will be able to offer your colleagues effective solutions.
Since we are on the subject of covert censorship, I would like to highlight another type of censorship found in the digital world. In addition to filtering, which is prevalent in many countries and prevents writers from communicating their messages to their target audience, the digital gap that exists between the industrial developed countries and the non-industrial developing ones helps writers and artists in the developed world to reach their target audience and ensure that their voices are heard by them, while those in the developing world do not enjoy that opportunity. Whereas, on average, every two people in European states own a computer, in Angola and Nigeria there is one computer for every three DEUTSCHE WELLE GLOBAL MEDIA FORUM 2008
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Media in Peacebuilding and Conflict Prevention Marc von Boemcken, Senior Researcher, Bonn International Center for Conversion (BICC), Germany
The relation between the media and violent conflict
What is the relation between the media and violent conflict? Do the media have a responsibility to prevent the outbreak of violence? Moreover, can they contribute to peace-building activities? And if so: how? These were the core questions addressed and discussed in the “Global Media Forum 2008”, which was organized by the Deutsche Welle in cooperation with a number of international organizations, development agencies, NGOs, research institutes, political foundations and broadcasting associations. The conference took place in Bonn from 2 to 4 June 2008. Speakers and guests included journalists from print, radio, television and online, as well as development practitioners, academics, government representatives and media activists from altogether 70 different countries. The role of the media in conflict and peacebuilding was thus reflected upon from an international as well as explicitly inter-disciplinary perspective. The media as an agent for peace and an agent of war Participants agreed that the impact of the media on peace and conflict dynamics should not be underestimated. Media messages do not simply ‘report facts’. They also have a direct bearing and influence on the way that people think and act. In his Keynote Address State Secretary of the German Foreign Office, Georg Boomgarden, elaborated upon this observation by pointing to both the constructive and the potentially destructive effects of the media. Journalists, in other words, may either promote peace and reconciliation or facilitate war and hatred. As it became very clear in the remainder of
the conference, this two-faced character of the media is considerably pronounced and exacerbated by a number of recent developments in the global media landscape. Changes in the global media landscape Overall, it can be stated that the media sector has witnessed a rapid growth and expansion over the past couple of years, particularly in developing regions. An increase in available channels of communication has resulted in a more diverse array of broadcasters reaching ever larger audiences. This was demonstrated not least in the overview of media developments in the Asian region provided by Indrajit Banerjee, the Secretary General of the Asian Media Information and Communication Centre (AMIC). For example, the growing importance and popularity of what he referred to as “citizens’ journalism” and community-based media has, without a doubt, pluralized the media landscape, as it gives voice to a larger number of people with a diversity of viewpoints. Certainly, the global expansion and diversification of media channels, which is especially apparent in the advent of new information and communication technologies, holds some great potential for encouraging non-violence and peace. However, as many contributions to the conference aptly illustrated, easier access to media platforms is not always and necessarily a good thing. On the contrary, it has coincided with an increase of voices promoting hostility and violence. The workshop “terrorists online” – hosted by Deutsche Welle Distribution, Africa / Middle East – referred to many examples of how extremists in the Middle Eastern region use the Internet in order to widely distribute ‘hate messages’. In a similar fashion, Rose Kimotho, Managing Director of a Kenyan radio station,
introduction
alluded to the massive growth of local radio broadcasters throughout parts of Africa, which has lowered professional standards of journalism and provided many people with a means to either implicitly or explicitly advocate violence. The media has a responsibility Given the often detrimental effect of media messages, there was an overall consensus in the conference that journalists have a responsibility for actively challenging or at least consciously avoiding the types of broadcasts that fuel violent conflict. Hence, one of the central questions, which implicitly ran through all the session was: What can and should be done – concretely – to minimize the involvement of media outlets in war mongering whilst at the same time maximizing or enlarging the spaces available to them for promoting peacebuilding efforts? To be sure, the media, on its own, will hardly be the long-awaited panacea for ending all wars and bringing about global peace. Erlends Calabuig, Vice President for Strategy at Radio France Internationale, thus rightly cautioned that we need to be “modest in what we strive for+”. Notwithstanding this caveat, however, the conference succeeded in identifying a number of conditions, ideas and recommendations for strengthening the potential contribution of the media to fostering peaceful co-existence. Freedom of the press is essential First, and perhaps most importantly, in order to play any constructive role at all, panelists frequently pointed out that the media needs to be independent and free. Indeed, as Georg Boomgarden had it, freedom of the press is an essential factor for ensuring a democratic culture of non-violence and peace. However, the conference heard of frequent obstacles to press freedom. Often, reporting is seriously hampered by the restriction of movement in conflict zones. Journalists are denied access to certain places. Muamar Orabi, Director General of the Palestinian television channel Watan-TV, explained how it was almost impossible for Palestinian journalists to get past checkpoints and thus into Jerusalem, Nablus, or Gaza. Similarly, the Chief Editor of an Israeli television channel, David Witzthum, spoke of the difficulties for Israeli journalists to report from places such as the West Bank or Gaza Strip.
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Apart from these concrete obstacles ‘on the ground’, so to say, freedom of the press is also compromised by the way in which the media often becomes instrumentalized as a mouthpiece for government propaganda. Focusing on the Latin American region as an example, this was the subject of the workshop hosted by the Konrad Adenauer Foundation on “populism and press freedom”. As it were, political leaders who encroach upon media channels for the purpose of furthering a populist agenda seriously compromise democratic freedom. More often than not, governmental monopolization is accompanied by disciplinary sanctions in order to silence critical voices. Although new information and communication technologies are making it increasingly difficult for governments to control the flow of information, freedom of the press remains as yet a very rarely realized value across the world. Censorship laws as well as the intimidation and harassment of journalists are the norm rather than the exception in many places. This holds true for the Asian region – as vividly illustrated by Vincent Brossel from Reporters without Borders – as it does for the African continent. Whether it was United Nations’ radio reporter Claude Anthony speaking on the restrictive legal environment in Sierra Leone, journalist Itai Mushegwe on the “iron claw” of governmental control in Zimbabwe or the lawyer Delphine Djiraibé on the difficult situation in Chad: appearing as a recurrent theme throughout the conference, the lack of press freedom was lamented by many panelists. Indeed, the number of journalists being murdered as a consequence of publishing critical information is on the rise worldwide. The consideration of methods and strategies of how to improve the safety of media workers “covering hostile environments” was thus at the heart of the workshop hosted by Committee to Protect Journalists. In the end, the conference fostered general acknowledgement of the fact that journalists work most effectively if there is – in the words of Voice of America Director Danforth W. Austin – a robust “legal environment that supports them”.
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How to report on violent conflict?
Freedom of the press may be an important precondition for reporting on violent conflicts effectively and responsibly. In and by itself, however, a supportive political and legal environment will hardly suffice to make the media appear as an agent of peacebuilding. Here, the main part of the conference went one step further and also asked what journalists themselves could do to promote peace. “Peace journalism” vs. “war journalism” In his keynote address, the Secretary-General of the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union in Kuala Lumpur, David Astley, made the important distinction between “war journalism” and “peace journalism”. The former uses only few sources and confines itself to simply reporting the facts on what is going on at a very particular moment in time. By contrast, the latter would seek to broaden its coverage so as to take the wider context of a conflict into account. This would include not least a detailed consideration of the root causes of violence. “Peace journalism” thus attempts to encourage a deeper understanding of the historical, socio-political and economic background of certain events. As David Astley explained, its function is, in this sense, not simply to “inform” but also to “educate people”. A concrete example of how such a journalistic approach might look like was provided by Victor Kocher, editor of the Swiss newspaper Neue Zürcher Zeitung. With reference to the Israel-Palestine conflict he also emphasized the importance of situating events within a larger context and “identifying exactly what type of conflict” one is actually covering. Arguably, however, this is a lot easier for the press than for TV journalists, who usually do not have the time to engage in any deeper analysis. Objectivity and impartiality Obviously, peace journalism requires an objective and impartial approach. Yet, especially when reporting from conflict zones, it is not always so easy to maintain a professional distance. Salameh B. Nematt, former bureauchief of Al Hayat, was particularly outspoken against the bias prevalent in both local and international coverage of the war in Iraq. Also, journalists speaking at the
Media in Peacebuilding and Conflict Prevention
workshop hosted by the Academy for Information and Communication of the German Armed Forces, which addressed the cooperation between the military and the media in war environments, warned against the practice of being “embedded” – and thus implicitly being partial – when relying heavily on the armed forces. Although there was agreement that bias should be kept to a minimum, other speakers cautioned that an entirely objective and neutral coverage of conflicts may not be really possible. David Witzthum pointed out that journalists are often not detached from the communities they report to but very much part of these, hence “they go with the grain, not against it”. In a similar fashion, Jacky Sutton, the Media Project Manager of the United Nations Development Programme in Iraq, stressed that “no single journalist is going to grasp the entire truth”. Every issue can be approached from many different angles and perspectives. We therefore may have to accept a diversity of viewpoints and concentrate our efforts rather on promoting professional and responsible attitudes among journalists. “Do no harm!” Besides reporting the wider context of situations and, if possible, remaining unbiased, the media should also – as Armen Oganesyan, Director General of Voice of Russia, put it – try to “do no harm”. Journalists, that is, need to take care not to cater to widespread feelings of distrust and hatred in their respective audiences, thereby unwittingly facilitating the possible escalation of a conflict into violence. Reflecting on this, the Program Director of Al Jazeera, Aref Hijjawi, explained how his news network tried to calm religious violence during the “Danish cartoon crisis” by not unnecessarily aggravating the situation and putting the issue “into perspective”. Expert advice to journalists on how to deal with such culturally sensitive problems is available through the Rapid Response Media Mechanism (RRMM) of the Alliance of Civilizations, which was presented by Emmanuel Kattan. Whereas discussants agreed that the media needs to take account of religious and cultural sensibilities, it was also mentioned that a ‘do no harm’ approach ought not to result in a kind of self-censorship, withholding factual information for the sake of preserving social harmony. As Jan Hoek, Director General of Radio
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Netherlands Worldwide, asked: “Where to draw the line?” There is no easy answer to this difficult question. However, if critical events are covered from the angle of ‘peace journalism’, placing issues and facts within their wider context, the risk of unintentionally fuelling violence would almost certainly be minimized. The media as an agent for peacebuilding
The conference not only considered how the media should passively cover violent conflicts it also sought to identify concrete ways in which the media could become more directly involved in – and, indeed, actively contribute to – different peacebuilding efforts. The media can expose wrongdoings In any setting, but particularly in conflict and postconflict situations, the media has the central task of uncovering war crimes, human rights violations, corruption and similar wrongdoings. According to Father Apollonaire Malu Malu, Chairperson of the Independent Electoral Commission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, by “telling the truth” the media can make a valuable contribution toward fostering peace. Moreover, as was illustrated in the workshop hosted by the Bonn International Center for Conversion (BICC) on “Resources, Conflicts and the Role of the Media”, journalists can add valuable support to NGO campaigns, which seek to raise public awareness of, for example, the ways in which the global diamond trade finances violent conflicts. Awareness raising is usually the first step toward instigating a concerted political process. The media can contribute to early warning The discussion also addressed the endurance of particularly the international media when covering conflict issues. Once the open exchange of violence is over, many journalists lose interest and move on to the next global hotspot. Post-conflict developments, which are often highly precarious, remain very much neglected in the international news. Quite a few speakers regretted this circumstance, for the media might well take over a useful “early warning” function, alerting international attention to the likelihood of a renewed outbreak of violence in particular places.
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The media can provide a forum for dialogue and reconciliation Henriette von Kaltenborn-Stachau of the World Bank’s Communication for Governance and Accountability Program pointed out that the local media, besides other actors, plays a vital role in post-conflict reconstruction efforts. The media might provide a much-needed forum for dialogue between conflicting parties, thus serving as a bridge across cultural and religious divides. Delphine Djiraibé referred to a local radio station in Chad, which facilitated reconciliation processes and promoted a cross-community sense of shared identity. As was also stressed by Claude Anthony, local journalists may use this method to ease tensions between conflicting groups and contribute to peacebuilding. The media can transport messages of peace and unity Apart from providing a platform for inter-cultural exchange, the media may also directly communicate content promoting certain values, which are conducive to peacebuilding. Indeed, as John Marks, the President, and Susan Collin Marks, the Senior Vice President of Search for Common Ground, remarked in their presentation, conflict does not only, if at all, have a rational side to it, but also involves people emotionally. Precisely this emotional aspect can be addressed by certain media formats, be it for the better or worse. In terms of media contribution to peacebuilding, the workshop hosted by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH provided many examples and strategies on how ‘edutainment’ formats could further agendas of non-violence. More examples were given by John Marks and Susan Collin Marks. They showed clips from TV dramas carrying messages which promote tolerance between diverse ethnic groups. Media messages can also be used for the purpose of facilitating national unity, for example by covering certain sports events. This was argued by Sucharita Eashwar, the Regional Director of Nasscom in Bangalore, India. However, Professor Drew McDaniel – Director of the Southeast Asia Studies Program at the College of Communication, Ohio University – pointed out that the increasing fragmentation of the media landscape often coincides with a fragmentation of audiences DEUTSCHE WELLE GLOBAL MEDIA FORUM 2008
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along cultural and religious lines, which makes the promotion of cross-cultural unity via media outlets a lot more difficult. Although the media can, in this sense, take on a useful function in spreading certain values, the workshop on “Globalization, Cultural identity and Conflict”, hosted by the Asian Media Information and Communication Centre (AMIC), cautioned that we need to avoid a kind of “media imperialism”, with the large international broadcasters possibly imposing their very particular Western values on the rest of the world. The media can counter hate messages A central question of the conference was how the responsible media could actively contribute to challenging so-called ‘hate messages’, which seek to invoke hostility and violence. To this end, a number of recommendations were made by various speakers. Above all, there was a general agreement that rather than reverting to legal sanctions, hate media should be countered on the ‘free marketplace of ideas’ by using the ‘better argument’. As for example Rose Kimotho had it, we need to “expose their lies” and “tell the truth” instead. A similar point was also made in the workshop on “Terrorists Online”. Taking advantage of the interactive features of Web 2.0, extremists should be engaged in an argument, which effectively reveals their unfounded assumptions and misconceptions. Parallel to this, the audience ought to be better equipped to discern objective and correct information from lies and propaganda. Here, Georg Boomgaarden made the point that journalists need to promote “media literacy” on behalf of the consumers of media messages. A concrete proposal for minimizing the potentially destructive effects of ‘hate messages’ was put forward by Jan Hoek (Director General, Radio Netherlands Worldwide), who suggested setting up an “international media monitoring system”. This could serve as a useful early warning instrument and help coordinate concerted counter-measures. Moreover, Susanne Frueh, the Chief of External Relations at the Peacebuilding Support Office of the United Nations, introduced the idea of establishing a fund for quickly allocating resources to the production of emergency information against any type of hate media.
Media in Peacebuilding and Conflict Prevention
Assisting the media in promoting peace
Finally, the conference identified some overarching measures, which ought to be taken in order to improve the capacities of international as well as local media to either directly or indirectly support peacebuilding efforts. More journalists need to be trained Many speakers argued that in order to make broadcasters more responsible, promote “peace journalism” and actively involve media workers in peacebuilding programs, journalists require concrete assistance. In particular, there is a clear need for setting up more capacity building and training programs for journalists on the various ways in which the media can contribute to non-violence and peace. This is especially important in developing countries, for these are the most vulnerable to violent conflict. Not only this but, as Stephen King, the Director of the BBC World Service Trust remarked, the rapid growth of media outlets over the past couple of years has led to a large number of untrained information providers. Media assistance is a “substantive development issue” Furthermore, training and capacity building of media workers needs to be accompanied by providing the required technical infrastructure to responsible media outlets in developing regions, particularly in potentially unstable and/or post-conflict environments. As Susanne Frueh (Chief, External Relations, Peacebuilding Support Office, United Nations) emphasized, “improving the media sector must be promoted as a substantive development issue”. Closer cooperation between international media broadcasters Finally, in order to agree upon common journalistic standards and values, coordinate assistance to media sources in developing countries, and set-up international training programs for media workers from all over the world, there is a space for closer cooperation between international media broadcasters. Whether based in Asia, America, Europe or the Middle East, large broadcasting organizations should coordinate their efforts and work closely together toward the promotion of peace.
Session 1
Worldwide Deployment – What Can and Must Europe do to Prevent Conflicts? keynotes: David Astley, Secretary-General Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU), Malaysia Georg Boomgaarden, State Secretary of the German Foreign Office, Germany Moderation: Christoph Lanz, Managing Director DW-TV, Germany
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Worldwide Deployment – what Can and Must Europe do to Prevent Conflicts?
The session addressed the role of the media in conflicts and war-torn societies. David Astley pointed out that from the presently about 40 countries in the world involved in violent conflict, half are located in the region covered by the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU). In addition, many states, which have just recovered from war, remain highly unstable and may revert back to violence at any time. Hence, particularly for the ABU a discussion of the role of the media in peacebuilding and conflict prevention appears as an issue of utmost importance – indeed, one which Astley believed to be “close to the hearts” of many of his colleagues in the Asia-Pacific region. Reflecting on the role of the media in a bit more detail, Astley especially stressed the need for more objective, detailed and elaborate broadcasting. In this context, he made an important distinction between “peace journalism” and “war journalism”. The latter uses only few sources and confines itself to simply reporting the facts on what is currently going on, thereby usually presenting “winners“ and “losers”. By contrast, the former would broaden its coverage of a conflict to include a consideration of the root causes of violence; that is: it would encourage a deeper understanding of its historical, socio-political and economic background, avoiding any representation of winners and losers. Indeed, “people need to understand that contemporary conflicts and wars distinguish themselves from past ones through the fact that they are not about one side winning”. The function of such “peace journalism” is not simply to “inform” but also to “educate” people. Responsibility and journalism are indisputably linked to one another, especially when it comes to reporting on violent conflicts. Of course, in comparison to “war journalism”, such ‘responsible’ coverage requires a far broader range of sources, a more extensively researched background and, last but not least, a wider set of journalistic skills. However, Astley pointed out that unfortunately only a few broadcasters are actually “peace journalists” in the sense described above. Indeed, in many places skepticism toward the idea of peace journalism prevails. There is, therefore, a clear need to actively promote greater awareness amongst journalists on the role of the media in violent conflicts. Whereas it may make sense
to develop certain reporting standards or best-practice guidelines, a crucial means to this end are capacitybuilding programs undertaken by broadcasting unions and other organizations. In order to assess the value and impact of such trainings, three questions might be posed: How many people are we reaching? As Astley pointed out, approximately seven to eight hundred thousand people work in the electronic media alone. Taking into account the capacities of all training programs, which are concerned in some way with issues relevant to “peace journalism”, we might optimistically estimate that about five thousand journalists have undergone some kind of training in this regard. While this number appears large at first sight, we need to keep in mind that it represents less than one percent of all the professionals working in this field. Are we reaching the right people? Moreover, Astley observed that most of the journalistic professionals attending conferences and seminars on the role of the media in peace and conflict issues were from management level. While this in itself is, of course, not a problem, it appears to correspond with a lack of practitioners attending such events, that is: of those people “behind and in front of the cameras”. For, at the end of the day, it is these who translate the values of peace journalism into concrete practice. Are we reaching them in the right way? Finally, we may want to also ask ourselves whether we are reaching journalists in the right way. Although some very good publications on media reporting in war and conflict zones exist, they are usually writing from an overtly academic perspective, with a propensity of being highly theoretical. In fact, many scholars tend to forget that the average journalist is not one of them. Many practitioners feel that academic writings contain very little information or advice, which might be directly relevant to them in their daily work. Considering these difficulties, Astley concluded by asking: “Can we make a difference?” Notwithstanding the problems, he was positive that the values of peace journalism could yet reach out to a wider audience if we
Session 1
just stepped up our efforts. Especially smaller broadcasters needed in-house training programs and standardized editorial guidelines. Georg Boomgarden stressed that a free and diverse media landscape is a precondition for democratic structures to function and that a democratically vested press always feels obliged to promote a culture of non-violence. It is thus that the media are a central factor for ensuring peace. This is especially important in postconflict situations, where the media help to re-establish the trust of the population in government and accompany reconstruction processes. “Wherever we are faced with such situations, be it in the Balkans, Colombia and other regions and countries of the world, the role of the media in peacebuilding is vital,” Boomgarden stressed. He then went on to discuss three related observations, pertaining 1) to the media itself, 2) to the consumers of information and 3) to the political environment in which the media operate. The media have a responsibility to promote peace Although public and private media are simply a medium and do not stand for the message itself, the kind of information they convey may have either constructive or destructive effects. The role of local radio stations in promoting the Rwandan genocide is a drastic and gruesome example of media-incited hatred and violence. Hence, the media have a responsibility. They need to be constantly aware of the potentially dangerous, even devastating consequences of their messages, something which particularly applies to correspondents broadcasting from conflict and war-torn countries. However, the influence of the media may also be used for good purposes. Here, Boomgarden picks up Astley’s point on the value of “peace journalism”. The media should not simply inform but also educate the people toward the promotion of peace.
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egative side to it,” Boomgarden observed. “Because of n the media boom and the vast incline of unrated information and information sources, it is more important than ever to educate people, so they do not fall for Nazi or Al-Qaida propaganda available on the Internet.” The political environment has to support freedom of the press as a basic right Access to free media is essential. However, the majority of media are still not independent and free. At the most extreme end, it may be pointed out that the number of journalists killed doing their work remains high. Media freedom is endangered when broadcasters fear for and risk their lives. “We should not forget that most of the victims, which are purposefully targeted and murdered, are domestic broadcasters,” Boomgaarden stressed. “Considering the preponderance of impunity towards those crimes, freedom of the media is not possible.” Moreover, freedom of the media is also endangered by censorship laws, often masquerading under the pretext of ensuring social harmony and unity as well as respect for traditional values. However, Boomgarden also pointed out that new technologies, particularly the Internet, have made it easier for people to circumvent such restrictions. | Natalie Majcenovic
Consumers of media messages need to be critical A central element in educating people, in this sense, is to enable them to critically appraise the messages they consume. In times of information overflow, consumers have to be taught “media literacy” so as not to fall for arbitrary propaganda. “All positive things have a DEUTSCHE WELLE GLOBAL MEDIA FORUM 2008
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session 2
Crisis Prevention via Media Intervention Panel: Erlends Calabuig, Vice President for Strategy, Radio France Internationale, France Stephen King, Director, BBC World Service Trust, United Kingdom Jan Hoeck, Director General, Radio Netherlands Worldwide, Netherlands Danforth W. Austin, Director, Voice of America, United States of America Armen Oganesyan, Director General, Voice of Russia, Russia Aref Hijjawi, Programme Director, Al Jazeera Arabic Channel, Palestine Moderation: Uta Thofern, Editor-in-Chief, DW-WORLD.DE, Germany
»Hardly anything is as globalized as the media. The number of radio and TV broadcasters with global reach is growing constantly. Ever increasing numbers of people around the world use the Internet. These are outstanding conditions for dialogue with foreign cultures and exchanging information about the most varied religious, political and societal concepts. The international media and the Internet can foster understanding and strengthen tolerance. But by the same token the global information exchange gives populists, fanatics and terrorists a platform. Their threats and attacks win them global attention. The “new wars” of the recent past deftly use the Internet and the media to their ends. So the international media must put forward the issue of ‘responsibility’. How could they contribute to the dialogue of values? What should their strategy consist of in the short and long term? How can effective evaluation procedures be implemented?« (Conference program)
Uta Thofern opened the session by remarking that while global information exchange is positive for many parts of the world, the same technologies also give voice to extremists and terrorists. This underlines both the chances and risks that globalized media present. Armen Oganesyan asked, “How important are the media in resolving international crises?” In a conflict situation, people are not only vulnerable to direct physical dangers, but also to false information and propaganda. Moreover, the audience is much larger during crises. Hence, the media has a very high responsibility to be as genuine and objective as possible. It must take care to “do no harm”. Danforth W. Austin explained that Voice of America (VoA) is currently re-evaluating how to do business. The days of shortwave radio are over. With the right software, technology makes it possible for anyone to become a broadcaster. Hence, VoA has been in competition with agendas of hate for several years. Austin then enumerated DEUTSCHE WELLE GLOBAL MEDIA FORUM 2008
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several practical steps both broadcasters and governments can take to avoid the negative externalities of today’s open media climate: 1. More resources need to be established for international media training. Deutsche Welle’s activities are an excellent example. Most journalists want to do a better job but lack of professional traditions and resources stand in the way. 2. There is a great need for improving the media regulatory climate. It is not enough to train journalists; they need a legal environment that supports them. Better access to information should be provided. Along the same lines, there is a need for more freedom of information and increased transparency. Austin emphasized that these values need to be spread to journalists in developing countries. In the end, access, accountability and transparency must be demanded. 3. We must divide the line between governmentfunded reporting and government-funded propaganda. Honest, fair and objective reporting should be the ultimate goal. Aref Hijjawi asked provocatively, “Why should the media prevent conflict at all?” Indeed, many journalists are excited about – and profit from – war. The task of the media is, quite simply, to tell people what happens. Moreover, Hijjawi cautioned against attempts to make the media more ‘responsible’. As he explained, “responsibility” is a term which is often used by governments in an effort to silence the media. Notwithstanding this observation, however, Hijjawi went on to argue that the Al Jazeera news network may yet have had a positive contribution to conflict prevention. For example, during the Danish cartoon affair it tried to put issues into perspective, thereby dampening religious violence. Stephen King pointed out that the ability of governments to control information is being considerably challenged by new technologies. However, this does not necessarily mean that the media are being used more responsibly. For example, the rapid increase of local radio stations in developing countries coincides with a surge of untrained information providers. This can encourage ethnic violence. On the other hand, the media is
Crisis Prevention via Media Intervention
highly important for state-building processes. Donor governments ought to provide infrastructure for local media sources, yet at the same time they need to define and promote the required abilities and skills of broadcasters in developing countries. Erlends Calabuig criticized media coverage for facilitating the popular preconception according to which the world is experiencing an increase in conflicts. As it were, a recent report from the United States Institute for Peace shows a marked decline in wars both at the interstate and extra-state level. Calabuig also raised the question whether the media could play a role in conflict prevention and asked, “Could international broadcasters have done better to thwart conflicts?” Here, he pointed out that we should be modest with respect to the extent international broadcasters can actually work together. The media landscape is made up of many scattered “zones of common interest” rather than a unitary “common zone of interest”. Jan Hoek began by asserting that “we cannot prevent conflict through media. However, what we can do is try to mitigate the consequences.” In particular, the media can play a key role in preventing the escalation of conflict. However, he also pointed to a BBC World Service study which found that the representation of conflicts by the media is often oversimplified, often preparing the grounds or instigating hate. He thus proposed the establishment of an “international media monitoring system”. The primary steps to create such a mechanism would be: 1. To develop an alert system and make information available. 2. To act as a clearing house on who does what. 3. To design tools to analyze local media in those areas. 4. To look at ourselves and examine the phrases we use.
session 2
Discussion The discussion highlighted a lot of ways in which the international media could contribute to peacebuilding efforts and conflict prevention. · First, the panelists agreed that it needed to cover conflicts more extensively; that is, to report not simply on certain conflict-related events but to situate them in their historic and wider political context, including different perspectives. · Second, and related to the former point, when a violent conflict is over, the international media should stay on and monitor post-conflict developments. Indeed, the media may play a useful role in ‘early warning’ efforts, thereby contributing to preventing a renewed outbreak of violence. · Third, the international media could also provide fora for dialogue between conflicting parties and/or the people and the government. It may thus serve as a ‘bridge’ between different cultures and religions. · Fourth, most panelists were quite clear in recognizing the responsibility of the international media not to promote and facilitate hatred. It therefore has to be aware of and take into account the cultural and religious sensibilities of its respective audience. As one panelist stated, “we do not want to insult people”. Some things should not be
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shown. However, the difficulty of where to draw the line – and by whom it should be drawn – was also alluded to. Fifth, in terms of actively countering ‘hate media’, the panelists cautioned against the effectiveness of legal sanctions. Instead of banning extremists and terrorists from the Internet, we need to “compete with them”, i.e. by using more convincing arguments. Whereas hate media are powerful in Web 1.0, it was pointed out that this is less the case in the more interactive format of Web 2.0, where multiple voices are heard. Sixth, despite ongoing suspicion, in particular between the Western and Arab media networks, panelists also recognized the need for closer cooperation between international broadcasters, especially when it comes to agreeing on shared journalistic standards and values as well as in training media broadcasters. | Philip Rush
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Session 3
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Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon – Economic Development, Political Stability and the Role of the Media in Asia Introductory remarks: Dr. Frank Appel, Chairman of the Board, Deutsche Post World Net, Germany panel: Dr. Indrajit Banerjee, Secretary General, AMIC, Singapore Sucharita Eashwar, Regional Director, Nasscom, India Prof. Dr. Drew McDaniel, Director, Southeast Asia Studies Program, College of Communication, Ohio University, United States of America Vincent Brossel, Reporters without Borders, France Moderation: Cheche Lazaro, President, Probe Productions, Inc., Philippines »With the exception of Japan, which has to fight the effects of an ageing population, most countries in the region show a continuous economic prosperity and high growth rates. Nearly everywhere in Asia the factories are operating at full capacity and qualified workers are becoming a scarce resource. Some observers feared that the financial crisis emanating from the US at the end of 2007 (the sub-prime crisis) would also affect the Asian “tiger states” but parallels to the catastrophic events of 1997 are nowhere in sight, on the contrary, most of the currencies in the region are slightly overvalued. Ten years of non-stop economic growth also show some stress syndromes: how to secure enough qualified staff, how to cope with the resulting enormous structural, social and demographic changes? What can be done about the big income gaps in many societies, the haves and have-nots? What is the connection between economic disparities among populations and social peace?« (Conference program)
Frank Appel opened the session by highlighting that war and conflict have a direct impact on supply issues. Moreover, they go hand in hand with human tragedy, which in turn presents a logistical challenge, since it requires the rapid and effective delivery of aid. Business in the Asia-Pacific region has expanded considerably over the past couple of years. Indeed, there seems to be a correlation between economic growth, on the one hand, and corruption, poverty and violence, on the other. The assumption is that by 2020 global trade will have doubled. According to Appel, education is the key to success in this business environment. In recognition of this, Deutsche Post World Net have started a training center for its personnel and have trained 7,500 people so far. Appel stated that: “We as a company want to be seen as global corporate citizens.”
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Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon – Economic Development, Political Stability and the Role of the Media in Asia
He went on to assert that the nature of Deutsche Post World Net’s business means that they have the necessary human resources to proactively aid in disaster relief in response to such catastrophes as the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami, or the crises in Myanmar and China. The expert logistical capacities that DHL are able to bring to bear mean that they can supply goods to wherever they are needed. Mr Appel then addressed environmental issues, which arise around the logistics and transport industry. He stated that 40 percent of all carbon emissions come from cargo, however DHL is committed to a reduction of 10 percent on every container, truck, etc. In his closing remarks he stated that companies can utilize their considerable resources to help in disaster reduction and economic growth. Indrajit Banerjee began the panel discussion by stating that the title of the discussion is very apt. The Asian media landscape is a jungle, which is transforming rapidly; advances in consumer needs are becoming more and more important. He claimed that the Asian media landscape is constantly evolving. Recently, China surpassed the United States as the country with the highest number of Internet users. In India, the film industry is the largest in the world and nine million new mobile phones are sold each month. In Asia there is a phenomenal growth in print media. Seven out of ten of the world’s best-selling newspapers are published in Asia. Banerjee went on to point out four important developments in the Asian media landscape: 1. First, there is a growing commercialization of the media, resulting in a more intense competition between media producers and thereby affecting the content of the messages. 2. Second, commercialization is accompanied by a conglomeration of media systems. Larger companies are rapidly buying up smaller ones, thereby concentrating media power and circumscribing media diversity. 3. Third, there is an increase in media connectivity, particularly due to the growing importance of the Internet in the Asian region. Not least as a result of this, we can
Fourth, also witness the emergence of community based media and the rise of “citizens’ journalism”. Banerjee then listed the current tensions running through the media systems in Southeast Asia. The first is with regard to the commercial viability of media stations. All media systems regard it as fundamentally important to maintain public interest; however this can produce a unipolar view. Banerjee said that citizen journalism allows a differing viewpoint to that of certain media organizations as citizen journalism is less constrained by public interest issues. A second set of tensions he outlined was with regard to the developing nature of media systems. Local capacity is still growing in many countries and as such there has been a tendency in the past to rely excessively upon foreign expertise. This naturally may have had an influence on the media output. Therefore a balance has to be struck between excessive reliance on foreign expertise and gaining the necessary skills. Further tensions outlined by Banerjee related to the friction between mainstream and alternative media, between the protection of the freedom of expression and the responsibility of reporting as well as, finally, between governmental regulatory frameworks and emerging new media technologies. 4.
Sucharita Eashwar began by making a comparative analysis of India and China with regard to economic factors. China, she claimed, is the fastest growing economy in the world, with a GDP of US $3.4 trillion, while India’s GDP is growing by nine percent per annum. Both India and China have huge human resources and natural capital. Also India has evolved into a services-led economy, with 50 percent of its total population being young. Last year 3.2 million students graduated from university of which 450,000 were engineering students. India’s middle classes number 200 million and they have a disposable income. Eashwar then made the point that India is a stable democracy and because of this change is slow. A democracy requires consultation and negotiation – compromises must be agreed before changes can be implemented. China, in comparison, has a political system that allows it to make decisions much faster. Unencumbered by the same necessity for discussion and compromise, China’s
Session 3
political system allows decisions to be implemented much faster than in India. She quoted from a recent report published by Goldman Sachs which made the following three observations: 1. By 2050 India and China will be the largest economies in the world; 2. India and China’s continued growth will depend upon stable political systems; 3. Quality education, governance structures and the relationship between the rich and poor would be key factors in determining continued development. Eashwar turned to the role of the media in development and peace. She opened with a case study of the “Lead India Campaign”, a program run by the Times of India in order to identify men and women who could be potential future leaders. In 2007, there were a series of debates across India in which the contestants presented their ideas for the future of the country. In this capacity the media was used as a tool for creating a common purpose, uniting people across the country and identifying potential future leaders. The second case study presented was the Indian Premier League and 20/20 cricket series. This was formed to bring together sport and business in one extravaganza. Eashwar claimed that through this series foes had become partners and where previously there had been division, people were united by supporting teams that took them outside of their regional and national boundaries. Additionally, the massive commercial success of the venture greatly pleased the investors. These, concluded Eashwar, were prime examples of the media being used to unite people. The next speaker was Drew McDaniel. He stated that his presentation would examine the relationships between economics, access to new technology and conflict. He started with a comparative analysis of two Southeast Asian countries, Malaysia and Indonesia. Indonesia has an incredibly rich ethnic diversity because of its population size and geography. With a population of 275 million people spread over 13,000 islands and 1,500 miles, Indonesia has over 100 different ethnic groups, the largest being the Javanese. The d iversity of Indonesian society is not without its complications, for example national unity is harder to achieve.
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Malaysia on the other hand has a population of 27 million people, the dominant ethnic group being the Malays. During the colonial era the British actively encouraged Chinese and Indian immigration, and this diversity of Malaysia’s population created a lot of tension. In 1969, tensions spilt over into bloodshed which was only halted after draconian measures were implemented. McDaniel stated that the similarity between Indonesia and Malaysia is the role that has been given to the media in unifying the respective countries. In principle it should have been easy to fulfill the mandate as the state media in each country was very powerful. However, he claimed, as time went on, strict control over electronic technology became more problematic. Both, Malaysia and Indonesia, were leading producers of electronic goods and Indonesia was the first non-industrialized country to implement broadcasting satellites – National Television was broadcast to all 13,000 islands. In Indonesia there was also a homemade revolution through satellite receiving stations. A huge number of alternative channels sprang up, which rapidly became more popular than state television. Malaysia also had trouble keeping state control over the channels people were able to view. The Malaysian government was therefore forced to make concessions about how much they would limit Internet access in order to attract foreign investment. In conclusion, McDaniel stated that the result of this fractured control over the media has been a fragmenting of audiences. This means that the original idea of carrying a unifying message through Malaysia and Indonesia has been lost as it is impossible for any type of media in those countries to carry a message of unity and peacemaking that will have any significant effect. The last speaker was Vincent Brossel, currently Head of the Asia-Pacific Desk for Reporters without Borders. Brossel opened his presentation by stating that in Asia there are restraints on press freedom carried out in the name of maintaining peace; for example, in Malaysia and Singapore there are restrictions on newspapers. There has also been a trend towards the assumption that Western values promote freedom of the press. However, as Western values are not Asian values, government policies have been aimed at curbing press freedom to stop what is seen as the insidious spread of negative Western influence. DEUTSCHE WELLE GLOBAL MEDIA FORUM 2008
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Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon – Economic Development, Political Stability and the Role of the Media in Asia
In Asia, some media organizations have been actively promoting conflict, as evidenced in Taliban and Tamil radio stations. However, the media are a key resource for good governance, and are needed to fight corruption and to support local campaigns. Brossel added a caveat; a free media is not enough to fight corruption, a free and independent judiciary is also required to prosecute cases and try corrupt officials. Of all Asian countries, China is unique in the balance it has managed to strike between promoting development and exercising control. Discussion The four presentations were followed by a discussion from the floor. One audience member questioned the rest of the panel on their reaction to Brossel’s assertion that freedom of the press is a Western value that is not held in Asia. Banerjee said that he did not agree with this viewpoint since although there may be a Western association, this did not translate into Western values. McDaniel asserted that if there is a diversity of viewpoints about media freedom it will lead to conflict which led Lazaro, the mediator, to question whether conflict is a bad thing. Brossel responded that the advantage of the media is that it gives a good place for debate, and there is no country that is anti-press freedom by nature. Another audience member brought up the issue of participatory media and the need for a free media to be organized. The same person continued that in Afghanistan there is a free media but it has not led to peacebuilding. Banerjee responded that there are very serious constraints on participatory media since it relies on local will and individuals to come forward if it is to be effective.
The discussion then turned to the environment and human rights. The panel was asked whether the media had reported these issues responsibly or steered clear for fear of alienating the large market. Brossel agreed that there are a number of problems in terms of freedom of expression and the international community has not been able to promote a more open agenda. However it was also remarked that in India there has been a lot of discussion about pollution and environmental degradation, though in China there is less opportunity for public awareness and debate. Finally one audience member remarked that the growth of the economy causes more conflict not less. People use the media to promote their own interests and in the face of economic growth perhaps this is more problematic. The panel agreed that there may be a greater disparity between rich and poor, however cautioned that it does not necessarily create conflict. In his closing, Lazaro concluded that the main lesson is that freedom of speech must be watched and that governments and media owners should be held accountable for what they do. | Joe Farha
Session 4
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How Can the Truth Survive? In Africa Journalists are Often Caught Between the Battle Lines
Panel: Claudia Anthony, UN Radio, Sierra Leone Apollonaire Malu Malu, Chairperson of the Independent Electoral Commission, Democratic Republic of the Congo Delphine DjiraibÊ, Lawyer, National Coordinator of the Peace and Reconciliation Committee, Chad Itai Mushekwe, former political reporter of the Zimbabwe Independent, currently Germany Rose Kimotho, Managing Director, Kameme – 101.1 FM, Kenya Moderation: Christopher Springate, freelance journalist, reporter/presenter, DW-TV, Germany
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How Can the Truth Survive? In Africa Journalists are Often Caught Between the Battle Lines
»Genocide being committed against a civilian population in Darfur. Rebel groups and warlords waging war against the governments in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Nigeria. Human rights activists finding their resources strained in places like Chad and Angola. Governments in Niger and Guinea-Bissau clamping down on independent media coverage during time of conflict. Out of the ashes of war many African countries are trying to build a free and democratic future. With an illiterate population and intermittent electricity and Internet access, radio remains the number one medium for news and information throughout the continent. But too often these vital broadcasts are dominated by state media or other interest groups with political objectives. How can people living under these circumstances be provided with independent and credible news and information? How can extremist radio broadcasts like those which served to fan the flames of hatred in Rwanda and the Ivory Coast be prevented or stopped? What type of role can and should independent media play in the future of Africa?« (Conference program)
Kenya Rose Kimotho pointed out that the number of TV and radio stations in Kenya had increased from only one station nine years ago to 49 stations today. This massive growth and diversification of the Kenyan media landscape has brought both advantages and disadvantages. Since local stations broadcast in vernacular languages, every community has its own voice, and information reaches the literate as well as the illiterate rural population. Often, however, these broadcasts convey hidden messages, designed to cause friction and hatred between ethnic communities. This was especially the case in the build-up to the recent elections, where particular local radio stations facilitated much of the ensuing violence. Besides this problem, the increase of the Kenyan media industry has also lowered the professional standards of journalism. Kimotho therefore pleaded for an improvement of the training of media workers, particularly radio journalists.
The session was composed of journalists as well as representatives of civil society organizations from five African countries. In the first part, each panelist briefly reflected on the role of the media in their home country.
Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) In his remarks about the role of the media in the DRC, Father Apollinaire agreed with Kimotho on the need to further professionalize African journalists. A professional and independent media is the means to break the silence on corruption, war crimes and human rights violations which prevails in many places. Indeed, although many journalists themselves have to live in permanent fear, they play a key role in the fight against the overall culture of fear and ignorance in society. In order to pursue this goal, Father Apollinaire also advocated the support of networks of journalists, such as Reporters without Borders as well as human rights organizations.
Sierra Leone Claudia Anthony stressed the importance of the media in peacebuilding processes. By telling the truth about what is happening in a post-conflict environment, journalists can make a much-needed contribution to preventing a renewed outbreak of violence. In order to do this, however, they have to be able to report as independently as possible. In Sierra Leone this is unfortunately not always the case, mainly due to the legal situation in the country. The so-called Public Order Act, which dates back to colonial times, makes defamation a criminal offense and is often used against journalists deemed to be too critical. Especially prior to upcoming elections, journalists can easily be arrested. Giving examples of affected colleagues and violent attacks on journalists and publishers by government officials, Anthony emphasized the importance of changing the legal environment in Sierra Leone so as to make it more conducive to the promotion of a free press.
Zimbabwe By telling his personal story, Itai Mushegwe gave a compelling example of the dangerous conditions in which many African journalists have to work and live. During a visit to Germany, the political reporter from a Zimbabwean newspaper discovered his name on a blacklist of the authorities, which prevented him from returning to his home country. “Zimbabwe is the best example of what can happen when the media is not independent from the government,” Mushegwe stated. Indeed, the Mugabe government has an “iron claw” on the media
Session 4
in Zimbabwe, where all of the four public radio stations and about 90 percent of the print media are under its direct control. Freedom of the media is “a fantasy”, as many Zimbabweans have to rely on international broadcasting companies for objective information. Chad Delphine Djiraibé fully agreed that the truth cannot survive within a non-democratic environment where there is no freedom of the press. This also holds true for Chad, where journalists have to continually fear government sanctions and imprisonment. In particular, refugee flows into Chad from the neighboring Darfur region of Sudan have had a detrimental effect on the political climate in the country. Djiraibé concluded that political freedom, including the protection of journalists, may only be achieved as the result of a process toward peace and reconciliation in which both civil society organizations as well as media associations need to play an important role. Discussion The discussion opened with the challenging question of how to ensure freedom of the press, on the one hand, while at the same time containing propaganda and ‘hate speeches’ in the media. Father Appollinaire emphasized three instruments that need to be employed for this purpose: 1) Professional training for journalists; 2) Disengagement of the government from the media, and 3) A legal framework that guarantees freedom of the press. Whilst agreeing on the importance of improving professionalism, Rose Kimotho was, however, not convinced that ‘hate speeches’ could be effectively countered by legal means. Rather, they should be opposed by “exposing their lies” and “telling the truth” instead. Moreover, it was pointed out that while not every vernacular radio station incites hatred, the influence of such broadcasts on African people must not be underestimated. Radio is a powerful tool in Africa. Especially local stations broadcasting in vernacular languages can dangerously facilitate violence in moments of social conflict. As Kimotho remarked, “words spoken in one’s native language hit the heart, whereas words in other languages hit the mind”. Above all, it is thus the local radio channels, which pose one of the greatest potential threats to the peaceful co-existence of ethnic communities.
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However, just as the media might facilitate violence, it might equally be used to facilitate peace. Here, there was a general agreement that the media could take on a particularly useful function in accompanying reconciliation processes and promoting a cross-communal sense of shared identity. For example, Delphine Djiraibé mentioned FM Liberté, a radio channel in the Chad through which victims of human rights violations could share their individual stories with the public. However, this station has been recently closed down by the government, an observation which coincided with the general feeling on the panel as well as in the audience that in many places the authorities present the largest obstacles to freedom and peace. In relation to government constraints of press freedom, the discussion also reflected upon the role of international media. Given the political repression of indigenous media in large parts of Africa, what is the responsibility of foreign correspondents working on the continent? What can international journalists do to support their African colleagues? Some members of the audience argued that foreign media should not interfere in African matters. However, the panelists disagreed. Above all, Itai Mushegewe implored Western journalists to “tell the African story”. As more and more African media workers are prevented from reporting in an objective manner, it is essential for the international media to take over this task. | Ines Almanstötter
DEUTSCHE WELLE GLOBAL MEDIA FORUM 2008
Session 5
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Reading Between the Lies – Perception and Prejudice in the Middle East Panel: Jacky Sutton, Media Projects Manager, UNDP-Iraq, Amman Office, Jordan Salameh B. Nematt, ex-Bureau Chief of Al Hayat, journalist, United States of America Muamar Orabi, Director General of the Palestinian television channel Watan-TV, Palestine David Witzthum, Moderator and Chief Editor, Israel Television (TV Channel 1), lecturer on history and media studies at the Hebrew and Tel Aviv Universities, Israel Victor Kocher, Editor, Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Switzerland Moderation: Melinda Crane, Host, DW-TV, Germany »Who creates the hostile images? Who defines the “enemy”? What carries more weight: PR machinery or objective journalism? Does anyone let the other side speak? How do we deal with Hamas? What are the defining factors for Israel’s image? In today’s media-saturated world, every party to the conflict can spread their message. Countless TV stations, internet sites and weblogs have cropped up in recent years. But the dramatic rise in media access has not led to better knowledge or understanding. The conflicting parties hold fast to their hostile perceptions. Propaganda outweighs journalism, prejudice defeats dialog. Can the media contribute to a solution?« (Conference program)
final frame of the photographer’s sequence. However a French watchdog thought that there was something suspicious about the photographs and declared them to be a fake. The Palestinian television station, which published the photographs sued the French watchdog for libel and lost. Crane then asked a representative from the network that broadcast the pictures whether he had known from the outset that they were faked. The representative answered that the veracity of the photographs was not really the issue, rather the pictures themselves were important to raise the profile of what was happening to the Palestinian people in the Occupied Territories. From that perspective they were very effective.
Melinda Crane opened the proceedings by recounting the story of Mohammed Al-Doura, who in September 2001 was alleged to have been caught in a crossfire between Israeli troops and Palestinian fighters. The pictures of Mr Al-Doura and his son attempting to hide as the gun battle raged caused international outrage, especially as it appeared that Al-Doura’s son was killed in the
Salameh B. Nematt made the point that in a sense the pictures confirmed what the Palestinians already believed. He stated that the one incident should not be taken as an indicator of what is happening since there are many lies being told across the entire region. In the Israeli-Palestinian conflict both sides portray themselves and each other in different ways. For example DEUTSCHE WELLE GLOBAL MEDIA FORUM 2008
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Reading Between the Lies – Perception and Prejudice in the Middle East
 alestinians targeting civilians would be portrayed as P resistance in the Palestinian media, whereas they would be portrayed in a very different way in the Israeli media. Nematt then expanded on the point that he had made before about the lies being spread across the region by offering the situation in Iraq as an example. He stated that one of the big lies being told about the American occupation of Iraq is that the Iraqis want the occupation to end. However, the democratically elected government, chosen in an election with a turnout of 11 million people, wishes the Americans to stay. There are lies perpetrated on both sides. Crane then asked how it was possible to counter the lies being spread. David Witzthum answered that he did not think that this was possible. The media is part of the ideology of a certain society and becomes part of a way of dealing with conflict. Since 2000, there have been thousands of terrorist attacks broadcast on Israeli television. They are often shown in a marathon in order to build solidarity amongst the viewing public. Witzhum believed that there was really very little that could be done to stop propaganda being spread. Each broadcaster is transmitting from their community to their community; they go with the grain not against it. Victor Kocher then stated that before going into a deeper analysis of terror attacks, retaliation, etc, it is imperative to set out a framework and identify exactly what type of conflict is being discussed. He stated that Israel was formed by war and it is an occupying force as well as being a regional superpower. It portrays its military power in the same way that America does in Iraq; an occupying power against a civilian population. Therefore, he remarked, as a journalist he tries to identify what kind of conflict it is he is covering. Crane asked Jacky Sutton whether in her current capacity she found that Arab journalists have a different sense of their role, whether they are more partisan. Jacky Sutton replied that she did not think that there was any real difference between an Arab journalist and any other type of journalist. Her own feeling was that
the job of media professionals at the United Nations was to help people and ensure that brave journalists were able to shape their media environment as safely as possible. Muamar Orabi then made the point that Arab journalists were trying to be both news providers and analysts at the same time as giving their own perspectives on news stories. He stated that while Palestinian networks try to remain independent they are, however, committed to a national and social agenda. In response to a question about how it was possible for journalists to investigate, Orabi replied that there are problems on the ground and it is often impossible to get from one area to another. There are attempts to cooperate with other networks but it is difficult. Witzthum contributed to the subject of the difficulty for journalists in reporting saying that there are major difficulties in operating in the West Bank and Gaza. His network relies usually on local people, Palestinian camera crews who mostly work for foreign news agencies. He added that his station sometimes receives permission from both sides to cover a story but it is still very difficult as it is all done under occupation, thus free journalism cannot really prevail. Crane then moved the conversation on to the subject of round-the-clock news reporting, asking whether 24-hour image-driven journalism creates problems and encourages news stations to cut corners. Witzthum replied that his station does not do 24-hour coverage, however the world is watching the Palestinian and Israeli conflict and this does indeed promote and escalate conflict. He added that if you need to get coverage of a breaking story then going through the Israeli army or the Palestinian government was slow and laborious. The local Palestinian media are the quickest on the ground. Kocher concurred, saying that as a print journalist he was in a better position to get to the bottom of a story as he could take his time, analyze all of the relevant factors and come to a more considered conclusion. Nematt stated that the dominant public opinion in the Arab world is the same as that held by Kocher, which is that there is a connection between the occupation in Iraq and Gaza. Nematt claimed that this is a falsehood since in Iraq there were free elections. ÂTherefore to make
Session 5
a connection between these and the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories is the “biggest lie in the region.” He said that 90 percent of all Islamic terrorism victims are Muslim and, unfortunately, the Arab media cannot be separated from their environment. He made the point that in Israel there is a free media but for many Arab countries it is not really possible to say the same. The mainstream media is owned and controlled by Arab governments who all have an agenda. Nematt stated that one of the biggest lies carried out by these media stations is: “Democracy kills you.” The stations do not say that 98 percent of suicide bombers are not Iraqi. He said that the message that the Arab countries wanted to send out is that if they were replaced, then a situation exactly like Iraq would unfold. Sutton remarked that all media has some form of bias and it is naive to assume otherwise. Crane then asked Witzthum where his journalists went to cover a different side of the story. He said that the diaspora media was one place and that the media also have their own sources on the ground. He stated that he tried to work with diaspora media as access into the Palestinian territories was difficult. But he always took what people told him with a pinch of salt as there are so many conflicting opinions and agendas in the area, and this must be factored into the planning. Crane then asked how diverse an independent media campaign is in the Palestinian Territories. Orabi responded that the definition of independent is impartial, that is not being the mouthpiece of the government and not affiliated with any political party. Kocher observed that as a journalist you must use your common sense, there is always the potential for an element of impartiality, therefore you must step back to criticize both sides. There was a general consensus that the role of the media is to be responsible, not just to pander to one side or another. Nematt explained that it is more complicated in authoritarian regimes since undemocratic countries in the region are often very wealthy meaning that they are able to exert tremendous control over media broadcasting systems within their countries. Internet sites are slightly different, however, as they are more difficult to control, therefore in a tense situation, blogs, YouTube, etc. can have more impact.
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‘Embedding’ was discussed and the point was made that this may not really entail a legitimate perspective as there is once again the potential for bias. There was some discussion about the effectiveness of satellite channels. The general feeling was that media systems must broadcast programs and stories that are interesting to their viewers. Witzthum, for example, said that in Israel the Israeli-Palestinian issue was such old news that it was hardly covered. This raised the question of how the two sides come together if the media is not used as a tool of peace. Witzthum made the point that his responsibility was to report quickly and accurately what is important to his community. Discussion The discussion from the floor began with a comment referring back to the subject of bias within Arab media. An audience member stated that the news station Al-Arabiya is funded by private individuals, not by the Saudi Arabian government. He continued that the station has paid a high price for its coverage with reporters being killed and offices blown up. Therefore it is not fair to say that a station such as Al-Arabiya is not doing its job with regard to journalism. Nematt responded that he had been referring to Al-Jazeera, however it still raises the question of whether Al-Arabiya is acting in a pluralistic society. He continued that it would be foolish to think that governments allow a station to operate and report everything they should. However, he remarked that his main point was that Al-Jazeera was not so circumspect. This remark prompted a response from the Head of Programs at Al-Jazeera who wanted to emphasize that Al-Jazeera does not promote terrorism, and that such practice is prohibited at Al-Jazeera. The station is not a platform for any party rather it is an impartial media group. Sutton concluded that there really is not a truly independent media institution in the world; there are always editorial policies. | Joe Farha
DEUTSCHE WELLE GLOBAL MEDIA FORUM 2008
media and peace: practical Examples The use of TV and radio in peacebuilding: Concrete examples John Marks, President, and Susan Collin Marks, Senior Vice President, Search for Common Ground, United States of America »… a multimedia presentation, which provided specific examples of how popular culture can be utilized to defuse and transform conflict. The basic premise is that wellcrafted, entertaining, locally written and produced programming can have a profound impact on how people in societies in conflict think about themselves, their neighbors and their society. The presenters showed a series of brief video clips from the Common Ground media toolbox that illustrated the different formats they use, including soap opera in Nigeria and Egypt, children’s programming in Macedonia, Islamic-Western reality TV for Egyptian and American audiences, music video in the Middle East, and cross-ethnic radio in Burundi.« (Conference program)
As John Marks and Susan Collin Marks pointed out, the media can be used to build bridges. This is the purpose of their organization, Search for Common Ground, which in addition to being a production company is also a non-governmental organization. It has 350 employees from 30 nationalities boasting programs in 18 different countries. A film clip was shown that was taken from a Search for Common Ground Burundi drama called Studio Ijambo. The clip shows how all ethnicities are working together in a production company that includes Hutus and Tutsis. It is an example of how different people can work together while leaving their ethnic shoes at the door. The overarching theme was quoted in one of the scenes where one actor remarked, “When you come here, you come here to serve as a journalist. Not to defend your ethnic belonging.” The project was set up to counter ‘hate radio’ and promotes the idea of being a conflict-aware journalist. It is
designed to contribute to multiculturalism amongst all parties in Burundi. Susan Collin Marks said that one of the ways her organization brings peace is through Public Service Announcements (PSAs). The idea here is to focus on who would really make a difference in people’s lives and to engage that person to help with the cause. For example, they contacted Ziggi Marley, a well-known African musician, and did a series of PSAs by radio. Yet a number of people still did not believe that they were listening to the real Ziggi Marley. Consequently, Search for Common Ground asked him to do a PSA on TV. Marks and Collins Marks continued with the idea of PSAs by presenting South Africa Children’s Television. This was inspired by a project that initially targeted adults through radio broadcasts. One day several children came to the station and asked what was being done for people their age. This generated the idea of bringing former child soldiers into the studio. They were trained in the basics of journalism and started making radio programs for other children. It was a mechanism that found a way for children formerly associated with fighting forces to become accepted by society and to believe in themselves. A clip was subsequently shown, which was produced by “Golden Kids News,” a news network funded by Search for Common Ground that trains kids
to be objective journalists. The program focuses on constructive change by having young people interview others of their age. Statistics showed a large impact. The case of a radio soap opera for children in Nepal was presented next. This is a project where young people living in communities feed stories to newspapers and radio stations. One story was about a boy who walked home for three days and found his father murdered by rebels. The boy wanted to kill the father’s attackers, but listened to the radio show and found that violence was not the only way of coping. John Marks subsequently pointed out that drama is highly entertaining. Dramas can bring messages that promote conflict resolution and peacebuilding. The benefit of dramas is that they can be written in the way you want to write them. Radio soap operas in Sierra Leone were used as an example. He said that Search for Common Ground started with radio in Africa but many countries are now switching to TV. A clip from a series in Nigeria called “The Station” was shown. The Station is a show that is set in a news broadcasting station whose staff comes from various ethnic and religious groups. The real cast, crew and writers of the show are from several different tribes. The clip was presented across Nigeria as an example of how people can work together despite tribal differences. DEUTSCHE WELLE GLOBAL MEDIA FORUM 2008
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Search for Common Ground also produced a reality show. Initially, 15 episodes were run for purposes of information gathering. The project seeks to bridge differences between the Muslim world and the West by, for instance, having a cowboy from Arkansas meet a cowboy from Egypt and also sending individuals from Cairo to the United States. The show is an example of how organizations can use reality TV to find a way of connecting people as human beings. John Marks showed a final video featuring the musicians David Broza (well-known Israeli musician) and Sabrine (a Palestinian music group) who by playing together showed that cooperation between Israelis and Palestinians is possible. The video was aired widely on Israeli and Palestinian music video channels. It is another example of how media can help bridge divides. Mr Marks concluded the presentation saying that one must not forget that as much as conflict is intellectual, it is also emotional.
The AoC Rapid Response Media Mechanism (RRMM) Emmanuel Kattan, Communications Director, United Nations – Alliance of Civilizations (AoC), United States of America »The influence of media in shaping perception and setting the agenda of public debates is widely recognized. This power can be positive as well as negative. The media are often criticized for producing generalizations of complex issues that strengthen stereotypes, and harden polarized opinions. On the other hand, the media can also be a potent force in challenging stereotypes, and become a channel for new ideas and perspectives. Through balanced news coverage, analysis and debate, journalists and editors can play a positive role in reducing cross-cultural tensions, and allow for a broad diversity of voices to be heard on divisive issues. This latter is the underlying philosophy of AoC’s Rapid Response Media Mechanism, which consists of three components: 1. Providing journalists with access to a network of individuals who can speak to divisive cross-cultural issues (such as the Danish cartoons or the Pope’s remarks on Islam) with a level of knowledge and discernment that helps improve mutual understanding. This is done through an online database of experts (www.globalexpertfinder.org) that
media and peace: practical Examples
c ontains profiles and interviews of experts on multiple issues, including globalization, integration, law, etc. 2. Providing media training to the above experts in order to better prepare them for radio, television and press interviews. 3. Generating, translating and placing op-eds and statements from experts in times of cross-cultural crises. In collaboration with civil society partners and media organizations, the Alliance produces op-eds signed by global experts and high-profile personalities and places them in international and regional media outlets.« (Conference program)
Mr Emmanuel Kattan spoke of his organization’s Rapid Response Media Mechanism (RRMM). The creation of the Alliance of Civilizations (AoC) was initially sparked in reaction to the Madrid bombings. A high-level group within the United Nations was commissioned to provide a list of recommendations to bridge cultural divides. Among many issues, media coverage of the war in Iraq and the Danish cartoon incident were cited as key problems that helped to define cultural tensions. The question was asked, “How can media quell these conflicts?” The RRMM was created to answer this question. Kattan referred to the AoCs website (http://www. unaoc.org) to provide an exposition of the RRMM. He remarked that the RRMM uses experts on crosscultural issues. These individuals address controversies such as the Danish cartoons and the wearing of the hijab (modest dress for women). He pointed to the “Global Expert Finder” tool on the website where anyone can search for an issue and find an expert to provide comprehensive analysis on a variety of topics. The AoC also sends out media advisories. RRMM experts speak in their own independent voice when they address cultural and religious conflicts. Kaatan provided a case study of how the RRMM works. The movie “Fitna” was set to be released in The Netherlands. The film uses violent imagery in an attempt to show that the basis of terrorism lies in the Koran. The film raised many concerns that its content could spark violence. The RRMM reacted by collaborating with faith-based organizations to publish editorials to promote calm in reaction to Fitna. When the film was released, the public simply ignored it. Kattan said
Session 6
the Fitna case provided an excellent learning opportunity for how to best employ the RRMM. He closed by saying that the RRMM is still being developed and suggestions on how to make the program work better are welcome.
Citizen-state relations? Expectations – trust: Introducing the public sphere concept into the state-building debate Henriette von Kaltenborn-Stachau, World Bank, Communication for Governance and Accountability Program (CommGAP), United States of America »High expectations for a quick ‘peace dividend’; a public not trusting its state; and state-citizen relations severed by years of exclusion are among the most challenging issues national governments, and the international community supporting them, encounter in planning and executing post-conflict recovery programs. These issues are too often neglected by policymakers. Experience has shown the cost of this oversight. In their direct relation to long-term stability and governance, dealing with these issues needs to be at the very heart of post-conflict work. Introducing the public sphere as a framework to deal with the ‘connective tissue’ of state-building – a call for change in current post-conflict assistance policy and practice.« (Conference program)
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Lack of dialogue between a government and its people often causes new conflict. She illustrated these issues by showing several diagrams that contrasted societies which possess a “robust public sphere” and those that do not due to conflict. In a robust public sphere, communication between the state, the media and civil society is active and flowing in a circular direction. In a conflict situation, everything is fragmented and disjointed. The state is not willing to talk to the media. If the media does not understand why the state functions in a particular way, the reporting becomes shoddy. This leads to poor national dialogue, which can result in new conflict. She enumerated several policy recommendations for post-conflict societies: 1. Establish better relations between communities and governments. 2. End “stove piped” thinking and programming. 3. There must be a comprehensive government strategy with reasonable time frames. · It takes time to build the capacity of governments and the media. · Real time frames are utterly important. Lastly, Kaltenborn-Stachau listed the website of the Communication for Governance and Accountability Program (CommGAP): www.worldbank.org/commgap.
Henriette von Kaltenborn-Stachau remarked that the Global Media Forum was missing critical actors that play an important role in the peacebuilding debate. This includes both government and civil society representatives. She made it clear that anyone who understands peacebuilding must address the governance debate. The idea of the media debating amongst themselves is not sufficient. Research was recently conducted by the World Bank entitled, “Challenges to the World Bank for Post-Conflict Reconstruction”. It examined the case of East Timor and found that similar issues exist in most post-conflict situations, namely that high expectations by the general public are not matched by government actions. As a result, public confidence in the government erodes, which gives room for spoilers to move in. DEUTSCHE WELLE GLOBAL MEDIA FORUM 2008
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UN experiences in the area of radio/media projects in conflict areas and sustainability Susanne Frueh, Chief, External Relations, Peacebuilding Support Office, United Nations
Susanne Frueh commenced her speech by noting that 50 percent of all peace agreements fall apart in 10 years. The United Nations peacebuilding architecture, which consists of the Peacebuilding Commission, the Peacebuilding Fund and the Peacebuilding Support Office is a comprehensive effort to improve this situation but is still very young. She held that the architecture is still learning and expanding its work. The media plays a vital role in post-conflict reconstruction. However, the media’s role in communication is still very weak. Hence, Ms Frueh posed the question, “How can we strengthen the media?” The United Nations has reached out to the media in the past two years by creating the UN Press Office. Yet, although the media’s role is to extend international attention in peacebuilding, it largely moves away when the shooting stops. Frueh commented on the electronic media platform saying that communication is most cost effective when you use the Internet. She uses the UN media center to facilitate promotion of the Internet by creating an online peacebuilding network. She claimed that it has directly contributed to an increased understanding of potential challenges posed by peacebuilding. They also publish a weekly summary of peacebuilding activities. Moreover, they are involved with civil society as partners in developing electronic media platforms. Frueh continued by addressing the idea that the media can be a peacebuilding partner. She urged that the media must report on post-conflict situations. She recommended that a fund be established that focuses on three windows; two concentrating on civil society and one centering on emergency information against ‘hate media’. With this, funds would be quickly dispersed as a counter-campaign to any type of hate media. At the moment her office is examining several programs. One initiative through the UN Department of Public Information seeks to conduct journalism training in Burundi. A second program is targeted at making UN Radio more sustainable. As peacekeeping winds down,
media and peace: practical Examples
no one replaces UN radio station staff. Remarking that this is unsustainable, she said that her office is currently searching for hand-over partners. She also said that there is a large need to train journalists in the Central African Republic. Moreover, she remarked that projects, which promote cultures of peace through mobile radio use are crucial. Creating opportunities for these initiatives to flourish is imperative. However, Frueh pointed to several challenges within the media that need to be addressed. Managing expectations of the media is very important. She asked the question of how stories in post-conflict situations could be made more exciting. She urged that it is essential for media partners to be identified so they can be brought into the fold. The media must continue to be seen as an objective and independent organism. With respect to funding media efforts, she asked, “How can they be financially sustained?” Moreover, improving the media sector must be promoted as a substantive development issue. There is still much reluctance in some quarters to say that media is a development issue. The media must have sufficient capacity at all levels but this is currently not the case. Finally, Frueh remarked that the international community can do much better to link peacebuilding and the broader media. | Philip Rush
workshop
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The German Armed Forces and their Engagement in Conflict Prevention: The Media in an Armed Forces Mission? Hosted by Academy for Information and Communication of the German Armed Forces
panel: Lt. Col. Peter Fuss, Staff Officer Press Relations, German Armed Forces, Germany Lt. Col. Siegfried Jooss, Staff Officer Press Relations, German Armed Forces, Germany Michael Bewerunge, Journalist, ZDF TV, Germany Dieter Herrmann, Journalist, DW-TV, Germany Moderation: Dr. Dieter Ose, Chief Commissioner, Academy for Information and Communication of the German Armed Forces, Germany
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The German Armed Forces and their Engagement in Conflict Prevention: The Media in an Armed Forces Mission?
»The German Armed Forces, along with their partners and allies, are intensely involved in conflict prevention and peacekeeping missions. In the context of these functions, they also cooperate with the national and international media. They are a partner for dialogue, a source of information, but also a substantial supporter. This workshop looked at if and how the media can or should communicate the purpose and goals of the international community, and especially the German Armed Forces, in the theater of operations. How do the German Armed Forces work with on-site media? Can one assume that stabilization in areas of conflicts can only succeed when there is a change in public opinion, or when the locals are convinced of and support the need for and the meaning behind the operation? Which role can or should the German Armed Forces be able to play in this?« (Conference program)
According to the moderator Dieter Ose, the title of the session “The German Armed Forces and Conflict Prevention” implies that the media and the armed forces share some common ground in peacebuilding and conflict prevention initiatives. However, the idea of a general common ground does not provide a clear concept of what the relationship between these two sets of actors actually looks like on the ground. Do Western journalists actually work on behalf of the armed forces? Are they supposed and able to do so? While the German armed forces probably perceive the media as a potential partner and supporter, the media have to make sure that they remain unbiased when working with the armed forces and government institutions. Provided that the media and the armed forces manage to find a constructive modus vivendi, the media could play a vital role in peacebuilding and post-conflict reconstruction efforts. In this sense, the workshop was designed to take a two-sided approach. In his initial statement, Peter Fuss pointed out that crisis management required a comprehensive approach, with the military creating a safe and secure environment for various civilian actors on the ground. In this context, military press officers have to keep all relevant actors informed, i.e. the public, media, opinion leaders and decision-makers both at home and in the theater
of operations. According to Fuss, there is no hidden agenda on the part of press officers. However, security issues have to be taken into account. The information conveyed has thus a twofold objective. In addition to informing the public at home, the press officers need to explain the mission’s mandate and actions to the local media, thereby hopefully increasing the security of the forces on the ground. In order to fulfill this task, press officers have been trained in intercultural media competence, which enables them to deal with local media from different cultural backgrounds and identify potential cooperation partners. Taking up Ose’s introductory remarks as to whether the media are actually participating in the armed forces’ mission, Michael Bewerunge posed three questions, which are crucial to understanding the relationship between the armed forces and media organizations in conflict settings: · Should the media support the mission of the armed forces? · Should they actively seek to play a role within peacebuilding and conflict resolution activities? · Should the media cooperate with the armed forces? With regard to the first question, Bewerunge stressed that the media should strictly refrain from supporting the mission of the armed forces. If they did so, this would compromise their primary task and responsibility of informing the public. Bewerunge illustrated this by referring to the case in which the most influential German tabloid, BILD, published pictures depicting German soldiers in Afghanistan desecrating skulls on a remote Afghan cemetery. The pictures published by BILD posed a dilemma to other German media. Should they report on these occurrences regardless of the potential consequences and security risks this might cause for the German troops? To Bewerunge’s mind, if the other media had not taken up this scandal proactively, the pictures would have eventually surfaced through other, probably foreign sources, which would have caused even greater damage by also harming the credibility and integrity of the German media. Hence, while the media should certainly not support the mission of the armed forces, they could certainly choose to play a supporting role wherever appropriate.
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Media coverage is indispensable for creating a positive link between the mission in the theater and the public at home. As an example, Bewerunge mentioned the ISAF mission to Afghanistan, whose prime mandate was the prevention of terrorist action, with reconstruction and peacebuilding efforts merely serving as a means to this end. The mission is not primarily meant to serve humanitarian purposes. Bewerunge pointed to the need to openly report on these true reasons for the mission, since the consent of the German public would otherwise be further reduced in the face of German casualties. Finally, Bewerunge touched upon the issue of cooperation between the armed forces and the media. While the media strongly benefited from logistical support as well as information supplied by military personnel, there was also the risk of cooperating too closely, thereby becoming ‘embedded’ and compromising impartiality. Taking up the issue of cooperation, Siegfried Jooß emphasized that each military mission required a thorough assessment of the complex situation on the ground and the role of the military therein. While the contribution of the media is vital to the success or possible failure of the mission, it has to be kept in mind that they do not belong to the overall chain of command. Alluding to Marshall McLuhan’s famous statement, “Vietnam was lost in the living rooms of America – not on the battlefields of Vietnam” he stressed that the possible influence of the media had to be taken into account during the mission’s planning. Here, it is the aim of the press officers to establish reasonable media partnerships according to the requirements of the specific military mission. The last introductory statement was given by Dieter Herrmann of Deutsche Welle TV, who voiced some skepticism regarding the actual openness of the information provided by the military. According to Herrmann, until a few years ago the army employed press officers who rather acted as “anti-press” officers seeking to divert information. Only recently has a more open information policy begun to emerge – with notable exceptions, however, as for example during the initial deployment of German ships to police the coast off the Horn of Africa. In Herrmann’s perception, there are two generations
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of press officers; according to him, the so-called ‘new generation’ is trying to provide more open and accessible information than the older one. Following these initial statements, Ose opened up the floor asking specifically for the challenges and limitations of cooperation between the media and armed forces. Discussion According to Fuss, cooperation with the media has to be limited by the need to protect the individual identity of soldiers and by the overall security situation. Other than that, it is the task of press officers to create a positive media environment both in the theater of operations and at home, since media coverage – whether positive or not – is vital to maintain public discussion and interest. Bewerunge qualified this statement, pointing out that the army had, for a long time, held the position that ‘only no news is good news’. Only recently have the armed forces begun to realize the importance of media coverage. Nevertheless, it remains extremely difficult to obtain more personal information on the individual soldiers’ points of view and experiences. One member of the audience voiced a sense of uneasiness with the relationship between the armed forces and particularly the local media. In Afghanistan, for example, the fine line between supporting local media and using them as a propaganda channel for the armed forces seems to get increasingly blurred. Here, another participant mentioned the case of Radio ISAF in Afghanistan, which is run by the German military. As a matter of course, the main aim of the military is force protection by winning the hearts and minds of people – an effect achieved by the support of the media. However, this lack of media independence also threatens the credibility of the station vis-à-vis the local population. Addressing this dilemma of force protection versus the long-term development of a free media, Fuss emphasized that military radio stations were only a first step to informing the public. Moreover, a set of concise and detailed instructions seek to limit possible biases of the armed forces’ information strategy. However, many members of the audience remained critical. One participant remarked that while any kind of “counter-insurgency communication” DEUTSCHE WELLE GLOBAL MEDIA FORUM 2008
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The German Armed Forces and their Engagement in Conflict Prevention: The Media in an Armed Forces Mission?
certainly belonged to the military realm, all remaining media activities should be left to independent journalists who could guarantee a higher level of credibility. Another member of the audience pointed to the noticeable lack of trust between the civilian and military panelists. How can this distrust be overcome? Bewerunge answered this by stressing that – notwithstanding personal sympathies and contacts – distrust was actually vital in order to maintain a professional distance. Referring to the media in the theater of operations in particular, Jooß additionally felt that the military might overcome distrust if it gathered information on the owners of certain media companies, thereby being able to assess their respective interests and agendas. Furthermore, it was asked whether the military’s media strategy included an initial assessment of potential target communities prior to the mission deployment and whether there was any monitoring or evaluation of its actual impacts and results. Drawing on his experiences in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Fuss reported that he was deployed as a press officer six weeks prior to the mission. Following a briefing by the UN Press Information Officer on the ground, the entire information strategy of the mission was then implemented within the comprehensive approach of the United Nations, including regular press conferences or the local and international media. Moreover, opinion polls are carried out at the beginning and end of each mission to analyze its overall local perception. Here, there was some skepticism in the audience with regard to the validity of polls undertaken in conflict areas, especially when trying to assess attitudes. In most cases hardly any organizations are capable of properly conducting such surveys due to language and security constraints. As Fuss pointed out, however, they are usually carried out through the respective UN institutions that have a long-term experience and expertise of the targeted communities.
The statements of the panelists as well as the ensuing d iscussion shed some light on the pitfalls and complexities of the cooperation between military and media representatives. In addition, the workshop also helped identify some common ground. The military has begun to think more systematically in terms of public information, while the media has started to take up a more active role in the field of civil-military relations and post-conflict reconstruction efforts. This new situation requires both actors to embark on a more open form of communication and cooperation. Here, the major challenge pertains to arriving at a clear identification of the roles, agendas and responsibilities of the armed forces and the media respectively. | Andrea Warnecke
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Terrorists Online Hosted by Deutsche Welle Distribution, Africa/Middle East
panel: Dr. Amr Hamzawy, Senior Associate for Media and Politics of the Middle East, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, United States of America Dr. Ammar Bakkar, Chief Editor of Alarbiya.net, United Arab Emirates Loay Mudhoon, responsible Editor, Qantara.de, Germany Prof. Dr. phil. Oliver Hahn, Centre for Advanced Study in International Journalism, Journalism Institute of Dortmund University, Germany Moderation: Yassin Musharbash, Editor, SPIEGEL-ONLINE, Germany
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»You can sit in an Internet cafe in London, use a server in South Africa and send messages to North America without being traced,” wrote Gabriel Weimann from Haifa University. With the Internet, terrorists (revolutionaries and freedom fighters as well as suppressed or militant groups with varying ideologies in both authoritarian regimes and democracies) have found a medium that can serve many purposes. Like everyone else, terrorist organizations have discovered the possibilities the Internet offers and begun using them. With pictures they’ve produced themselves, terrorists can reach and influence an international audience directly with the Internet or indirectly via television broadcasters, thereby engaging in psychological warfare. Politics, independent and influential media companies and the society are called upon to develop strategies together. How to counter “online terrorism”? This was the main question of the workshop, attended by politicians, new media experts, programmers and human rights representatives from the Arab world and from Germany.« (Conference program)
Amr Hamzawy gave a broad overview of how the new media change and influence the political landscape in the Arab region. In the course of the last decade, the Internet has increased the diversity and transparency of the discussions about regional and domestic politics. For example, all members of the Kuwaiti parliament have their own website, where they present their individual agenda and objectives. Moreover, despite the governmental constraints in some parts of the Arab region on free speech and limited access to information, satellite channels such as Al-Jazeera and Al-Arabiya are conveying a more balanced and often critical message. As Hamzawy went on, however, terrorist groups are also adapting themselves to new media technologies, which they deliberately and often skillfully employ to disseminate their messages. Radical Islamists make extensive use of the Internet as a medium to exchange their arguments. Not least for this reason, radical voices are becoming more and more present in mainstream debate. Hamzawy stressed that this development should be taken very seriously despite the fact that most radical arguments are based on false information and can thus be easily refuted.
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Hamzawy continued by highlighting the tension in the Arab world between, on the one hand, governments trying to suppress critics and, on the other hand, the potential of the new media to make a larger number of voices heard. While people are often not allowed to organize themselves and demonstrate in public space, they can do so in the virtual world of the Internet. New forms of media are therefore causing problems for governments, especially in the Gulf states, which are undergoing a process of rapid social and economic modernization. The political reaction to these technological developments is usually a strategy of ‘controlled freedom’ in the political sphere, where some groups and individuals are allowed to speak out while at the same time others, who might be more critical, are silenced. Ammar Bakkar considered the issue of terrorists on the Internet in more depth, although he preferred the terms “extremism online” and “e-shouting” to “online terrorism”. As he pointed out, however, “We cannot deny the fact that terrorists are using the Internet as a tool for propaganda.” Research has shown that there is a large group of people in the Arab world, who are angry, determined, conservative, highly political and uneducated. They easily believe in conspiracy theories and hate the mainstream media, not least for the way in which they have covered the war in Iraq. Hence, they look for alternative media sources on the Internet. The language people use on the Internet is probably stronger and more radical than the one they use in real-life. As Bakkar elaborated, expressing oneself in such a strong way contributes toward strengthening one’s identity. For Bakkar, there are three options for dealing with radical Islamists on the Internet: · Start a dialogue with extremists This is the most viable and realistic option. Bakkar agreed with Hamzawy that the arguments of online extremists can be easily disproved, since they are usually based on false information. We need web-activists who communicate online with the extremists and present them with an alternative and peaceful vision for the future. · Block extremists from the Internet Although, at first sight, this option appears to be
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the most effective one, it contains a number of problems. Above all, it can be easily misused. Not all governments in the region are liberal democracies and may use this as a pretext to silence critical voices. This is all the more likely, since it is very difficult to define what ‘terrorism’ or ‘extremism’ actually means. For example, a website has been shut down for allegedly being a “virtual terrorist training camp” just because it had published a fatwa. Invest in peacebuilding on the ground Obviously, the problem cannot be solved on the Internet alone. Therefore, more attention should be devoted to efforts seeking to alleviate real-life problems. There is a need for better education as well as for addressing the core issues that people are concerned with such as poverty, injustice and corruption.
Loay Mudhoon spoke on the role of the website qantara.de which tries to approach the issue of extremism as ‘calmly and objectively’ as possible. The European and international media look to the Arab world from a too narrow and limited perspective. Therefore, qantara. de tries to highlight issues, which would otherwise be neglected. Their mission is to cover all the areas relevant to Arab society, thereby going beyond religious and cultural boundaries. Oliver Hahn explained how the structure of the Internet can be compared to the new form of terrorist networks, which are non-hierarchical and inter-linked with many other organizations. For example, more than 4,000 websites are known to be connected to Al-Qaeda, many of which are quite professional. In order to recruit new members they make use of video streaming and Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS). The layout is also remarkable, drawing on all kinds of easily recognizable symbols. Information from the German Federal Intelligence Service shows that most of these websites are maintained by groups based in Riyadh, Saudi-Arabia. The makers are usually well-educated and trained and have access to funding from wealthy donors.
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Discussion The issues raised by the panelists provoked a great number of questions from the audience. For example, a lively debate ensued on the question whether Internet-based polls, especially those dealing with the legitimacy of terrorist attacks, could be hacked by extremist groups, which appear to dominate a lot of the virtual debates. Related to this, some audience members asked themselves whether the overall public opinion in the Arab world was adequately represented on the Internet. Moreover, others felt that not only ‘online extremists’ in the Arab world but also the Western media were guilty of instigating hate, for example by showing the Danish cartoons and the movie ‘Fitna’, which was produced by the Dutch right-wing politician, Geert Wilders. Another set of questions addressed options for tackling extremist opinions by investing more in the root causes of terrorism, such as poverty and inequality. However, this argument was rejected with reference to the observation that most extremists do not come from poor backgrounds. The main problem is that they are supplied with false or inadequate information. Rather than introducing drastic measures to block extremist voices from the Internet, which would send out the wrong signal, online terrorism should be countered by promoting knowledge and proper facts. New methods of communication such as blogging were introduced as a means to spread such information. Some participants expressed their doubts whether ‘online extremists’ were at all interested in engaging in a serious debate about social and political issues. | Wim Zwijnenburg
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Resources, Conflicts and the Role of the Media Hosted by Bonn International Center for Conversion (BICC), Germany
panel: Ambassador Bethuel Kiplagat, International Resources Group Coordinating Office Nairobi, Kenya Melkamu Adisu, Country Director, German Foundation for World Population, Ethiopia DR. Hans Dembowski, Chief Editor, Development + Cooperation Magazine, Germany Wolf Christian Paes, Senior Researcher, BICC, Germany Jolien Schure, Researcher, BICC, South Africa Martin Zint, Journalist / AG Erdöl, Germany Moderation: Peter J. Croll, Director, BICC , Germany
»Natural resources, such as oil, gas, timber and minerals, have played an important role in about a dozen wars and armed conflicts over the past years. Natural resource deposits alone do not however necessarily result in a ‘resource curse’. Whether or not there is such a resource curse seems to depend, in particular, on how justly and democratically the wealth created by the revenues from the exploitation of natural resources is distributed. The fight against the illegal exploitation of natural resources and the trade of conflict goods is therefore of great importance when it comes to preventing conflicts and creating sustainable development. A decisive factor of whether wealth from natural resources turns into a curse or not is the degree to which good governance, democratization, transparency and the rule of law are fostered and human rights are respected. BICC pursues this thesis against the background of its applied research of many years. To raise awareness with the public about ‘tainted’ products and business activities should also be a responsibility of the media.« (Conference program)
Ambassador Bethuel Kiplagat pointed out that Africa is torn by numerous conflicts. A recent survey stated that 37 out of 53 African countries are affected by violent conflict in some way, although a change in the pattern is starting to be seen. The overall situation is slowly improving as tensions are decreasing. However, some areas are still expected to remain places of conflict for the foreseeable future, such as Sudan, where the effects spill over into both Chad and the Central African Republic. He referred to African conflicts as “systems”, a term that denotes that conflict in these areas, as with Sudan, do not only affect the conflict-stricken country itself, but also has spill-over effects on neighboring countries. He points to the “Horn of Africa system” and the “Central African system.” Kiplagat went on to argue that there is a connection between conflict and resources. Moreover, he emphasized that it is not only the resources most often mentioned, such as oil or gold, which are sources of conflict, but also land and livestock, as well as the business sector.
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During the 1960s, thoughts about how the riches of Africa could be a catalyst for the economic development of the continent dominated. However, the resources turned out to be a trap, actually creating problems such as inequality and lower economic development. This dilemma is highlighted by a new tool developed by the Bonn International Center Conversion (BICC): the “Resource Conflict Monitor” (www.resource-conflictmonitor.org), which looks at 90 countries, over a period of eleven years. Jolien Schure, who has worked closely on this project, explained that the relationship between natural resources and violent conflict is largely shaped by the quality of resource governance. As she remarked, the World Bank has also made the connection between the dependence on natural resources and the risk of civil war. This conflict trap became especially apparent after the end of the Cold War, when armed groups had to look for financing in other places than the Eastern or Western block. According to Schure, a free media can contribute to good resource governance and thereby to lessening the risk of conflict. That the media can have an impact was something that all the panelists agreed on, sharing their different knowledge of the matter. Kiplagat cited his experiences during last year’s Kenyan elections. Here, the media first added fuel to the tensions following the elections and thus played a part in dividing Kenya as a nation. Then, however, through pleas for reconciliation on national media channels the media was a means of helping the nation come together to subdue the tensions between different groups. Hans Dembowski stated that madia partiality cannot be avoided. Even so, a good journalist will make the audience understand both sides of a conflict, allowing the audience to choose its own perspective. Dembowski said that good media work basically is about trust, which is gained through fact checking and having checks and balances. If media check various sources, disclose what sources are used and try to control how they are weighted this will be possible to achieve. He made clear that we need to be careful of how much to expect from the media, saying that the media has no power over what the audience chooses to take in.
Resources, Conflicts and the Role of the Media
The power of the media was further illustrated by a campaign in the late 1990s targeting the trouble of the illegal diamond trade contributing to conflict in several areas of Africa. As a result of this, awareness on the US market for ‘conflict diamonds’ was raised from 7 to 23 percent. The campaign happened to coincide with a voluntary change in routines by the largest actor on the diamond market, De Beers. The company decided only to trade in diamonds from their own mines. The full impact of this measure was hard to assess, however. Diamond companies’ trade amounts to 500 million dollars per year. The industry is very lucrative, displaying messages like “diamonds are forever”. The campaign contrasted these advertisements with, for example, the bloodshed in the Angolan war and images of people becoming amputees in Sierra Leone. It was thereby successful in emotionally involving the audience. The diamond was turned from a ‘symbol of love’ to a ‘blood diamond’. Whether the campaign or the change of policy on behalf of De Beers was the reason: the bad media regarding the ‘conflict diamonds’ made a number of smaller diamond companies meet up and start the socalled Kimberley process, which worked towards ending the illegal trade that was prolonging conflicts in, among other places, Sierra Leone and Angola. Replicating this sort of campaign for other conflict-related resources could be very hard though, since different resources have very different conditions of trade, as was explained by Wolf-Christian Paes. Diamonds have very little industrial value compared to other natural resources. Eighty percent of the market is retail and the campaign became a success partly because of the fact that a boycott of diamonds has little or no impact on the larger economy. Martin Zint had had similar experiences of media impact, describing the media pressure raising the compensation to mango farmers in Chad. The necessary information had been provided through an NGO, and he was of the view that organizations can play an important role in finding and providing the sources for journalists willing to expose situations where wrong-doings
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and bad conditions are otherwise swept under the rug. However, the organizations must do so without focusing on promoting themselves. Melkamu Adisu developed and conducted training programs and strategies for government and city management staff in various African countries, which were geared towards local capacity building. He reflected on the question: Do international campaigns really help? From his experiences and psychological background he warned the audience to be not overly optimistic on what quick solutions there are for conflict resolution. The factors impacting on conflict such as abundance or scarcity of natural resources need information from the people and information needs to go back to the people for them to demand justice. Civil society in African countries and the media need a voice and capacity to work towards this. Adisu also explained that media in African unstable countries have a completely different perspective from media in Europe. Journalists may suffer from suppression and no freedom of voice whatsoever. Moreover, there might be nobody willing to pay for the information as it is not the first concern of people suffering poverty. This is a serious problem for the checks and balances that are needed as counterweight in these societies with often corrupt resource regimes. Discussion In the discussion that followed, a Kenyan journalist posed the question as to how the media reporting on a conflict could decide on ‘which side is the good one.’ Dembowski responded that most conflicts are not simply black and white. The media have a certain tendency to focus on the ‘bad guys’, which are the most popular stories. However, the ostensible ‘good guys’ often have their hands in the same cookie jar as the other side. As an example he mentioned Afghanistan, where there is a perfectly working but illegal business system. Here, the media look at the ‘bad guys’ getting revenue from illegal drug trade. However, no one looks at the ‘good guys’, who are known to have connections to that trade as well. Zint said that it is necessary to facilitate the work of journalists through capacity-building and training on how to “make peace the main story”, writing solution-oriented pieces instead of inflaming conflict. Media
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should go for hard facts, and NGOs should be willing to provide them. Hard facts consist of official information like reports and databases, those are important, but also of material that today many people can access easily, like video footage and photographs, which present important aspects in getting reliable facts. Dembowski also argued that it is very important to look at conflict from a “soft news angle”, not only reporting on the hard facts, which are easy to agree on, but working on it in free and soft formats, such as talk shows, portraying stories from daily life, how people think and feel. That, he suggested, is the hard part. Kiplagat argued, with the example of elections, that action to prevent conflict must be taken well before the upcoming event, preferably 12 to 18 months in advance. He expressed that we need to create a space for the different media to come together. Referring to the Kenyan elections coming up in 2012, he went on to say that he is already trying to organize a course for journalists to work for peace. Kiplagat gave the advice to cooperate closer with the media in conflict prevention. The moderator, Peter J. Croll summarized the many inputs by the panelists and audience. Following the analyses that resource governance is a key element in mitigating negative impacts of resource exploitation and promoting lasting peace, the media can contribute greatly by reporting on violations, corrupt practices and raising awareness about the rights people have around resource exploitation. This information should reach all stakeholders, including the consumers worldwide. Media, specifically in developing countries, suffer capacity constraints and are sometimes threatened when they want to bring out information. Looking into how they can work more safely and how new forms of media (also the ‘lighter versions’) can be used to inform the public will contribute to greater checks and balances in society and hopefully more justice and peace in the resource sector. | Andreas Lebzien
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mediaME – Sharing Tools and Approaches for Monitoring and Evaluation in Media Development Hosted by Forum Media and Development (FoME), Germany
Coordination: Sofie Jannusch, German Catholic Media Council (CAMECO), Germany Albana Shala, Program Coordinator, Press Now Foundation, Netherlands Thomas Lansner, Columbia University, Germany Leon van den Boogerd, Project Coordinator, Radio Netherlands Training Centre, Netherlands
»The workshop presents and invites comments and participation on the project mediaME – media development monitoring and evaluation. mediaME is being launched as a follow up to a two-day conference, “Measuring change: Planning, monitoring, evaluation in media development” organized by the German Forum Medien und Entwicklung (Media and Development) at Bad Honnef, Germany, at the end of September 2007. The aim is to create a web-based resource to: · Help gather experiences and ideas that can be turned into practical toolkits for monitoring and evaluating (M&E) journalism training, media performance and environmental conditions; · Share information on M&E programs and projects to encourage greater cooperation in this field; · Share experiences in M&E for media initiatives in conflict prevention, for urgent interventions in conflict areas, and in post conflict situations; and · Pay particular attention and create knowledge regarding early warning media monitoring systems useful to organizations working in conflict areas. It is hoped that a Wiki format will evoke participation from a wide range of interested parties.« (Conference program)
Presentation by Leon van den Boogerd The session was opened by Leon van den Boogerd who gave a presentation on the functionality of media ME. He stated that mediaME should be an integral part of all projects, and is a diverse toolkit of means and methods for monitoring and evaluation. MediaME comprises two pillars; the first is the mediaME expert group, a think tank designed to keep abreast of current topics (http://www.dgroups.org/groups/mediaME-expertgroup/index.cfm). The second pillar of the mediaME toolkit is the Wiki (www.mediaME-wiki.net). This is a resource, which has been designed to produce a practitioners’ handbook, and also to be a practical tool. It is currently under construction. MediaME aims to provide a resource for know ledge and capacity building and the wish is to produce a tool for all partners in the various countries. The mediaME wiki is based around three headings: 1. Intervention levels – training, monitoring and evaluation; 2. Thematic areas – conflict, peacebuilding and early warning; 3. AssessMe – impact evaluation. DEUTSCHE WELLE GLOBAL MEDIA FORUM 2008
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mediaME – Sharing Tools and Approaches for Monitoring and Evaluation in Media Development
The idea is to foster greater cooperation, by colleagues contributing to the wiki. This will be open to everyone, although it will be necessary to register before being allowed to change anything. Van den Boogerd then illustrated a project he had led of in six African countries (Senegal, Guinea Bissau, Sierra Leone, Guinea-Conakry, Liberia, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo), involving 68 radio stations. The project “Informotrac – Initiative for Mobile Training of Community Radio” was about training, technical management and community involvement facilitated through local partners, and was divided into four elements: 1. Impact: Poverty, peace, civil society, active and passive use of means of information and communication. 2. Outcome: Content, coverage, participation with own reviews and management. 3. Output: Training, coaching, advisory services, financial support. 4. Input: Human resources, field staff, Euro 6.5 million. He added that infrastructural support services are also being provided. These support investment costs, innovations and digital reporting material. A number of productions have also been entered into with local partners. These include programs on small arms and light weapons, cattle theft, truth and reconciliation and election coverage. He then stressed the importance of evaluation and review, explaining that there is an annual plan and an internal mid-term review, with in-depth reviews being conducted every two years. He remarked on the importance also of financial reviews and transparency and added that evaluation should look at five elements: relevance, efficiency, effectiveness, impact and sustainability. Essentially the question must be asked: “Is the project any good?” In response to questions from the floor, van den Boogerd advised that the information would only be available in English and when questioned as to what perspectives it aimed to cover he responded that the project is not about public relations. Rather its purpose is to have as broad a platform as possible with all contributions named rather than anonymous.
Presentation by Albana Shala Albana Shala continued the session with a presentation on Albania, Kosovo, and the Caucasus. Shala explained that she works for an organization that aims to support independent media in conflict regions and transitional countries with the aim of promoting the development of open and democratic societies. Kosovo is a post-conflict country. Shala explained that there is a certain belligerence amongst the protagonists. However, with Kosovo being a United Nations protectorate the blame lies squarely with the United Nations should things go wrong. Georgia is not a United Nations protectorate despite the fact that it also finds itself in a post-conflict situation. The target of the project was to highlight the position of minorities and build democratic media institutions. The lessons learned from the projects were that there was a limited capacity of the press, many stakeholders had different priorities, and there was a lack of direction from above. Discussion on presentations by van den Boogerd and Shala Responding to van den Boogerd one person remarked on the openness of the presentation, thanking van den Boogerd for speaking not only about the success of the project, but also about the failures. He was also asked how he picks community radio stations with which to work. Van den Boogerd responded that the process begins with a needs assessment. Strict criteria are used for this process including finding out who owns the station. However, he continued, this may be a problematic process since radio stations often claim that they are community radio stations but in fact they are private, and promote a regime or political candidates, etc. The discussion then centered on the subject of evaluation, with one audience member asking whether there are any indicators for measuring the progress of the community stations. Van den Boogerd responded that while there are indicators, the problem is that they are something of a “white men’s thing” and sometimes it is better to have a beer together and to talk about how something is going than measuring progress with indicators. However, when indicators are used there is an effort to involve locals with the designing of the monitoring and evaluation forms.
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Another audience member wished to know how the panelists build the capacities of local partners in their monitoring and evaluation. Given that different ways of thinking can be very difficult to overcome, how did they achieve a shared understanding of this process? Van den Boogerd responded that they always do a three-day workshop with a SWOT analysis – analyzing Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats and that they also do a training on the instruments of monitoring and evaluation. Presentation by Thomas Lansner Thomas Lansner started his presentation by raising the question of how to find indicators, which convincingly measure impact. He posed the questions, “Does access to information help to solve or prevent conflict? Is the media spending donor money effectively and how can this be measured?” He continued that there may be unintended consequences when measuring impact, for example if the result affects the decision of which community station is getting funding and which is unsuccessful in their bid it can have an impact on community relations. Lansner gave examples of how media impact can be measured including: listeners’ surveys; interviews on the kind of information that has been received; the number of articles that have been sold. Results that are hard or impossible to measure include changes in the attitude, behavior and values of people. Lansner concluded that although change and conflict may be observed, it is difficult to measure the factors that influence them. Media might be one factor, but it is very problematic to identify a causal correlation. He also added that evaluations should be planned as part of a program when the program is designed, and baseline surveys at the beginning should be the basis of the process. This evaluation process is essential because although causal factors are hard to measure it is a certainty that stereotypes and bad information are a cause of conflict.
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General discussion The ensuing discussion from the audience was very positive with regard to feedback on the creation of a platform like mediaME. One audience member commented on the difficulty of keeping a balance between appeasing the donor on the one hand and improving the project on the other hand. At the end of the workshop, one participant asked what makes media project evaluation special or different from other development projects. Shala responded that the difference is the political dimension and content monitoring. | Ines Almanstötter & Joe Farha
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Covering Hostile Environments – From Conflict Zones to Organized Crime Hosted by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), united states of america
Panel (Session One): Gaz Purssey, Operations Manager, Centurion Risk Assessment Services, Ltd., United Kingdom Andrew Kain, CEO, AKE Group, Ltd., United Kingdom David Dadge, Director, International Press Institute (IPI), Austria Sarah de Jong, Deputy Director and Project Manager, International News Safety Institute, Belgium Sandra Petersmann, Deutsche Welle, Germany Panel (Session Two): Cheche Lazaro, President, Probe Productions, Inc., Philippines Gavin Rees, Coordinator, Dart Centre Europe for Journalism and Trauma, United Kingdom Marcelo Moreira, Head of News, TV Globo Network, Brazil Stefano Marcelli, President, Information Safety and Freedom, Italy Moderation: Frank Smyth, Journalist Security Coordinator, CPJ, United States of America Session one: Conflict zones and related risks
Of the 685 journalists killed on duty around the world from 1992 to April 2008, more than 70 percent were murdered. Iraq, Algeria, Russia, Colombia and the Philippines represent the top five countries on the list of the worst performers compiled by the Committee to Protect Journalists. By presenting these figures in his opening statement, Frank Smyth pointed out that covering hostile environments is imbued with high risks that do not stem from accidents alone. A huge challenge for journalists lies in an inadequate perception – by themselves and by their employers – of the risks they are exposed to. These include the
danger of road traffic accidents, diseases, war-related risks such as bullets and bombs, the journalist’s own physical and psychological condition – with a degradation of (mental) fitness making journalists more vulnerable, medical incompetence, and pre-conceived notions about the local situation and the prospects and challenges in relation to the locals. Consequently, according to Andrew Kain, the security training of journalists should encompass a better awareness of their environment, first aid and planning skills. The latter is especially true for international news agencies. Too often, he claimed, they disregard their responsibilities towards journalists, who are sent out without DEUTSCHE WELLE GLOBAL MEDIA FORUM 2008
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proper equipment and insurance cover. Moreover, often they do not provide adequate psychological support upon completion of a mission. Working conditions are even worse, however, for local journalists. Their needs are often ignored by the international news organizations by which they are paid. According to Sarah de Jong, security kits or even insurance coverage is completely inaccessible for many local reporters. Nevertheless, these items are vital not only in conflict zones but also for journalists covering natural disasters or organized crime. Despite their experience in reporting from hostile environments, many journalists are not aware of the manifold dangers inherent in their work. A number of organizations offer specialized training for this occupational group, drawing partly from the experience of former soldiers. Emphasizing that it would be wrong to put these training centers on the same level with much criticized private security companies, Kain explained why it can be of advantage to use former military advisers to these ends: they understand the mechanisms of warfare and by handing on their knowledge can enable journalists to operate more effectively and safely. Effective reporting from hostile environments is contingent upon a clear understanding of the environment in which they operate; a ‘do no harm’ approach; and responsible support on behalf of the employer. Confirming the need for adequate preparatory training for journalists, Gaz Purssey added that it is also an essential prerequisite for the gathering of information on the perpetrators of homicide. In the face of these challenges, solidarity among journalists and accurate reporting are extremely important, emphasized David Dadge. Without the willingness to practice an accurate and balanced journalism, reporting from conflict zones bears the risk of tightening existing tensions. With reference to Sri Lanka, he warned that informational vacuums leave room for conspiracy theories to flourish and in extreme cases misunderstandings can result in murder. This illustrates to what extent reporting in conflict differs from journalism in other contexts. Yet another critical feature of the former lies in the relationship between the staff in the capital and the
reporters in the field. Editors need to be aware of what their staff are involved in and therefore should visit the field on a regular basis. In doing so, they would have a better understanding of the situation on the ground and by getting to know their stringers might discover that they used to work for one of the warring factions, as happened in Sri Lanka. Drawing from her experience in Afghanistan, Sandra Petersmann illustrated the dilemmas of independent, that is, non-embedded reporting from conflict zones. The first lies in the increasingly difficult working conditions, for example, with the vehicle three cars in front of her own being blown up by a suicide attack on the road from the airport into Kabul, she had to decide whether to stay and report or to place her own safety above the story. A second challenge lies in the exposure of interviewees to lethal risks by publicizing their stories. Even if journalists are very cautious and encode the names of their informants, an ultimate security guarantee and protection from prosecution or even murder does not exist. It is therefore very difficult to define the limits of a ‘do no harm’ approach.
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Discussion “Is it worth dying for a story?� emerged as a critical question during the open discussion with the audience. When editorial teams lack experience on the ground, their understanding of the challenges posed in hostile environments is all the more important. Panelists agreed on their criticism of ignorant news agencies, which do not see the need to provide security training for staff leaving to countries such as Colombia. Sarah de Jong stressed that in particular the larger news organizations endowed with the necessary resources should set up crisis units and contingency plans with pre-defined procedures if stringers get kidnapped or killed. Emphasizing that journalists are no longer perceived as neutral observers but as potential enemies, she found it deplorable that many editors lack the common sense needed to assume responsibility. However, engaging private security providers was not seen as an option by the discussants. Surrounded by armed guards, it would be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to get access to local communities. Even wearing helmets could result in being perceived not as journalists but as local policemen, Gary Purssey said, citing an example from Haiti. Ultimately, the arming of reporters or guards would lead to scenarios where they could become involved in an exchange of fire with the locals. This would only create new problems, said David Dadge, referring to burden sharing among journalists as one option to avoid unnecessary risk taking.
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Session two: Organized crime and related risks
Reporting on organized crime, drugs trafficking, the illegal arms trade, people trafficking, prostitution, child pornography and money laundering, is similar to reporting on conflict zones in many ways. Neither of the two is a glamorous affair and the confrontation with appalling conditions and atrocities causes trauma to many journalists. Gavin Rees reported that professional satisfaction, pride, fame and adventure can easily turn into isolation, fear, exhaustion and obsession. As long as a journalist reporting on organized crime is successful, he or she might benefit from broad-based support, but if an investigation goes less well, support could quickly fall away. Depression and broken marriages are only two examples of the extremely negative side effects of the job. While a certain level of stress could be seen as a necessary element of professionalism, it is necessary to counterbalance or prevent post-traumatic stress disorder by taking away the stigma associated with it through openly addressing the issue at management level. Staff training, establishing a policy on how to practically manage stress, seeking advice and learning from others are equally desirable in his eyes. With examples from the Philippines, Cheche Lazaro illustrated the challenges associated with carrying out investigations on the perpetrators of journalist killings. The current administration under President Arroyo experienced the highest percentage of journalists killed in the line of duty relative to the period of office. The majority of the 33 journalists killed were targeted at their homes or offices. Half had worked for the radio and all covered local issues for the provincial press. The fact that none of them was affiliated with any national news organization nor had undertaken any safety trainings calls for improved access to training for journalists covering hostile environments. It also underscores the safety provided by the membership of an organization, Lazaro said. She cited the landmark cases of Marlene Esperat and Edgar Damalerio in order to point out the involvement of the police and politicians in the killings and the resulting impunity for many murders. In response to this situation, the government has initiated the Press Freedom Fund as a program to support witness protection and a DEUTSCHE WELLE GLOBAL MEDIA FORUM 2008
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task force for prosecution. Lazaro concluded by stressing that an improved justice system, safety training for journalists, the establishment of citizens’ press councils and the amplification of accreditations with the Association of Broadcasters of the Philippines would all be valuable measures to redress this situation. In a similar fashion, Marcelo Moreira reported on the situation in Brazil, where the dismemberment of prizewinning journalist Tim Lopez led to a broad discussion among journalists and the society at large, and demands for justice. In contrast to the Philippines, the highest risks for journalists in Brazil emanate from drug gangs, which hold the de facto monopoly of violence over the country’s numerous slums. Yet, there are also cases of policemen being suspected of kidnapping and torturing journalists. The difficult working conditions for journalists covering the slums are further exacerbated by the theft of equipment such as cameras. This has led some stations to recruit security guards. These two case studies were complemented by examples from a third continent, with Stefano Marcelli talking about Italy. In his opinion, the situation is getting worse, especially since even the founding fathers of the principles of press freedom have increasingly curtailed these rights in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. He emphasized how important it is for journalists to be aware of the levels of freedom in the particular country they are reporting from and to keep in mind certain norms and values unless they prefer to be reduced to mere advertisement campaigners of governments. In some respects, southern Italy is comparable to Colombia, as many journalists receive death threats and are under police protection. With respect to the massive amount of money, which is laundered by the Mafia even outside of Italy in countries such as France and Germany, Marcelli asked if this ultimately had the potential to influence the media. He appealed to keep a close eye on the Italian journalists working in areas controlled by the Mafia. Some intelligence reports already suggest that the Mafia is even actively lobbying in Brussels. In order to support those journalists striving for freedom and democratic values, he said, everyone needs to give their backup.
Given the level of threats encountered by many journalists, Frank Smyth expressed understanding for those journalists who increasingly resort to self-censorship and report on less controversial topics in order put an end to the constant harassment they and their families have to endure. In any case, the question of ethics should play an important role in training programs, according to Cheche Lazaro. Part of the problem is irresponsible broadcasters who sometimes defame others as ‘killers’ and ‘thieves’ without having substantial evidence for such claims. In the absence of a universal code of ethics, many news organizations have their own code of conduct. Learning from different professional cultures could be an asset, stressed Frank Smyth, concluding the workshop. Accordingly, language barriers between dedicated journalists around the world should be torn down. This workshop was one attempt to satisfy this need. | Helen Radeke
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Globalization, Cultural Identity and Conflict – Cross-cultural Communication and Media’s Challenge in Asia Hosted by Asian Media Information and Communication Centre (AMIC), singapore
Moderator/Speaker: Dr. Kalinga Seneviratne, Head of Research, AMIC, Singapore
»Most countries of South and South East Asia are culturally pluralistic societies with rich cultural heritages/histories and traditions. Many communities have strong cultural identities that are linked to the identities of countries. For example, Sinhalese of Sri Lanka have a proud cultural heritage that is linked to the identity of the Sri Lankan state; while the Malays of Malaysia sees themselves as the bumiputras (sons of the soil) with a distinct Muslim cultural identity; and the Indonesians see a similar bond with the Malay-Muslim cultural tradition and the identity of the state.
In all these states the majority communities feel threatened by the advent of globalization. They feel their cultures are being overwhelmed by the more powerful global media influences with their Western Judeo-Christian bias. In addition, funding criteria adopted by international donor agencies where media projects for peacebuilding usually focus on minority communities with a perspective that they are the victimized and the deprived, sometimes creates more resentments rather than contributing to solving the problem.
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This workshop looked at specific issues where the majority cultural communities in these countries may be feeling disadvantaged, and how peacebuilding programs vis-à-vis the minority communities could take this into consideration. In other words, should the majority cultural communities in Asia, who feel threatened and overwhelmed by the global media forces, be empowered by peacebuilding programs via the media, rather than seeing them as the problem? Also by empowering them, how could it also lead to ultimately building better cross-cultural communications and absorbing the minority communities, into the communication links thus created?« (Conference program)
Using case studies from Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Malaysia, the presentation by Kalinga Seneviratne focused on how Western-style peace education concepts promoted in Asia can result in cultural conflicts between minority and majority groups. Seneviratne asserted that these conflicts are in turn reported in Western media with a bias toward the well-educated minority elite. Seneviratne began by looking at the notion of ‘universal human rights’. He spoke of a “chorus of voices” coming from Asia that criticizes this concept as a form of cultural imperialism. The concept of universal human rights emerged in Western Europe during the Middle Ages and is predicated on the notion of corresponding duties and natural law. Natural law in turn holds that all humans have a common essential nature that determines that certain kinds of goods and behaviors are essential for human development. Combined with this essential human nature is a common or universal moral standard that governs all human relations. The concept of universal human rights was developed further in 1948 with the United Nations’ adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the subsequent creation of numerous human rights conventions in which the language of rights was combined with a Western ideology of the universal moral standards necessary for human realization. However, Seneviratne asserted, many Asian governments prefer to deal with economic, social and cultural rights rather than with civil and political rights. These governments maintain that their people prefer rice over rights. They also insist that human rights must be considered within the context of national and regional particularities and historical, cultural and religious backgrounds. However, Seneviratne argued, this is not to say that Asian cultures shun the rights of the individual. In fact, he contested, according to Buddhism all humans are equal, and each has the potential to realize the truth by his or her own will and endeavor, and can help others to realize it. Buddhist concepts recognize the inherent dignity and the equal and inalienable rights of all human beings. The teaching of the Buddha holds that all human beings are endowed with reason and conscience. Seneviratne also spoke of the discipline of Peace Education as the process of acquiring the values and knowledge, and developing the attitudes, skills, and
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behaviors to live in harmony with oneself and with others. He asserted that peace education focuses on the dynamics of groups. Human beings are living in groups and within and between groups there will always be two sorts of relationship: competition and cooperation. Therefore, Seneviratne asked, “How do you solve the problems of competition and cooperation in everyday life situations?” He turned to the cases of Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Indonesia to examine this question. Sri Lanka Seneviratne began by giving a brief political history of Sri Lanka in recent years. Referring to the 2001 census he presented the ethnic make-up of the country as follows: The Sinhalese constitute 73.8 percent of the population, Sri Lankan Moors 7.2 percent, Indian Tamils 4.6 percent, Sri Lankan Tamils 3.9 percent, unspecified 10.5 percent. Seneviratne spoke of how, when Sri Lanka gained independence in 1948, the Tamil minority became uneasy with the country’s unitary form of government and apprehensive that the Sinhalese majority would abuse Tamil rights. While the Sinhalese felt that Tamils – having benefited from the British “divide and rule” strategy – were making unreasonable demands to maintain their privileged status in the country. Since 1983, when there were anti-Tamil riots nationwide after the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) killed 13 soldiers in a bomb blast in Jaffna, there has been a civil war between the government (GSL) and the LTTE. Seneviratne moved on to talk of developments in Sri Lanka since the 2001 ceasefire between the LTTE and the Sri Lankan government which began to fail in 2003 with the LTTE claiming it was being marginalized. Heavy fighting erupted after that between GSL forces and the LTTE and in September 2006, the government carried out the first major seizure of enemy territory by either side since the 2002 ceasefire. Focusing on the election of Mahinda Rajapakse in 2005, Seneviratne highlighted how the new President had been depicted in the international media, with the BBC describing him as “hawkish” and “hard-line”. Seneviratne noted how this description had then been copied by other media organizations such as Associated Press. He argued that this negative image was being portrayed because journalists too often talk to
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the Colombo-based non-governmental organizations (NGOs) such as the National Peace Council, the Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA), Young Asian Television (YATV), Sarvodaya, Foundation for Co-existence (FCE), Facilitating Local Initiatives for Conflict Resolution (FLICT) and the National Anti-War Front (NAWF), which are predominantly composed of English-speaking activists driven by foreign funding and foreign concepts of human rights. He argued that many of these organizations have a natural tendency to look at statistics and come to assumptions that numerically smaller minority groups are bound to be discriminated against by the majority community, whereas in fact the election of Rajapakse by mainly Sinhalese Buddhist masses in the rural heartland can be interpreted as a vote for empowerment of a marginalized community. Seneviratne questioned whether the biased reporting might be a result of economic interests. He asserted that in the large Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora in the West, there are many committed activists of the LTTE, who have cultivated the goodwill of the Western media by projecting themselves as victims of racial discrimination in their homeland. This has led to a blinkered and un-objective reporting of the situation in Sri Lanka by international media and this reporting in turn has led to international NGOs providing financial support to groups in Sri Lanka which support the LTTE. It is in the interest of these groups to continue reporting the conflict since they are getting funding so long as they perpetuate the story of the oppression and conflict. As an example Seneviratne presented an article that he had written about Buddhist and Hindu groups cooperating in Sri Lanka to prevent fundamentalist Christian groups setting up in the country. He remarked how this story had been ignored by foreign news agencies because the spokespeople from the Sri Lankan NGOs were not interested in promoting a story of cooperation. He asserted that some may even be on the payroll of the Christian sects. And, he added, since foreign journalists rarely make an attempt to go to rural areas of Sri Lanka they are dependent on Colombo-based NGOs to supply news stories.
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Indonesia Seneviratne gave a shorter talk on the situation in Indonesia. Again he began with a presentation of the ethnic and religious make-up of the population. Based on figures from the United States Library of Congress he presented the following ethnic make-up of the country: Javanese 45 percent, Sundanese 14 percent, Madurese 7.5 percent, coastal Malays 7.5 percent, others 26 percent (this figure includes ethnic Chinese). In religious terms, Indonesia is considered the world’s largest Muslim country with 87 percent observing Islam; six percent Protestant Christian, 3 percent Roman Catholic, two percent Hindu (mainly in Bali), one percent Buddhist and one percent other. Seneviratne spoke of how in Indonesia the Chinese minority plays a dominant role in the economy and this has created much controversy and resentment among the pribumi (indigenous Malay-Muslim) Indonesians. In many parts of Indonesia, Chinese are represented among the wealthier classes, out of proportion with their small numbers. According to a survey of corporations listed on the Jakarta Stock Exchange, the Chinese Indonesian community was thought to own or operate a large fraction of major Indonesian corporations. In August 2005, 11 fatwas were issued by the Indonesian Ulama Council – the country’s leading council of clerics – which was widely reported in the international and regional media as a sign that Islamic fundamentalism was on the rise in the world’s largest Muslim
country. However, Seneviratne argued, the fatwas were misinterpreted. Rather than being an invocation of religious war, they were more of a defensive measure to protect the Islamic community from the negative impacts of globalization such as pornography, gambling, Western pop culture via satellite television. They were also intended to protect the culture from aggressive foreign-funded Christian evangelical sects, who have begun infiltrating the Muslim rural poor heartland. Seneviratne highlighted the disproportionate attention given by the international media to attacks on rural Indonesian churches. Perhaps, he said, it should be asked whether these churches were “planted”. It is possible that they were prayer centers established in non-Christian villages without the permission of local authorities and perhaps they were spreading an ideology, which was offensive to local cultural norms. He suggested that locals may feel powerless against the foreign-funded groups that set up these churches and that the attacks may be better understood in this context. Seneviratne asserted that such conflicts could be avoided if more pressure were put on the church groups in the West to stop them carrying out activities that are perceived as unethical. But, he said, media reporting rarely applies this kind of pressure. Seneviratne suggested that peace education would be likely to fail in the poor conservative devout Muslim communities because without economical empowerment they will not agree that other religions need to be respected.
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Malaysia Seneviratne also began the presentation of Malaysia with statistics on the ethnic make-up of the country. Using statistics from the 2005 census he showed how the Malay Muslims (known as bumiputra) form the majority, at 64 percent of the population. By constitutional definition, Malays are Muslims who practice Malay customs and culture. 24 percent of the population are Malaysians of Chinese descent, while Malaysians of Indian descent make up seven percent of the population. The bumiputra policy known as the New Economic Policy (NEP) was introduced more than 30 years ago as an affirmative action plan to empower the Muslim Malay masses because at independence they were seen as being at a disadvantage vis-a-vis the Chinese minority which, under British rule, had better educational opportunities and began dominating the economy. Seneviratne illustrated how this position of the Chinese Malaysian economic superiority continues today by presenting the audience with the front page of the May 2008 edition of the New Straits Times which carried photos of the 10 richest Malaysians, eight of whom were Chinese Malaysian. Seneviratne went on to explain how the March 2008 elections in Malaysia saw the Malay-dominated UMNO party suffer considerable losses. The UMNO party, which has been seen as the protectors of Malay Muslim rights and implementer of the NEP, lost power in five state governments for the first time since independence from the British. Some of the state
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g overnments which are now dominated by parties with a strong Chinese Malaysian following have indicated that they will review the NEP at state government level and this has created tension within Malaysia. Seneviratne argued that if any serious ethnic conflict breaks out in Malaysia in the near future, peace education campaigns for the Malays based on anti-discrimination principles will not be effective. Instead, what is needed, he claimed, are strategies to empower the Malay masses and peace education for the Chinese Malays so that they may better understand the Malay situation rather than complain about perceived discrimination. United States Seneviratne rounded off his talk by contrasting the media reporting of ethnic diversity in the United States against its reporting in the three Asian countries already discussed. He showed an article from Singapore’s Straits Times that reported on the forthcoming US presidential election, claiming that some Americans preferred John McCain because he was a more “full-blooded” American than Barack Obama. The article was careful to assert that this description was not racist but rather a case of harkening back to old-fashioned American values. Seneviratne pointed out how the article went on to argue that in a country that is rapidly changing demographically – and where new neighbors may have arrived last year, not last century – there is a feeling that the once-upon-a-time America is changing its traditional values rapidly. DEUTSCHE WELLE GLOBAL MEDIA FORUM 2008
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Seneviratne questioned why Americans are allowed to express such opinions without being called extremist, hard-line or chauvinist, whereas Sinhalese Buddhist, Islamist Indonesians and Muslim Malays are labeled as religious extremists if they attempt to prevent multiculturalism being forced upon their countries by Westernfunded peace groups. He concluded with the following recommendations (quoted directly): · “Rethink Human Rights covenants which focus almost entirely on the individual rights of ethnic or religious minorities; · Be more aware of historic injustices meted out to native religious and ethnic communities which form the majority in the country; · Peace education programs may need components to empower these communities who are often among the poorest but yet represent the majority ethnic/religious community; · Western donor agencies should not work only with English-speaking NGOs, they should seek out community organizations and grassroots organization who are more rooted in the native culture; · Sometimes it is better to work with government agencies rather than with “dollar-chasing” NGOs; · Take into account impact of globalization and the fears in grassroots communities; · Be vigilant in dishing out funds and be careful of “dollar chasing peace vendors”; · A code of ethics must be developed for delivery of peace education programs, especially so that it will not be abused by religious groups with evangelical motives.”
Discussion The floor discussion began with one audience member complimenting the presentation, parts of which, he said, were totally in line with an economist’s assessment. The case studies were good examples of economic theories. But, he wondered, “What is the role of peacebuilding in the media?” Seneviratne responded that it is difficult to communicate a peace message if part of the community feels it needs economic empowerment but the question is to find a way to talk about economic empowerment without making it an issue. Another audience member claimed that Seneviratne offered a definition of peace that was philosophical whereas he would define it more pragmatically; a public solution that all members of society are able to accept even though they don’t agree with it. In a pluralistic society there are many attributes offered by different cultural groups and each group feels their contribution is relevant for issues of political decision-making. Furthermore, he argued, the media are the most important institution for public communication. In a situation where the media offer equal opportunities to all areas of society it is much easier for the society to find a solution that is acceptable to all. If there is a medium that is biased it is difficult to find a solution that is acceptable to all. Seneviratne responded that the official mandate of Malaysian press was to foster inter-racial harmony therefore it is absolutely forbidden to touch on racial prejudice. However, this policy is artificial because in reality the people talk differently and the divide is present – as shown by the 10 richest Malaysians. The same audience member spoke on the subject of income opportunities arguing that there is indeed an imbalance with regard to superior economic opportunities for the Chinese Malays, but there is a counterweight – the Malaysian population has better access to the political sphere. Also, he added, the Indian Malays have fields where they are advantaged, namely in academia, medicine and law. So it is not just one group that has the advantages in all the different determinants that make up wellbeing. He argued that it is the same in Europe. Other audience members addressed the role of foreign NGOs’ funding and claimed that the NGO scene is very diverse and there are so many organizations that are trying to influence media authority. They asked
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Seneviratne if there is some indepth research that tries to identify the different NGOs, for example in the same way that in Africa the BBC Trust tried to identify the media policies over the last five years in 17 countries. Seneviratne responded that there has been a research project about the tsunami in several countries showing that there were lots of NGOs working there. He explained how he is looking at how stories written locally can be brought into the mainstream and hoping to develop a media curriculum to train people at a local level in their own language since there is an argument that the NGOs that currently put forward the news stories are part of new colonialism. One audience member questioned Seneviratne’s assertion that the media is generally biased towards the LTTE, suggesting that there is a difference between international and national reporting of the Sri Lankan conflict, and in fact domestic Sri Lankan media are proSinhalese. The same person also questioned Seneviratne’s criticism of the use of the words “hardline” and “hawkish” with reference to Rajapakse. He suggested that journalists are obliged to use adjectives, and since Rajapakse vowed to review the 2002 ceasefire and has refused to consider a divided Sri Lanka perhaps “hardline” and “hawkish” are appropriate descriptors without being necessarily pejorative. Seneviratne countered that Rajapakse is only the latest in a long line of Sri Lankan presidents who have rejected a divided state therefore there is nothing particularly “hardline” about his stance. He insisted that the question is why journalists choose the label hardline for just Rajapakse, why not also for the other side? Another audience member argued that the domestic Sri Lankan media isn’t biased since, for example, there are seven Sunday newspapers, only one of which is government-owned. This individual continued that the independent media are against the government and there is the freedom to express opinions. There is no obstacle for anyone of any race to being a journalist, there are journalistic training schools and the Tamils and Berghers have never faced difficulties in getting into these. However, the same individual continued, if journalists speak against the government they may not be looked upon favorably.
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Seneviratne continued that some journalists in Sri Lanka have been kidnapped and killed and the finger has been pointed at the government even though some of these were not criticizing the government but in fact were criticizing the LTTE. He added that the staff members recruited for international organizations have a lot of sympathy towards the minorities so they pass on this attitude to the international media and rather than writing what is actually happening they write what they believe is happening. For example, Seneviratne said, journalists often see the Sri Lankan conflict as being about Buddhists versus Hindus whereas in fact many Hindus in Sri Lanka don’t support the LTTE. The session closed with a discussion about digital media. One audience member questioned the impact of the new media on traditional media in Asia, for example, blogging. A discussion began amongst the audience on the subject of blogging in Asia and there was agreement amongst a few audience members that in Thailand blogging is becoming more popular and may even be replacing radio, this was thought to be a positive development since it allows any member of the public to have their voice heard. In Sri Lanka, in contrast, the Internet is used by a section of the population but traditional media still dominates. | Lydia Stone
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Populism and Press Freedom Hosted by Konrad Adenauer Foundation, Germany
Introductory remarks: Dr. Gerhard Wahlers, Acting Secretary General, Konrad Adenauer Foundation, Germany Panel: Jorge Elías, Head of politics department, La Nación, Argentinia José Renan Estenssoro Valdez, Chairman of the journalists association, Bolivia Jorge Ochoa, Correspondent, El Universal, Mexico City Dr. Marcel Granier, Director General, RCTV, Venezuela Moderation: DR. Hildegard Stausberg, DIE WELT, Germany
»Media have a very important social function: They ensure the flow of information to citizens and influence the public’s overall opinion and individuals’ political behavior. Free and independent media are a significant factor for a functioning democracy. Balanced reporting can help stabilize a country and make an important contribution to conflict prevention. Latin America has experienced political and economic development in recent years, much of which has made the situation increasingly difficult for the media. One example is the increasing success of populist politicians. Numerous media outlets are not in a position to take critical stances on political issues because they are largely financed by the government. The loss of this revenue stream can often lead to economic ruin. In many cases journalists are compelled to censor themselves. Additionally, the vertical and horizontal integration of the media into fewer hands reduces the variety of content and limits the expression of opinion. These issues raise the question of the social responsibility of the media. Sensationalist stories have taken the place of reported articles. Rumors are preferred to thoroughly investigated reports. Profit-making has supplanted quality journalism as success is now measured by a media outlet’s ability to cash in on the masses. This development questions the freedom of the press and also has the potential to endanger democratic structures and stir up tension or even conflict. The Konrad Adenauer Foundation wants to analyze
the question of how Latin America’s media have developed in recent years. Journalists from Argentina, Bolivia, Mexico and Venezuela report on their experiences and discuss their perspectives on the Latin American media landscape.« (Conference program)
Gerhard Wahlers began with some introductory remarks and presented the activities of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation on media and press freedom in Latin America since the 1960s. He stated that even now, Latin America is all too often neglected and public attention, which is mostly concentrated on Africa and Asia, should at least partly be refocused. Some important steps in this direction have been taken, for example during the recent EU-Latin America summit. The most problematic implications of the ‘populism and press freedom complex’ are that populism restricts democratic freedom and does not enhance participation opportunities (as it pretends to do). Moreover, it offers easy answers to complex questions and instrumentalizes the population. The reason for widespread populism in Latin America is to be found in the failure of democratic institutions to solve certain existential questions, especially the problem of poverty. A grave example for such a failure is Venezuela; there are, however, regional differences.
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Jorge Elías in his presentation said that Umberto Eco coined the term “mediatic populism” in order to describe Berlusconi’s role in Italy. With this Eco points to the omnipresence of the president in the media and the political addresses, which are directed to voters and population via media channels, circumventing legislative and other political institutions. Analogies to the situation in Venezuela under Hugo Chávez are evident, where the president, for example, imitates a program type originally invented by Fidel Castro, called “Aló Presidente”, in which he addresses the population directly without any possibility for other legitimate political institutions to be involved. Regarding political parties in Latin America, there are no clear left-right distinctions anymore. All political parties are more or less populist. So called ‘new leaders’ like Hugo Chávez, Evo Morales Ayma and Luiz Ignázio Lula da Silva have put traditional parties into a crisis. For the media, this means mainly two things: the abuse of state-owned mass media and the control of the independent media by the populist forces in power. Therefore, very often the media does not and cannot play the role of an opposition anymore. The situation in Argentina can at least partly be compared to the one in Venezuela. In Argentina violence jeopardizes press freedom and creates further reaching problems. Although in the beginning she pledged to initiate change, President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner fell back into the earlier pattern of confrontation with the media, whenever their coverage is not consistent with official government communications. This situation is aggravated by the failure to achieve any political reform. Since 2003, there have not been any press conferences of government institutions, thereby depriving journalists of the chance to ask questions of government officials. Additional problems are posed by the freedom of information law and the hostile relationship between the government and the agricultural sector. In Argentina, the president has no real opposition and at the same time keeps attacking the media. This goes along with a global tendency towards less press freedom; currently, Argentina is listed as a partly free country, according to recent data from the US-American think tank Freedom House. This, however, does not bother the government
Populism and Press Freedom
and the same is true for Brazil, Chile and Bolivia, where the current administration views itself as a “victim of media terrorism”. A control network has been set up that legitimizes censorship. Opposition to the government is equated with non-patriotism, critical journalists are spoken of as “enemies of the homeland”. In Ecuador, official statements have been issued saying that the press needs to change, claiming that it was a mirror of corruption. The president of Argentina, according to her own statement, feels more comfortable with photographers, because they don’t ask questions. In Latin America the age of military dictatorships is over but the authoritarian culture is not. 316 journalists were murdered between 1987 and 2006 in the Americas, many more were and are threatened. The United Nations Security Council resolution obliging states to guarantee the safety of journalists is not implemented well in Latin America. José Renan Estenssoro Valdez spoke of the situation in Bolivia, which became a democracy with the first elections that replaced the military government in 1982, but already four years later the country was plagued by high inflation and social problems, which led to neo-liberal reforms and restructuring in the 1990s. These reforms, which were implemented by the main political parties in different alliances, affected the population negatively. At the same time, the newly privatized media and especially television landscape developed into a very sensationalist and uncritical one. Trade unions were utterly ignored by journalists and so was Evo Morales Ayma, who was a trade union leader at that time. Discomfort over this type of journalism spread in the population and the desire for change grew bigger, as even a stable economy did not meet the needs and demands of the people. People started demonstrating against the government and the new political reality became increasingly dominated by the leaders of movements. Morales won the 2005 presidential election in a landslide and did not have to form a coalition. He is now the head of a neo-populist government. The nationalization of hydropower plants and oil companies and the redistribution of enormous sums of money made him the “god” of many members of social movements. The fundamental pillar of Morales’ power is the way the government is
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c onstituted. The indigenous groups of the population are well represented in the Constituent Assembly, which results in a broad popular acceptance of the government. The press continues to inform, but is at the same time stuck in a compromise. Morales does not allow for real press liberty although he wants permanent press accompaniment. An ongoing campaign to de-legitimize the press is quite successful whereby if journalists attack the president it is increasingly seen as the media who are at fault. In addition the state media and state-funded radio stations criticize the opposition. The government invests huge sums in its publicity; it plans to buy new media stations and interferes openly in the work of other media organizations. Historically, the media were mostly on the side of the poor but today there is a love-hate relation between them. The media are the target of much criticism and have become less independent. Quite a number of recent incidents involved journalists, who were injured in clashes between demonstrators and the police. Santa Cruz is currently an opposition stronghold and on 4 May 2008, an oppositional TV station there was set on fire. The government keeps restricting freedom of expression through legislation despite demonstrations against it by journalists. Although a censorship law has been cancelled, fights are ongoing e.g. for the elimination of the privacy of sources. To sum up, there is press freedom in Bolivia, but it is restricted. The influence of the Venezuelan regime can be felt in Bolivia, although ChĂĄvez and Morales should be considered different phenomena; both have negative effects on pluralism and democracy and undermine the credibility of democratic institutions by destroying fundamental democratic principles. Especially Morales is nonetheless very popular for the inclusion of formerly excluded groups in the political process. The ray of hope for democracy is that the population will not Âaccept his suppression. Jorge Octavio Ochao gave a presentation focussed on Mexico. He stated that populism as an obstacle to freedom and democracy has taken particularly brutal forms in Mexico, where 40 million people (of a total of more than 100 million) live in poverty. Populism nourishes itself from this situation. This is especially so in the poorest areas of the country. Whenever there are elec-
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tions, official numbers on voter turnout in these regions are remarkable, as they go up to 91 percent. This is most likely not attributable to the miraculous civic consciousness of the poor, however, but to control and bribery. The Mexican government changed in 2000 when the Fox National Party came to power. Between 2000 and 2005, 19 journalists were killed in Mexico and numerous instances of violence against journalists have occurred. The president was not openly repressive towards the media, but he was not interested in increasing the safety of journalists, either. Moreover, when journalists were bribed, the president did not act against it. In an audit it turned out that one newspaper owed the government an enormous amount of money. However, nothing was done about this. This shows that clearly there is a lack of transparency. There are more instances of money that simply disappeared i.e. government investments in a mega-library built on the initiative of former president Vicente Fox and a highly subsidized project on education that completely lacked transparency and never proved it actually had a positive impact. Marcel Granier claimed that the perception of people in the United States about Venezuela is that the plight of the population is one they deserve and a consequence of their economic situation. However, poverty is not a reason for but a consequence of wrong governance. Venezuela was one of the poorest countries in Latin America at the beginning of the 20th century and suffered under an authoritarian government. Petroleum was discovered in the 1920s and led to stable economic growth without any inflation over the next 50 years. At the same time, urbanization took place rapidly (today 90 percent of the Venezuelan population live in cities) and the formerly rural population, as well as a big number of migrants were easily integrated into urban economies. The country had the highest birth rate in Latin America and no violent conflict with any of its neighbors. However, when the oil price started to rise and revenues increased, bad policies were implemented. Within the last 25 years, Venezuela has witnessed no economic growth at all and there is more poverty now than there was in the 1970s. This is due to a clear lack of development and flaws in the political system, i.e. too DEUTSCHE WELLE GLOBAL MEDIA FORUM 2008
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much power with the president and the administration and political interference with the markets (especially no respect for property rights). Latin America nourishes two fundamental myths. The first is about a glorious past. It includes an idealization of the indigenous population, which lived healthily, happily and peacefully until problems started with the arrival of the Spanish. The second one is that the United States actually stole the wealth of Latin American countries. Both myths result in a backward perspective. In 2006, Berlusconi stated publicly that since he was legitimized by the voting population he did not have to accept the judgment of any lawyers. This can be seen as a de-legitimization of the legislative sector. One of the problems related to Chávez is that while everybody thinks of him as a clown, his model of governance has already spread within the region, so for example to Bolivia, Nicaragua, El Salvador and Colombia. At the same time he de-legitimizes the press by destroying their credibility, i.e. he claims that they are not impartial and sheds doubt on their coverage or links them with negative events. Similar to the massacre at Tiananmen Square in Beijing or recent attacks against Buddhist monks in Burma, the world is much more likely to hear about such occurrences than the local population. And because they have no information on what the government is doing, opposition and resistance are weak. In Venezuela, the president has the power to close or end all television shows at any time in order to speak on this channel himself and even news broadcasting can and has been interrupted by him. In addition he has his own shows on television in public television stations. Added to the television commercials he features in, he has a screen presence of three hours per day. Discussion The discussion centered on press freedom, political power and the role of the media particularly in Argentina, Bolivia, Mexico and Venezuela. The discussion included the following points. With regard to Argentina, discussants highlighted the poor condition of democracy, which is apparent in the lack of a real opposition and weak political parties. A particular problem is that parties do not evolve and
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grow in a bottom-up process, but are founded by certain leaders from the top down. Political institutions are non-existent or weak and very high expectations rest on the media, which is unable to fulfill them. However, in Argentina, newspaper sales increase in times of crisis. In Bolivia, the fact that for the first time in history the president is of indigenous origin is a step in the right direction. Nonetheless, the inclusion of indigenous groups cannot hide the fact that his government has got strong undemocratic tendencies. There is an on-going strong movement for autonomy, especially in the eastern parts of the country. Partly because of this, there are regions with a more critical media. However, political forces are trying to determine the way they work. For example, radio stations in Bolivia are financed from Venezuelan oil revenues and by NGOs. In the Chiapas region of Mexico, the situation regarding press freedom is slightly better than in other parts of the country, because here the influence of “Subcomandante Marcos” and his Zapatista movement are particularly strong. It was said about Marcos that he spreads the word and no blood. He started his activities in 1994, when the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was signed, and since then the information situation has improved significantly. This can be seen in a number of internet blogs and access to YouTube videos. The reason that Chávez has been able to retain power in Venezuela for so long has to be sought in his enormous mobilization of media and the invasion of politics into mass media. On the other side, however, the informational revolution has also diversified information sources. For example, the Internet is used to distribute information, for example from Cuba. It might still be too early to do a final evaluation of the role and effects of the Internet. Apparently, journalists do not work with it so much yet, as they still tend to produce content mainly for the ‘traditional’ formats of television, radio and newspapers. However, this will not be able to stop the tendency towards a diversification of sources and communication taking place across borders. On the other hand it is not sure yet how these developments will be managed. | Ruth Vollmer
The Path to Peace – Can Popular Media Contribute to Freedom of Opinion? Hosted by gtz (German agency for technical cooperation)
Speakers: Sharmini Boyle, Chief Editor, Young Asia TV, Sri Lanka Michael Gleich, journalist, Peace Counts, Germany Klaas Glenewinkel, Director, Media in Cooperation and Transition (MICT), Germany Bernd Hoffmann, Deputy Divisional Director, GTZ, Germany John Marks, President, Search for Common Ground, United States of America Stephanie Schell-Faucon, Planning Officer, GTZ, Germany Facilitator: Conny Czymoch, Host, Phoenix TV, Germany »In crisis situations and post-conflict countries, the often desperate cry for better reporting is more than legitimate. In many such places, the local media are in a condition ranging from difficult to desperate. In extreme cases, journalists are part of the propaganda machine of one of the conflict parties, while those who continue to report openly find themselves threatened. Especially in post-conflict situations, moreover, it becomes clear that the promotion of legitimate news coverage is not enough to overcome years of alienation and hostility between the different ethnic, societal and cultural) groups. Rational knowledge transfer cannot dismantle prejudices. In the end, human learning is not only cognitive but also powerfully emotional.
In places where freedom of opinion is curtailed, a cultural imaginativeness is frequently required in order for a message to reach its audience. Edutainment is one such method. By using popular media – be it television, radio, comics, theater or exhibits – topics of conflict and peace can be addressed and the audience can question its own attitudes dispassionately and without information overload. To be successful, however, such programs must find a balance between news coverage, education and entertainment.« (Conference Program)
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The Path to Peace – Can Popular Media Contribute to Freedom of Opinion?
Bernd Hoffmann opened the session by warning that although the media can have a positive impact on peacebuilding, they also have the capacity to polarize and can become misused. For example, the mass media played an essential part in the Third Reich. He urged that the participants explore every aspect of the workshop title and asked several questions: “How do we define freedom of opinion?” “How can media contribute to this idea?” “Is there an impact?” GTZ has had to observe how the hard work of development can be easily wiped out by the outbreak of violent conflict. This speaks to the profound social and structural demands that are needed in a post-conflict society. Sustainable peace requires change agents and driving forces from within. In this respect, internal actors need to be empowered. He said that NGOs, religion and, last but not least, the media must all be at the center of peacebuilding activities. John Marks agreed that the media have an important role to play in a holistic approach to peacebuilding. Indeed, peacebuilding is not purely rational but also a highly emotional process. People need positive touching experiences. “Edutainment” is one way to show positive images. People use many types of popular media including television, Internet, radios and several tools to try to come to terms with war and peace. Social and cultural dimensions of peacemaking can be discussed without preaching. The great art is to identify the right actors to explain information, education and entertainment. The workshop then broke into several work groups. Each group was to examine a photograph. The purpose of the exercise was to describe one’s emotions after briefly looking at the photographs. Their context was only given after each group gave their responses. One photograph depicted several teenage girls discussing an issue. Overall, the groups’ reactions were hopeful. One individual said that the photograph brought back floods of memories where people come together to connect in the heart. Another remarked that it must be a depiction of the future. Another said the contents showed that constructive dialogue is possible. Someone else believed it showed a way to peace. The last comments spoke of openness and that nothing can develop without dialogue and communication. The
photograph was taken at the Fran School in Israel. The institution’s purpose is to develop dialogue between Israelis and Palestinians. Another group was given a black and white photograph that depicted several men putting their hands together. Reactions here were more diverse. One individual remarked that the men looked very comfortable and trusting. Another person was not sure what they were doing. One said that the photograph showed men from different ethnic groups coming together. It was taken in Mali where Tuareg men from different tribes were coming together to make peace. The following group commented on a photograph, which showed a young lady and a young female child interacting. One person claimed that it was difficult to interpret. Another said it depicted the sound of love. The photograph was taken at a school for deaf children where the child was learning the sound of a word she had never heard. A subsequent photograph portrayed elderly ladies dancing together in yellow prison uniforms. The responses found consensus around happiness. The photograph was taken in a high security prison for murderers. The ladies were prison inmates taking part in a workshop focusing on non-violent conflict resolution. The last photograph depicted a young boy shouting while other children continued working in a classroom. One member of the group thought the boy was very aggressive. Another said the photograph was confusing because the boy was yelling in the foreground, yet other children were calmly studying in the background. It was taken of a classroom where children can come together and express their emotions after experiencing violent conflict at a young age.
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The groups were asked to reconvene. Michael Gleich presented the context of the photographs and spoke about his organization, Peace Counts. Referring to the photo presentation, he remarked that if you like to fascinate, pictures are very good tools. Moreover, they can portray successful peacebuilding activities. The problem, however, is to convince editors that good and positive stories sell. Gleich explained that Peace Counts tries to concentrate on normal people. Members of civil society are good networkers, which makes them powerful. Referring to successful peacemakers, Gleich observed that one needs to possess two imperative qualities. First, you have to maintain a ‘big vision’. Much like Ghandi, an individual must strive for lofty goals. Second, successful peacemakers need to be good managers. Like the head of a large company, they must balance several issues at once. When you combine the two, you become a successful social entrepreneur. Moreover, people who possess these qualities are those who can simplify complex projects and bring them to regular readers. Sharmini Boyle talked about the opportunities and challenges of peacebuilding in Sri Lanka. She began by posing the question, “How do you approach young people in Sri Lanka?” Boyle focused on how YATV is making a difference amongst youth who have to deal with conflict on a daily level. The YATV network produces programs in Sri Lanka that young people can relate to. One of the overarching goals is to keep the peace debate alive. In order to accomplish this, it uses different approaches, including talk shows, dramas and music videos as mechanisms to convey a peaceful message. Boyle reflected that often, the content of regular drama programs tends to perpetuate pre-existing social, ethnic and cultural tensions. YATV dramas try to provide a different platform by presenting shows in two or more languages and creating situations that speak to several cultures. After showing a brief clip of a current YATV drama, Boyle remarked that developing scripts involves consultation with locals, and active dialogue. Referring to the tsunami, YATV brought several groups together who had direct experience with the disaster and its aftermath. The network wanted to represent Sinhalese, Buddhists,
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Muslims and Tamils. This is the reason why they set the show in a Buddhist temple that became a refugee camp. This way, tolerance for all beliefs, was promoted. John Marks showcased a project in Macedonia, which addresses children. The presentation began with a speaker expressing the idea that the media can act as an apparatus to influence behavioral change. Conflict is not just an intellectual issue; you have to include both the heart and the head when considering any type of media intervention. In this framework, the Macedonian project named “Nashimolo (Our Neighborhood)” was envisioned to affect change for the next generation. The project became a 42-part television series. Centering on an apartment house, inhabited by Macedonian, Albanian, Turkish and Roma families, children would go to an entity named “Carmen” to ask what to do when they faced ethnic problems or challenges. Klaas Glenewinkel talked about the media in Iraq. Before 2003, media was centralized by Uday Hussein. After 2003, the United States and coalition partners have largely controlled media content. He remarked that a lot of media content is partisan but productive nonetheless. With respect to relevant media outlets in Iraq, the Internet is used by only 10 percent of the population; newspaper readership is also very low. Radio is good but is only broadcast locally. Satellite television is the best. Glenewinkel remarked that there are several TV programs produced by Iraqi stations. “Citizens B” concerns Iraqi’s living in Syria. “Phobia Baghdad” is a show, which targets the struggles of intellectuals. Another show covers the suffering of farmers in the marshes. The last show that he mentioned, “Pimp My House,” is a program where people can apply to get their houses renovated after being destroyed in the war. The speaker commented, however, that all of the above have links to political interests so they do not contribute to peace dialogue. One show that is very popular and positively contributes to peacemaking focuses on amateur singers who become popular through people calling in after a performance. This is successful both in ratings and peacemaking because it integrates ethno-sectarian groups. Additionally, the TV station is completely independent from politics. DEUTSCHE WELLE GLOBAL MEDIA FORUM 2008
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The Path to Peace – Can Popular Media Contribute to Freedom of Opinion?
Stephanie Schell-Faucon remarked that actors engaged in development must be involved in conflict transformation. She said there is still a need for reflective dialogue regarding peacebuilding. GTZ is trying to see how different internal actors can use media. “How can we strengthen local capacities to incorporate media?” They are trying to do programs that connect people. She asked the question, “How can you use your media to talk about peacebuilding issues?” Discussion It was asked whether there are themes that are not approachable. Marks responded by saying that his organization had produced a series of shows on Egyptian state television that were pulled off the air, but were later shown on satellite television. Glenewinkel responded that the programs his organization executes are made by individuals from all walks of society. If you produce music for some parts of society and exclude others, it is not possible to build peace. Another question addressed funding projects that seek peacebuilding. Marks replied that it is imperative to use as diverse a funding base as possible. His organization has acquired funds from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) and funding sources from Denmark. He observed that while governmental funding is sometimes necessary, it has several limitations. He suggested that commercial funding might be the new future. Boyle said that her organization uses international donor countries. Gleich remarked that Peace Counts obtains funding from the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The discussion also highlighted the importance of integrating different cultures into production teams. Marks replied that it is imperative to use people from as many cultures as possible in production teams. Glenewinkel testified that teams used in Iraq are multi-ethnic and multi-sectarian.
In addition, it was asked whether this type of work is journalism or peace work. Marks responded that his organization does it all. He said that they are constantly looking for the question that asks, “How do you agree?” Another pointed out that peace journalism can exist, whereby journalists write on constructive, positive topics. Glenewinkel said that conflict-sensitive journalism should be a part of normal journalistic curriculum, which is targeted more toward the style of writing. The last question asked was whether or not media recipes exist for areas that want to achieve peace. It was said that production teams must contain actors from all parts of the conflict. You must also go for fascination, not morality. ‘Infotainment’ should be a necessary goal. Programs should also include an open end. Moreover, differences should be understood but commonalities stressed. Also, it must be realized that each situation is different. Last, the more you partner, the better the result. | Philip Rush
WHEN TELLING THE TRUTH BECOMES A CRIME Hosted by international institute for journalism (IIJ) of InWEnt - Capacity Building International, Germany
Pictures by Boldwill Hungwe, prize winner of the World Press Photo Contest 2008, tell about his home country Zimbabwe. The Zimbabwe government displays an openly hostile attitude toward media freedom, and a draconian legislative framework continues to effectively inhibit the activities of journalists and media outlets. Surveillance, threats, imprisonment, censorship, blackmail, abuse of power and denial of justice are all brought to bear to keep firm control over the news. It was in August 2007 when the privately-owned Zimbabwean newspaper “The Standard” published a list with the names of 15 journalists that appeared to have been leaked from the security service. The journalists who work for private media and do independent investigative reporting have been accused of working with “hostile anti-Zimbabwean Western governments” and were threatened with physical assault.
Boldwill Hungwe, 32, works as a photojournalist for “The Standard” and its sister paper “Zimbabwe Independent” and is an alumnus of the International Institute for Journalism of InWEnt - Capacity Building International, Germany. In 2007 he fled temporarily into hiding after being ordered by police to turn himself in for taking pictures of a lawyer who was abducted and tortured during interrogation. Boldwill Hungwe tells in his pictures what it means to wage a daily struggle not only for food and energy but for justice and the freedom of expression and proves that the truth has still a voice even in a repressive regime. In the World Press Photo Contest 2008, Hungwe won the 2nd prize in the category “Spot News”. MediaME aims to provide a resource for knowledge and capacity building and the wish is to produce a tool for all partners in the various countries.
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side events Sunday, 1 June 2008, speakers’ dinner at the hotel petersberg
On Sunday evening, Deutsche Welle hosted a dinner for all of the conference’s speakers and panelists at the ÂPetersberg Hotel. In 2001, the hotel was host to the
United Nations Petersberg Afghanistan Conference, which led to decisions for the re-building of Afghanistan.
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Monday, 2 June 2008, reception hosted by deutsche welle
Deutsche Welle hosted a party on Monday night at its headquarters in Bonn – just a few minutes away from the World Conference Center in the heart of Bonn’s
former government quarter. Guests helped themselves to a dinner buffet and musical acts provided entertainment throughout the evening.
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Monday, 2 June 2008, opening of the international photo exhibition “child soldiers – forced to be cruel”
On the first day of the conference a photo exhibition ‘Child Soldiers - Forced to be Cruel’ was opened in the conference center. The exhibition featured emotionally charged photos. This was the first time that this selection was on display. The participating, internationally
renowned photographers included: Lynsey Addario, who documented child soldiers in Sudan, Martin Adler (Columbia), Riccardo Gangale, Cedric Gerbehaye, Roger Lemoyne (Congo), Tim Hetherington (Liberia), Peter Mantello (Burma), Q. Sakamaki (Afghanistan),
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ominic Sansoni (Sri Lanka) and Ami Vitale (Nepal). D Photographer and film-maker Peter Mantello established the exhibition. He is currently a professor at a university in Japan. Co-curator of the exhibition was Leora Khan from New York. Matin Wasiri, a rapper from
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Bonn (“Angry Teng”), composed specifically for the exhibition a rap song on the fate of child soldiers entitled “Children of Men” which had its world premiere on the same day the exhibition was opened.
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Tuesday, 3 June 2008, boat trip & dinner hosted by dhl
The highlight of the four side events was a river cruise on the luxurious “Rheinenergie” on Tuesday night – the ship can accommodate up to 2,000 guests. The beautiful scenery of the Rhine valley provided the perfect back-
drop for a night of networking, discussion and entertainment. Thanks again to the DHL who sponsored this truly unforgettable evening.
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Wednesday, 4 June 2008, lunch reception hosted by the city of bonn
The last side event took place right after the closing of the Global Media Forum 2008. Bärbel Dieckmann, Bonn’s mayor, invited and greeted the delegates on
behalf of the city of Bonn at a luncheon at the nearby Art and Exhibition Hall of the Federal Republic of Germany.
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Journalistic Training in Conflict-Related Situations Introduction Journalistic training in conflict-related situations DR. CHRISTOPH SCHMIDT, Head of Academic Department, DW-AKADEMIE, Germany
Good journalism requires good journalists. If you don’t have adequate skills, you can’t produce quality work. If you know nothing about journalistic ethics, you’re not up to date with the media’s role in strengthening democracy. Journalistic quality and integrity are important and crucial in conflict-related situations. The media can do more than merely inform: it can expose injustice, poor or dishonest governance. The media also acts as an effective tool for development by providing content which supports developmental priorities such as peace, good governance, health, and education. Yet, especially in conflict and post-conflict states, the standard of training of journalists and technicians is often not satisfactory. Media and journalistic training, therefore, are critical components of a country’s good governance. Thus, training has to be one of the core activities of media promotion in the transformation phase. Training is challenged not only by political developments worldwide, but also by technological innovations and growing media diversity. As recent examples have shown, new technology, especially the spread of the Internet and mobile phones, allows journalists and citizens working in conflict situations to bypass media that are prone to censorship and create new channels for information to keep the world and local population informed. The “Journalistic Training in Conflict-Related Situations” symposium on 3rd June in Bonn brought together media representatives and internationally experienced trainers from all over the world. These experts took the opportunity to discuss the central theme of what qualifications and know-how journalists need in order to con-
tribute to peace and conflict de-escalation. They debated on finding solutions for the possible prerequisites for good quality in journalistic training. Under discussion were the central questions: how can the outcome of courses be ensured and how can seminars be fruitful in the long term? A further topic was how journalistic training can take place in conflict and post-conflict countries and what the stumbling blocks might be. Another field was the analysis of new technologies recently applied in conflict settings and what role they play or ought to play. The main question was whether digital media helps bypass censorship and whether it offers free international communication and provides new possibilities for civil journalism. Besides the useful toolboxes, this book provides a number of interesting perspectives on conflict prevention. So I believe that it will become important reading for a wide audience. Chapter 1 focuses on opportunities through education. Simon Derry, Regional Director for Middle East, Europe and Former Soviet Union for the BBC World Service Trust, outlines the importance of education in general, followed by the effects of education on a country and continues with the necessity of education and training of journalists considering their responsibility to the community. He gives a description of the way the BBC frames media interventions in humanitarian and conflict environments. In the next part of this chapter, Eberhard Sucker, journalist and trainer for Deutsche Welle, talks about his experiences and activities at Radio Afghanistan. He provides an outlook of RTA’s future. This is followed by Abubakar B. Jijiwa, Director-General of Voice of Nigeria, who examines the Nigerian media background over the last four decades and the imperative of training in conflict resolution. In closing, Dr. Shah Jehan Sayed, Professor for Journalism & Mass Communication at the University of Peshawar in Pakistan, gives an overview of the guidelines of journalistic training in Pakistan.
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In chapters 2 and 3 we look at several topics pertaining to quality journalism and journalistic training in conflictrelated situations. Dr. Abdul Waheed Khan, Assistant Director-General for Communication and Information at the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), explains the guidelines of UNESCO’s “Model Curricula for Journalism Education for Developing Countries and Emerging Democracies”. This is followed by Kayeromi D. Gomez and Melisande Middleton from the Center for International Media Ethics reporting on the situation of journalistic training in West Africa. Astrid Kohl, head of the International Institute for Journalism (IIJ) of InWEnt (Capacity Building International, Germany), informs about the general aspects and her IIJ experiences. Min Bahadur Shahi, Chairman of the Association of Community Radio Broadcasters in Nepal, explains the special conditions of journalistic training in Nepal. A statement by Reach Sambath, Press Officer of Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC), based in Phnom Penh, about the special significance of journalistic training’s role in Cambodia, follows. Gavin Rees, Co-ordinator for Dart Centre Europe, describes the characteristics of journalistic training in conflict and post-conflict countries. On this basis, he talks about his Dart experience in Cambodia and highlights the potential dangers of journalistic training in conflict societies. Finally, Anja Wollenberg, Head of Media in Cooperation and Transition (MICT) in Berlin, speaks about training activities in Iraq. Chapter 4 focuses on the Bonn Network. The Bonn Network encompasses intergovernmental, non-governmental, broadcast and research organizations working with media toward peace building and conflict prevention. Erling Dessau, Senior Advisor to the Humanitarian Futures Programme of Kings College in London and Dr. Bent Nørby Bonde, Director of Media Progress in Denmark, explain the background and activities as well as the visions and strategies of the Bonn Network.
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Chapter 5 covers the media diversity of training for a digital world. Dr. Javad Motthagi, Director of Asia-Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development (AIBD) in Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, points out the explosion of technologies – blogging, online encyclopedias, podcasting/videocasts and the connection of knowledge and resources. Afterwards he speaks about how new technologies can assist journalists in developing countries in conflict and post-conflict settings. In this regard, he gives an idea about what this means for training activities. Further Mr Makunike, a journalist, African web entrepreneur and online writer in Zimbabwe/Senegal, describes the evolving role of digital media in Africa. In the next section, Mr Matthias Spielkamp, journalist, consultant and lecturer in Berlin, explains the meaning of web logs and whether they are a sound and serious source of journalistic information. He speaks about the blogger’s role in and influence on journalism. Jotman gives an impression from the view of a blogger and speaks about his own experiences. Then Premesh Chandran, CEO of Malaysiakini, a Malaysian online publication, gives an overview of journalistic training for a digital world. This chapter is concluded by Staffan Sonning, head of Corporate Strategy of Swedish Radio, who talks about the need for speed and the erosion of media ethics. The central theme of chapter 6 is the impact of education on peace and conflict and what journalists and peacebuilding practitioners need to know about it. In this chapter we look at the role of the media in the prevention of violent conflict. It points out the different strategies to positively impact violent conflict and shows which media channels are most effective in impacting audience. Also it gives an idea about what journalists need to know and how their work can impact conflict and peace. Vladimir Bratic, Assistant Professor of Media and Communications at Hollins University, Virginia, USA, and Lisa Schirch, Program Director of the 3D Security Initiative and Professor of Peacebuilding at Eastern Mennonite University, Virginia, USA, give a science-based lecture on theory and practice. DEUTSCHE WELLE GLOBAL MEDIA FORUM 2008
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Journalistic Training in Conflict-Related Situations
Opening address Gerda Meuer, Director, DW-AKADEMIE, Germany
It is still people – not media, not technology – who communicate. And with communication tools abounding, fortunately they still like to do this face-to-face. That is the reason you came here. It is also why we invited you to attend our Symposium on Journalistic Training in Conflict-Related Situations. I would like to warmly welcome you on behalf of Deutsche Welle, Germany’s international broadcaster, and on behalf of its media development branch, DWAKADEMIE. I hope this day we’ll be spending together will prove to be exciting, rewarding and communicative. Many of you here today are professionally involved in training, basic and advanced education and consulting. You do this either for developing states or countries in transition. Again, communication face-to-face is at the heart of matter. Transfer of knowledge cannot take place unless people listen to each other and do some talking – actually, a great deal of talking. This is especially true for post-war and crisis states as well as fragile states. Let’s take a look at what these states have in common: · They comprise about one third of all members of the United Nations; · They are generally poor and economically weak; · They also lack the governmental structures needed to manage social transitions and · They lack most of the conditions required for their further development. In these kinds of states, media development happens u nder difficult conditions within the framework of nation building. Why are WE doing this? It is, after all, the responsibility of the respective state. But, these being states in crisis or fragile states, it is a responsibility that they are unable to fulfill. A responsibility not taken is a necessity not met – which in itself might cater to new conflict and crisis. For nearly 45 years, the Academy of Deutsche Welle has been active in the field of media development.
We professionalize journalists, technicians and media managers, provide coaching and consulting, develop concepts and provide assistance in building up regional networks. For several years we have concentrated our efforts in regions of crisis and conflict. Many have advised us against it and continue to do so. Instead they want us to engage in preventive project work, not leaving the comfortzone, so to speak. Our staff members in Afghanistan are putting their lives on the line. Is it worth it? This is a question we have asked ourselves repeatedly during the past few years. Not only, but of course especially with regard to our involvement in Afghanistan. At the Academy of Deutsche Welle we have decided to continue this work. We have decided to maintain our presence in countries such as Afghanistan, Sudan, Congo, Colombia, Burma and Cambodia. This poses special challenges and we are well aware of that. It is work that places particular demands on us. We need, in a manner of speaking, bulletproof concepts, clear approaches, thorough analyses and tight evaluations in order to do justice to this challenge – and most of all to the people with whom we implement it. In our opinion radio and television are of eminent importance in building up civil societies. This holds especially true as we are concerned with states where the majority of the population cannot read or write and thus have to rely on such oral media. But clearly online media are also increasingly moving into the picture – with their strong technological orientation they provide a certain flexibility that makes them often very interesting for peace content, whereas traditional media might suffer a demagogic or propagandistic thrust.
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Session 1 Opportunities through education The perfect approach for our work has not yet been found and I am sure it never will be. The world changes, situations are in flux. We ourselves need to learn, reassess and then pass on our new knowledge to provide the best possible solutions to our partners. This is not an easy task, and sometimes we, too, are at a loss as to what to do. For this reason we are glad to welcome so many experienced journalists, trainers, instructors and scholars. You have taken a day of your time to exchange views with us on a business that is certainly not easy and we are grateful for that. Let me at this point thank my colleague, Dr. Christoph Schmidt, and his team for their tremendous effort to bring us all together and organize this event. I’d also like to express my gratitude to the German state of North RhineWestphalia, which provided the funding for this event. All of us are looking for answers and solutions in our business. As the future unfolds, we will continue to do so. It is for this reason that I look forward to stimulating talks and discussions, an open exchange of opinions as well as critical and constructive arguments. I am glad that it is still people – and not media or technology – that are communicating with one another. Because in the end that is what it is all about: Communication between people.
Journalistic training in conflict-related situations – Experiences from the BBC World Service Trust Simon Derry, Regional Director for Middle East, Europe and Former Soviet Union, BBC World Service Trust, United Kingdom
After undertaking a strategy review in 2006 the Trust decided that it should concentrate its work on five main themes: · Health · Governance and Human Rights · Learning for Livelihoods · Humanitarian Response · Climate Change As you can see they are quite broad and were representative of work that we were already carrying out around the world. It is perhaps also no surprise that they mirror the thematic areas of the major bilateral and multilateral donor agencies. Behind the themes comes the methodology by which we work and we have divided this down in four distinct areas: · Research · Professional Capacity Building · Creative Programming · Outreach Research helps us to understand the problems we are trying to tackle and is ongoing throughout projects, including measuring impact at the end. Secondly – and the core of a lot of what we do – is improving skills through capacity building. Thirdly there is creative programming – making an enticing offer that audiences want to watch – obviously this is heavily influenced by the audience research work carried out. Finally, and linked back in almost a virtual circle, there is outreach work with audiences. The first area that we thought we needed to look at in terms of our thematic work was a governance strategy and after examining the work done by the World Bank, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and others we came up with this continuum to examine what kind of projects we could enact at any stage along the continuum. DEUTSCHE WELLE GLOBAL MEDIA FORUM 2008
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To model the kinds of projects that we could do in conflict and transitional environments, we also looked at a 4-level model of engagement we had developed to look more generally at our interventions.
Journalistic Training in Conflict-Related Situations
4-level model: · System: Government / Ministry · Organization: TV Channel / Newspaper / Radio Station / Website · Practitioners: Editors Managers / Journalists · Individual / Population: Audience The 4-level model assumes that change is hard to achieve and that development outcomes sometimes do not happen because you, as the implementer, have not thought of the gatekeepers and resistors to change and those who have just not been informed about why a change might be beneficial or necessary.
responsibly and openly. Our position is very clear: We believe in free and independent media who make their own editorial policies and enter into agreements with governments and international development agencies on their own terms explicitly negotiating with funders who are interested in media campaigns to promote important social issues through messaging strategies. Our aim is to support broadcasters to make this output and make it in a way where the highest editorial standards are maintained. Out of the work we had done on governance and the 4-level model we devised our approach to humanitarian situations. The Trust has a considerable amount of experience working across the world in humanitarian situations from small-scale operations right up to setting up of Al Mirbad, a radio and TV station for Southern Iraq.
The four levels represent the system – or government ministry at the top stage, the TV channel or radio station or if you like the organizational stage at the second level and the journalists or health workers or perhaps in our context relief workers at the practitioner or individual stage. Below you have the audience – the actions of all the stages above have an effect on the audience. Two types of intervention are to mention: Development Communications and Media Development. This is how we have decided to categorize our work. Development Communications is the act of providing educational programming on any number of subjects that can aid development – from literacy work to programs on how to tackle HIV and Aids. Development Communications is largely to do with helping practitioners to make output for the audience to watch and learn from. There is a whole industry in this area and I have to be careful about the terms I use. To me this is behavior change communication in its most broad sense, although there are discussions and arguments about exactly what that phrase means and encompasses. Higher up influencing both the individual level but crucially the organization and system levels is Media Development and by that we mean the ability to bring in change management processes that will allow government departments, media organizations or even Aids commissions, etc., to work and deal with media more
Disaster preparedness, etc. The main aim of this work has to be to save lives as quickly and effectively as possible by providing vital information for people effected by natural or man-made disasters. I would argue that the right immediate or rapid reaction media intervention has the possibility to save many lives. Of course it has to be linked in with the various international agencies that also work in this field and the Trust has been working with these to get a better understanding of disaster response. How can we help with these systems and what rapid response is necessary? A natural disaster may require a radio in a box; a post-conflict situation may just require some basic engineering and production training. The needs for people are quite basic and depending on any given society their understanding of those needs varies greatly. By far the most important medium in the humanitarian context is radio and lifeline programming can really help endangered and vulnerable populations. And please don’t think of this programming as just being factual, informational material. There is not enough research done as yet but it is very important that people and especially children get fictional programming that can provide educational information that is made in an enticing and enthralling way and can allow people some respite and engender feelings of hope within the community.
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So where have we been doing this? The most relevant example at the moment is in Darfur. Here we have been producing a daily program for internally displaced persons (IDPs) and dealing with different themes like this one on violence between children. Thinking of our 4-level intervention model, we purposefully looked when we set up the project at the relationships and activities we needed to create around the project to succeed. Outreach is vitally important to get the message across, for partnerships both for the content and to arrange travel in a difficult environment, which in turn facilitates access and co-ordination of the outreach activities overall. Capacity building of local talent so more information can be processed and turned around and so local people have an understanding of the kind of programming required in the future. And finally research to make sure the right messages are being got across and that we are targeting the right age groups with the most relevant information. Project challenges I said that I would come back to development communications and this is a representation of the research and evaluation across the project cycle to make sure the project is delivering the outputs we need to effectively target populations in the most effective way. So in the first phase you are testing your assumptions and gaining primary data, in the second phase you are making programs and testing them, in the third phase you are broadcasting and hopefully getting rapid audience feedback and in the final phase you are measuring behavioral change in perceptions. I am not sure I can do justice to our work in Afghanistan. I worked there for a year in 1996 on this project and it is, I believe, one of the longest running media projects in the world. At its core is the drama “New Home, New Life”, produced in Dari and Pashto and an Afghan institution. Whether you are President Karzai, a hills tribesmen, a Pashtun, a Tajik or even a Talib, you can all agree that this soap opera is avidly consumed by all.
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The key messages that have been carried over the years include the following but this is not an exhaustive list: · Landmines: safe movement, housing, agriculture, mine victims · Refugees/IDPs: key procedural information access to assistance, housing, water and sanitation, separated families, return · Epidemics: cholera, rabies, malaria, TB, hepatitis, hygiene, prevention and home remedies, access to assistance · Drought: drinking water, agriculture, livestock, access to assistance · Earthquakes: search/rescue and safety, basic needs, access to assistance, quake-resistant construction, improved bricks · Floods: landmines, access to medical help, preparedness, reforestation First we have to examine whether it is relevant to talk about insecticide treated nets (ITNs), if they are not available across the country. Once we have checked with the relevant agencies whether they are available and a campaign to distribute and get people to use bed nets is underway or there are local distribution points or shops, where they can be bought for small sums of money then the message brief can be developed, taking into account the major factors – knowledge, attitude and practice, or KAP – which you are trying to change. Finally looking at what formats we can use to try and get this message across. I explained earlier the method we use across projects to make sure that the correct issues are being covered and that we are targeting the right audiences with the most important issues. This includes the following points: · Needs Analysis · Consultative Committee Meeting · Planning (SND + Blocks) · Consultative Committee Meeting · Program Development (synopses production) · Broadcasting It is perhaps worth saying something about the consultative committee at this time; it is made up of experts, specialists from development agencies and other Afghan NGOs and some donors. The idea is to get as much DEUTSCHE WELLE GLOBAL MEDIA FORUM 2008
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information through a consultative process and to look ahead to the needs and issues that will come up in the next quarter. It is a virtual cycle – from needs analysis, through consultative committee review, to planning, review and program production back to needs analysis.
The future of Radio Television Afghanistan (RTA) Eberhard Sucker, Journalist and Trainer, DW-AKADEMIE, Germany
Since 2006 the BBC World Service Trust, Canal France International and Deutsche Welle have been working to transform Radio Television Afghanistan (RTA) into a public service broadcaster. The project has been funded by the European Union. BBC, Canal France International and Deutsche Welle have been working as a consortium with RTA leaders and stakeholders to transform the state broadcaster into a responsible and accountable public service broadcaster. The broadcasting infrastructure of Afghanistan was devastated by years of conflict. The international community has made huge investments in the infrastructure, and the media scene in Afghanistan is now booming. Afghanistan has dozens of independent broadcast outlets and hundreds of print publications, and more media companies are entering the market. The independent media are not just an isolated success story in post-Taliban Afghanistan. Instead, they have been one of the main contributors to all other achievements made on the road to peace after the change in late 2001.
Journalistic Training in Conflict-Related Situations
Media is development In 2001, there was only one radio broadcaster: Radio Shariat run by Radio Television Afghanistan (RTA), the national television and radio authority. At the time being there are at least seven private television networks and more than 50 independent radio stations. In number terms, there are several hundred magazines and newspapers registered at the Ministry of Information and Culture, but only a small fraction of them publish regularly . But independent media are still struggling with authorities, with the ministry of Information and Culture. The Afghan media remain the last line of defense of public interest in a country that is still dominated by factionalism and violence. Afghanistan still remains one of the world’s most insecure places not only for the media. The insecurity is related not only to threats of physical harm; it is more about sustainability of the media organizations because advertising alone cannot support the media in a country where economic growth has been slow and advertising culture is still “hesitant”. The independent media continue to be threatened and attacked and various state agencies (including the security forces) have continued to use every means to exert more control over the press. The general lawlessness in a state that is still very weak, and the continuing Taliban insurgency, have also resulted in violence against the media. Afghan reporters work under intense pressure owing to intimidation and harassment from a range of actors including security forces, politicians, government officials, local strongmen, Taliban groups and others. A general lack of awareness about the media’s role and rights has led to suspicion and harassment of journalists. American and NATO-led forces have also controlled access of media to the battle zones and prevented reporting by Afghan reporters.
Historically, the Afghan press has always been the domain of the state. The few private newspapers allowed by some regimes were frequently censored by the authorities. There was no private broadcaster in Afghanistan before 2001.
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Why have we chosen RTA, the national radio and TV station of Afghanistan, to become a public broadcaster? Despite rising competition from private and international media channels, RTA still holds a unique position in Afghanistan. A recent survey conducted by the Trust showed that RTA: · is ideally placed to reach geographically, linguistically and ethnically diverse audiences; · helps generate common understanding, stability and a sense of national unity, and · serves poor and rural communities through health and education programming. However, some interviewees perceived RTA to be too close to government, which compromised its editorial balance. The consortium also played an important role in the debate about Afghanistan’s new mass media law, which prepares the groundwork for the emergence of public service broadcasting. The new law should have paved the way for RTA to become an independent public service broadcaster. The media law, issued as decree in December 2005, was being reviewed and discussed first by the Lower House of Parliament last year, later by the Second Chamber, the Senate. The general fear among media advocates has been that the changes parliament was considering would limit the media’s editorial independence and freedoms. Alongside many provisions that support a free media, the law prohibits publication of “matters contrary to the principles of Islam, against Afghan values and traditions”. The language used is too broad and exposes the media to attacks. Today we have to face an even more disappointing reality: The president, Hamid Karzai, refused to sign the media law – it is still pending – and the Minister of Information continuously attacks private media. Recently he stopped the broadcasting of Indian soap operas by private TV stations. An all-powerful government and a compliant parliament have jointly adopted restrictive laws that are undermining the independent character of media. RTA is supposed to be overseen by an independent commission. However, the commission has been ineffective and the Ministry
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of Information and Culture has been controlling the state broadcaster. Afghanistan’s democracy is extremely fragile and freedom of expression and media development are fundamental to the democratic process. The country is in a transition from three decades of war to a new democratic order in which the development of the independent media – which still face major challenges – is vital. Media is development in Afghanistan. Despite problems, the independent media remain a rare success story in post-Taliban Afghanistan. They have been a development that has been welcomed by the Afghan people. The Afghan media are diverse but unifying and have potential for further growth and added influence in the changes taking place in the country. As a representative of Deutsche Welle, a public service broadcaster, I am still convinced that Afghanistan needs a public service broadcaster, RTA. The body under which the RTA as public service broadcaster should operate should not be the government or a ministry, but a body representative of Afghan society. RTA needs to transform into an independent public service broadcaster, according to a media law, and the process should move forward without further delays.
The role of media in peace building and conflict prevention: Opportunities through education – A Nigerian perspective Abubakar B. Jijiwa, Director-General, Voice of Nigeria (VON), Nigeria
Introduction A reflection on today’s world reveals a world of knowledge explosion bringing about competing attention and interests. The world has become a ‘small space’ where the volume of information is so great with people having limited time and resources to cope with the pace. This is made possible by the information and communication technology revolution which has not only inflated the volume of information available but has also destroyed barriers and contracted the space, and time, between people. This development has affected the media world in all facets, leading to alternative DEUTSCHE WELLE GLOBAL MEDIA FORUM 2008
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Journalistic Training in Conflict-Related Situations
L-R: Abubakar B. Jijiwa, Dr. Shah Jehan Sayed, Matthias von Hein (Moderator), Simon Derry
and new media/citizens’ journalism, blogging, YouTube, etc. This development has further challenged the media, which have now assumed bigger roles, not just as the Fourth Estate of the realm but also as the conscience monitor for political leaders. In turbulent situations, people rely largely on the media to form opinions. This has also led to the question: Can the media assist to make the best and informed judgment and choice? This is an issue at the core of peace building and conflict resolution. Nigerian media background The practice of modern-day journalism commenced in the early colonial days. Most authorities on media practice in Nigeria attribute the first newspaper to Iwe Irohin, a Christian missionary newspaper in Abeokuta, now capital of Ogun State in the western part of Nigeria. This is regarded as the period of missionary journalism. At the later colonial period and towards independence, the media, however, veered off the missionary line into liberation struggle towards Nigeria’s independence. The Nigerian political class took over ownership from the missionaries. Because it was still the colonial period, the Nigerian media were combative and anti-colonial in approach to issues. The media enlightened Nigerians about the ills of colonialism and also bolstered the call for independence of African countries. As political parties emerged towards independence, the newspapers largely reflected the views and news of their political owners. Following the trend in the political parties, the press also aligned along provincial, ethnic and religious lines. This trend continued through the colonial period and into the early post-colonial era and early stage of independence. The Nigerian media largely remained combative even in the post-independence era. This was because the political learning process was interrupted by the military. As military dictatorship dug deep, the media became the ‘organ of the masses.’ It censored the military and informed the people. In a nutshell, media became the vanguard in the struggle against military dictatorship. At this period, too, the media were still regional and ethnic tendencies still existed. As the call for the return of democracy gained greater momentum in the country, the military yielded to pressure. One of its early measures was the liberalization of
the broadcast media industry. Like the print media, the broadcast media also started to bloom and this continued into the democratic dispensation. Nigeria now has over 150 public and private radio and TV organizations with over 300 stations. The public broadcast media are owned by the Federal Government and the 37 states of the federation. It’s worthy of note that as much as the print and broadcast media are making landmark progress in the country, the progress of the community media is still negligible; although the federal government has already shown concern about this and a committee is already in place to facilitate the growth of community broadcasting especially. Nigeria in conflict situations It is correct to say that the Nigerian media have been in the thick of a conflict situation from inception; some even argue that conflict necessitated their emergence but others say they are the immediate or remote causes of some conflict situations. The moment the media changed from their initial missionary source, they became anti-colonial crusaders of the day and had to clash with the colonialists severely. Shortly after independence, Nigeria ran into several political crises starting with the 1962 Western Region Crisis popularly called ‘operation wet e’. At the peak of this crisis, the federal government had to declare a state of emergency in the region. Not long after this there came another crisis tagged ‘General Elections Constitution Crisis of 1964.’ During these crises the Nigerian media largely took sides with their proprietors; they became politically aligned and became immediate instruments of propaganda. In effect, rather than help douse the crises, they inflamed them. Perhaps this is why some accuse the media of being a major factor in all the crises in the country. The ‘General Elections Constitution Crisis of 1964’ became prolonged and thus exposed the flanks of the politicians to the soldiers. A military coup was launched in January 1966, the coup failed but the military retained power. The killings in the coup were seen to be lopsided and thus unsettled the army; it eventually led to the civil war when the Eastern Region seceded and declared itself ‘The Republic of Biafra’. Between 1967 and 1970, Nigeria was in the throes of civil war with journalists also playing according to the sides to which they belonged.
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Nigeria got a break from the civil war and for a decade there was a semblance of rest before ethnic and religious crises took the stage. Especially from 1980 to 2000, the crises recurred sporadically, stretching and stressing the Nigerian security system. As these crises dogged the military, pro-democracy groups seized on it to pressurize the military dictators for a break. The pro-democracy activities also became a crisis when some notables were exterminated and bomb explosions became rampant in the country. Eventually the military pretended to yield by commencing a half-hearted transition to democracy. This again gave birth to a major crisis that shook the country violently as the results of the presidential elections held on June 12, 1993, were annulled. This time the media stood solidly behind the democratic forces. As a result, for the first time the media tasted the bitter fruit of crisis in detail. Journalists were imprisoned under spurious circumstances while some were brutally murdered. There were closures of media houses, total ‘capture’ of an edition of newspaper and magazine and eventual destruction and ban on sales. Some magazines went underground, printing from undisclosed sources to evade military invasions and seizures. Another major crisis is the Niger Delta crisis in the country, which intensified from around 1998 and is just abating. Nigeria’s Niger Delta is a creation of previous misrule and democratic dispensation has changed the approach and content of the plan for that region. However, reports of regular attacks, kidnaps and killings are common. Reporting this crisis is itself a major problem for media houses. Each side of the divide has its own story
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while it is not easy to go into the creeks for investigative reporting. Apart from the security danger of being caught in the crossfire, there is the topographic danger constituted by the unmapped creeks. Of course their inaccessibility has eased the operation of the militants. However, the media largely attempted to take positions of neutrality although a large number of them were in open support of one group or another. In the West African Sub-Region, the Nigerian media were actively involved in the coverage of these two major crises: Liberia and Sierra Leone. In the two cases, the Nigerian military led a peacekeeping force, ECOMOG, which included other countries in the region. Nigerian journalists regularly covered the two regional crises with the assistance of the country’s military. It was a case of rare cooperation between the military and the media in Nigeria. The imperative of training in conflict resolution It is generally agreed that the role of the media is education, information and entertainment. Taken as a whole, the mass media mandate is education – whether denoted as information, socialization or cultural transmission. A more critical role, however, is peace building and conflict prevention, a complex construction function emphasized by experts of Communication for Development. It necessitates the media practitioner to enter the sociocultural context of the people in its environment to help propagate growth and development ideas. Of course, this is a very difficult task to achieve due to value attachments, stereotypes and vested interests.
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Journalistic Training in Conflict-Related Situations
Academic opportunities
Practical centers
Resource centers
Foreign opportunities
Federal Universities
27
Nigeria Institute of Journalism (NIJ)
Nigeria Institute of International Affairs (NIIA)
DW-AKADEMIE
State Universities
32
International Institute of Journalism (IIJ)
Nigeria Institute for Peace & Conflict Resolution
BBC Training Centre
Private Universities
34
Radio Nigeria Training School
Nigeria Institute for Policy & Strategic Studies (NIPSS)
Radio Netherlands Training Centre
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Times Journalism Institute
National Defence College, etc.
Radio Egypt Broadcast Training Centre, etc.
NTA Television College Polytechnics
40
CBA Training Opportunities
VON Training Centre, etc.
Achieving the construction function is important for media people, especially when it comes to peace building and conflict prevention. They must understand the essentials of conflict resolution/peace building: · Facilitating understanding · Building consensus · Promoting dialogue and engagement · Achieving compromise: tolerance and “live-andlet-live” · Giving hope · Securing solidarity Achieving a peaceful and harmonious society in a pluralistic setting like Nigeria is a Herculean task for the Nigerian media. The Individual Differences Theory emphasizes how our socio-cultural differences affect our perception and understanding of things. The practice of journalism by untrained, uninformed and/or biased journalists can worsen crisis situations. This is why media channels in a number of crisis situations were used as propaganda machines, thus becoming purveyors of hate, defenders of abuses and mufflers of voices of change and diversity. It is indeed true that the escalation of most major crises in the world is largely due to mismanagement of information and lack of media discretion. Nigeria has had its own dose, too. Opportunities for training journalists Formal journalism education came into being in the country with the emergence of the African Institute of Journalism and the Times Journalism Newspaper Training Centre, Iganmu, Lagos, which later became Times Journalism Institute. With these, the training of journalists in Nigeria became full-fledged and further developments expanded on them. The African Institute of Journalism soon became the Department of Mass
Communication in the University of Lagos. University of Ibadan – the premier university – also established the School of Communication Arts. Some other federal universities followed suit: University of Nigeria, Nsukka; Bayero University, Kano; and the University of Maiduguri all established departments of mass communication. The state-owned universities have also commenced teaching mass communication and journalism; some of these schools teach it under art while others teach it under social sciences. A few experts also came together and established the Nigeria Institute of Journalism based in Lagos, which awards ordinary and national diplomas. Today, numerous opportunities exist for training journalists in Nigerian universities and polytechnics where journalistic courses are offered in the disciplines of mass communication, language arts, journalism etc. These academic opportunities are spread all over the country. There are also opportunities for practical, onthe-job and special training centers, resource centers and foreign training opportunities. The table above shows this graphically. Conclusions / recommendations From this plethora of opportunities it is obvious that the media environment in Nigeria is full of ample opportunities from which journalists can quench their intellectual thirst. In addition to all these, I recommend the following to further boost the available opportunities. · Journalists in developing countries like Nigeria should be exposed to best practices in functioning and peaceful societies through partnerships and exchanges.
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Media houses should invest in relevant resources and materials that provide specialist information on issues that journalists, commentators and a nalysts frequently comment upon. Media organizations should collaborate with research and academic centers with a reservoir of experts as a reliable source of informed resource persons. There must be social involvement, on the part of the media houses, with all segments of the society through which they can generate general knowledge on events and issues. Media houses should organize regular fora (workshops, seminars, symposia, etc.) for journalists to keep them regularly educated and informed about latest trends in journalism and media practice. There is need for support from large global broadcasters, e.g. DW, BBC, RFI, VOA, Radio China International, etc.
The role of journalistic training in Pakistan Dr. Shah Jehan Sayed, Department of Journalism and Media, University of Peshawar, Pakistan
Background of journalism in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) / Tribal Areas of Pakistan · Colonial heritage · Post-colonial Pakistan · Political structure · Present violence Professionalization under tension · Existing threshold very low · Low educational capacity and journalism not being the first profession · Corruption and control over the system of journalism The · · ·
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What to report (trainings) · Resort to balance reports through giving both sides of the picture · Skills to give stories about everyday life in NWFP/Tribal Areas · Humanizing the contents · Social issues, development, problems and success stories How to report (training) · Clearing concepts of development, human interest, social life reporting · Imparting basic skills: from use of proper, conflictmanagement language to angles of a story · Writing stories individually and in groups Sustainability · Focus groups and focal persons appointed at the end of the training workshops. · Keeping contact with the journalists through the focal persons in every region · Integration/Retention, Monitoring (how many stories on conflict management came out after trainings) · Bringing all the stakeholders in the media process to a dialogue table at Department of JMC/UoP. · Using the traditional respect for the university teacher as a tool for integration and dialogue · Constant liaison with different actors in conflict management through media: press clubs, journalist unions, owners, media experts … · Analyzing conflict management content of the stories · Offering incentive by offering best stories award on conflict management and developmental reporting · Offering certificates after training activities. This will give academic recognition to a group of professionals who don’t have it. · Writing handbooks and producing CD manuals on conflict reporting
present conflict Violence against journalists Forced to take sides by both parties Reporting conflict not possible in such tensions DEUTSCHE WELLE GLOBAL MEDIA FORUM 2008
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Journalistic Training in Conflict-Related Situations
Dr. Abdul Waheed Khan
Session 2 Quality journalism – Journalistic training in conflict-related situations: Challenges, trends and strategies Journalistic training in conflict-related situations Dr. Abdul Waheed Khan, Assistant Director-General for C ommunication and Information, UNESCO, France
We are all too familiar with the casualties of war. This simple phrase conjures up countless images. Which one comes to mind first: · The dead and dying on the field of battle? · The scorched earth? · Refugees streaming across borders or through the battle lines? These are the images that have been fused into the mind’s eye. They are easily retrievable – conflict’s photo album of despair. Now let me ask you to picture this: The death of information! Where is the image? What do you see? It doesn’t bleed or cry out. It doesn’t weep for lives destroyed. Yet it is present in every image that comes to mind, in every photograph that might leap from a front page or a magazine cover. In the absence of information based on solid journalistic principles, conflicts can flare and rage on. In the presence of information manipulated to exploit a situation, we all too often bear witness to extreme acts of violence. Information is the key. Depending on which way you turn it, you either unlock the door to peace or lock out any chance for a process to bring an end to hostilities.
Conflict and post-conflict environments present many challenges as well as unique opportunities for media development, and particularly capacity building, but the stakes are very high. The absence of good information has most probably played a role in the conflict. Rumor and propaganda are likely to be rampant. There is no economy to speak of that could sustain a media industry, however small. Journalists, if they exist, will need training. If they do not exist, identifying those individuals, women and men, who have critical thinking skills, is essential. In some cases, introducing or rebuilding the actual infrastructure – the bricks and mortar – is necessary, along with capacity building. The one constant in a lasting peace is buy-in from the broadest base in the community and among most, if not all the stakeholders. The only way to achieve this level of understanding and empowerment is through an active and pluralistic media. These are challenges not obstacles. To fail to address the information needs of communities in the midst of conflict or emerging from it, is to condemn affected populations to more hardship, pain and suffering with no foreseeable end in sight. So we know there is something that must be done. The question is what? Obviously, the information void needs to be filled. UNESCO is taking steps to inform this process. It has always been a comfort to me that the guiding principle for our work in this area has been with us since the founding of the organization. The following is taken directly from the UNESCO constitution: “… since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defenses of peace must be constructed.” This simple phrase sets out
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L-R: Kayeromi D. Gomez, Matthias von Hein (Moderator), Dr. Abdul Waheed Khan, Prof. Dr. Drew McDaniel
the mission statement. Access to information is the primary step; the quality of that information is the determining step. There are two over-arching initiatives that provide the framework and a continuum of activity for how we proceed over time. The first is the Power of Peace Network. The second is the Model Curricula for Journalism Education for Developing Countries and Emerging Democracies. They are complementary. Through these two initiatives UNESCO provides leadership in the design and implementation of programs that are relevant to conflict, post-conflict and post-disaster environments. I have not talked specifically about the role of media in post-disaster responses, but in many circumstances, disasters create similar environments that require strong journalistic approaches that ensure only the highest quality information is circulating. This is critical in the first phases of an emergency period and holds true during reconstruction and redevelopment. The Power of Peace Network is a UNESCO inspired initiative to meet and engage young people worldwide in innovative uses of the modern tools of information and communication. Its aim is to better communicate on things that really matter to us from a wide diversity of cultural perspectives. It does not duplicate or compete with what is already available through the Internet or other sources. Rather, it works with and through partners in the NGO community, international donor agencies, foundations, groups and associations and those innovative broadcasters and Internet entrepreneurs and practitioners. The reason for this effort is quite simple. The media are best poised to facilitate this process. And when I say media, I am speaking broadly
and across the spectrum, from broadcast to print to the Internet and mobile phones. In whatever way people can access information, we can reinforce the themes that promote a culture of peace based on a dialogue of peace. Within the Power of Peace is an important effort to sensitize reporters about the role they play in these fragile environments where one word, one turn of a phrase, or one misunderstanding could strike the match that sparks the conflict. At UNESCO we are working on several fronts to respond. We are developing a course of study and a pilot program to work with reporters who are in conflict or post-conflict environments. This conflict sensitive reporting – sometimes called reporting for peace – can be controversial among journalists. I acknowledge that journalists have one mandate: To report the truth as best as they can see it. The reality is that the best may not be good enough when the potential for conflict is close at hand and lives are at DEUTSCHE WELLE GLOBAL MEDIA FORUM 2008
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stake. Capacity building is critical at these times. We must also acknowledge that the media play a central role in mobilizing societies. To report for peace is simply to understand that words matter – a lot. This aspect of our work is to provide the quick response needed in conflict and post-conflict environments. University-based regional training centers will ultimately serve as hubs for responding in a timely fashion to crisis situations and providing ongoing research into peace studies and the role of media in promoting dialogue and thus thwarting the onset of conflict. The Power of Peace training will ultimately feed into the Power of Peace Network, which allows for the d istribution of content globally, thanks to the power of the information communication technologies. Our second effort provides for longer-term stability and is given to development of the highest standard of journalism practice for new generations of journalists and media managers. The Model Curricula for Journalism Education for Developing Countries and Emerging Democracies seeks to address the needs of educators and the desire of young people to be active in their communities through the practice of journalism. While it is sometimes said that journalism is not rocket science, it is a highly skilled craft that combines the art of storytelling with a police investigator’s penchant for unearthing the truth. It takes some education, along with a love for sharing the truth and a dose of courage. These university level curricula were designed by some of the top journalism educators in the world to be adaptable to just about any situation. The curricula advance the concept that a democracy – and I mean any democracy – is predicated on the free flow of information that represents the full spectrum of the community. And that the media which serve this role do so to create an environment where all ideas, good and bad, can be openly discussed. Finally, a Freedom of Expression course and toolkit for secondary school students will be released later this year. This represents an effort central to the transition of post-conflict societies to a sustainable level of peace and prosperity. Freedom of Expression is not just for reporters. It is everybody’s business, and without community support for this basic principle that sits
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in Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, it cannot survive in any society. As I said earlier, we have no obstacles, but we do have challenges. There is a lot of work to do. Our model curricula and freedom of expression toolkit, for example, will be beyond the capacity of educators to teach in some countries. We are addressing this issue with plans to launch teacher training. While there is a good deal of material on the relationship between peace and media in various repositories, we have yet to pull this together under the Power of Peace banner, although this is underway. And later this fall we will hold a conference with our partners that will bring the best and the brightest of the next generation of leaders to help further develop the Power of Peace Network. We also face challenges in our adaptability to new technologies and the unpredictability of how consumers will use these technologies. Imagine the development process of the mobile phone. Did anyone sitting at Nokia or LG or Motorola think about the ramifications of putting a camera lens in a phone? It was probably considered a novel idea. Mobile phones are outpacing computers in the poorest parts of the world. They are a transformative technology that puts great power in the hands of the people. In principle, this is a good thing. But this heightened level of empowerment comes with added responsibilities and challenges. Citizen journalism is a wild card. It is here to stay. The question is how do we create a level of media literacy, especially in conflict and post-conflict environments that helps consumers of information understand how the reports were sourced, question the veracity and seek out ways of triangulating for the truth. In reality, people are very smart. It is not a function of education. It is more about critical thinking. Allow me to close with a short story: In the time of the Taliban, many Afghans fled across the border to Pakistan. An aid worker who regularly visited a group of women found on one day that they had pooled their meager resources, gone to the market, and purchased a cheap shortwave radio. When the aid worker asked them why … well,
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they needed to know. When the aid worker asked them how – with all of their responsibilities – they followed the news, she learned their secret. The radio moved among the women in the group. Each would listen to a program, from Radio Sharia in Kabul to the BBC. At the end of the day, the women would come together and share the information they had heard. When asked why, the answer was straightforward and savvy for women coming from a war-torn country and with no education. They needed to compare notes. The truth lay within the triangulation of facts. Not one source could be fully trusted, but comparing reports from multiple sources provided some assurance that the truth would be revealed. The power of information is strong, the desire for that information is stronger still, and how is it used, can be the key to turning our swords into ploughshares.
Journalistic training in West Africa Kayeromi Gomez, President, Center for International Media Ethics (CIME), USA Melisande Middleton, Director, Center for International Media Ethics (CIME), USA
Journalism ethics in conflict situations Every country depends on media professionals to report the news to inform, educate and entertain their various audiences. Most of us as journalists have found ourselves in situations where we are left with no answers to the numerous questions before us. Especially in conflict situations where the political and security issues are particularly complicated, the ethical questions that come up are not always easy to resolve. For example: · In Iraq, the controversy over embedded journalists pointed straight at the issue of journalistic training: are journalists embedded in the U.S. army properly trained or allowed to report on the facts objectively in the Iraq war? · Just these past weeks in Myanmar: is it permissible for international journalists to disseminate media coverage on Myanmar, even though they have been prohibited to do so by the Myanmar authorities?
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In China, leading up to the Beijing Olympics: should the Chinese government grant journalists unlimited access to sources and locations? In cases like Myanmar’s or China’s, do issues of national sovereignty apply to journalists? · What of cases, when reporters need to be partisan to a given side of the conflict in order to gain access to the field? A prime example of this might be in West Africa where the Nigerian government restricts journalists’ access to conflict zones in the north of the country. But of course, any explicit partisanship on the part of the journalist will tend to undermine the objectivity of reporting. · In terms of the security issue in conflict zones, a whole series of questions also arises: what levels of anonymity in reporting are acceptable in order to preserve the journalist’s security? This is especially an issue in authoritarian regimes (including in certain African countries, e.g. under Mugabe in Zimbabwe or other regimes). And at some point, in collecting critical information, where is the border between reporting and investigative journalism? If a journalist comes across key information on a terrorist attack, for example, he/she might have to choose between protecting sources and protecting people or a government. How to deal with all these people involved? These and many other questions have probably been asked to you or your colleagues in the past. Seeking some types of solutions to these issues might even be the rationale behind your coming here today. ·
The International Federation of Journalists and other organizations have developed over the years many efforts in an attempt to resolve and to initiate reflection over these matters. It is worth mentioning an Institute for Journalism poster in one of the meeting rooms of Ghana International Press Center – it is a favorite and it reads like this: there can be no press freedom if journalists exist in conditions of corruption, poverty or fear. The most difficult ethical issues in journalism tend to arise in these conditions of “corruption, poverty or fear” – which are typical of conflict situations, or any difficult situations that a journalist may face because of political strife, low levels of development, etc. DEUTSCHE WELLE GLOBAL MEDIA FORUM 2008
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Typical challenges for journalistic training in developing countries We strongly believe that gatherings such as the Deutsche Welle Global Media Forum will help in making this world a better place for the profession of journalism. The theme of our panel this morning “Journalistic training in conflict-related situations” can be simply put to mean journalistic training in difficult situations. One thing that we might all have in common is that we are trying to find ways of educating journalists in difficult situations or in countries where the environment is not conducive for such training. Journalists are seen as a threat or nuisance for most regimes in the world, especially on the African continent. When we talk about conflict-related situations, it can refer to situations where gunshots are heard and children soldiers are trying their new tools on an innocent population. But there are many types of conflict situations including in areas that are not officially ‘at war’ – for example, during election times. Election times can be seen in some countries as happy situations bringing about festivities for the winning team. But in other countries, election times can be really frustrating and even set off violence. Take one country, Benin: it is a little country of roughly 8.5 million people located in the western part of Africa. It has borders with Nigeria, Togo, Niger, Burkina Faso and the Atlantic Ocean. The majority of the population is still uneducated. There are over fifty political parties each wanting to get to the highest office in the land. Elections there are complicated for a journalist to handle. In the Republic of Benin election times are so fragile and so sensitive and full of tension that a little confusion from one side can easily generate hazardous situations especially when this is from the few leading political parties. Examples abound of election times triggering violence in many parts of the world: Six years ago, the assassination of law minister Mushtaq Lone in India installed fear in voters; last year the Philippines mourned the death of hundreds of innocent victims in local and congressional elections, in which 18,000 positions were being contested; Pakistani former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto
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was assassinated in December 2007, two weeks before scheduled elections; the disputed elections in Kenya with its band of violence and chaotic life for the populations are a few examples of elections triggering violence in many parts of the world. In order to avoid these types of situations, authorities in many countries have focused on journalists and how their training can help mitigate some of the unfortunate consequences of elections situations. One of the main challenges facing journalists in Benin is the lack of adequate professional training. The country as a whole does not have a communications school that can train people in journalism. The nearest school is in Senegal where most Benin-educated practitioners have earned their degree. When interested people wanted to learn journalism, they had to move to Ghana and took the challenge of learning a new language (English) before entering Ghana Institute of Journalism. Today, there are two new private schools that offer some type of training for young people who are interested in the field, but at a price that is equivalent to a ten-month salary for most Benin workers. This premium price of tuition puts the profession in danger, especially in a country where most of the population is poor and the unemployment rate is high. That puts the “Haute Autorité de l’Audiovisuelle et de la Communication (HAAC)”, the governmental institution that regulates the media profession in Benin, in a position of having to provide training to journalists especially during the months preceding election times. These training workshops have become in some cases the only formal education that some journalists have been exposed to in the country. During CIME’s recent visit to Benin, most of the journalists we met literally begged CIME to bring them more training courses in journalism. The director of the ‘Maison des Médias’ (the main journalists’ association in Benin) said during one of our meetings that most people tend to ignore Benin because the country has been known to be relatively peaceful. But that is no reason to disregard proper journalism ethics and training: until the journalists are trained to be professional, they will be unable to handle the fair elections reporting that ensures democracy or the violence that can erupt at any time.
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Radio-Ecole Benin: an innovative training initiative To conclude, it is worth sharing an example of innovative journalistic training in Benin. Faced with the numerous problems enumerated above, a group of professionals got together in Benin to find ways of educating any person interested in the profession but who has no means of paying the high tuition offered by the two private institutions that exist in the country. Through determination, hard work and a few donations, these journalists were able to open a school of journalism called Radio-Ecole in the city of Porto-Novo . Their mission is to provide high-standard training to students at less or no costs. They rely fully on their own donations and teach the classes themselves with the help of professionals whom they have invited from other parts of the world. The school defines itself as an “associative structure appropriate for young people aspiring to the media profession”. The goal is to teach journalists to function in a competitive media environment where cultural industries and training centers are not available for people from more difficult socio-economic backgrounds. Their website says “we should not forget that radio, TV and written press play a very important role in the life of our society. The awakening to liberty and democracy and the extraordinary effervescence of new media in our continent is a proof that free press can reinforce the process of change and even accelerate history.” The Radio-Ecole/APM has partnerships with associative and community radios of Benin and Togo. Since 2004 it has contributed so far to training more than a hundred students and media professionals. This is a kind of local structure that can be implemented anywhere in the world with some effort and cooperation, to improve training conditions for journalists – especially to equip them to deal with conflict situations.
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Session 3 Quality journalism – Journalistic training in conflict-related situations: Challenges, dangers and limits Significant characteristics of journalistic training in conflict-related situations Gavin Rees, Co-ordinator, Dart Centre Europe, United Kingdom
Usually when we think of conflict and its aftermath, strong associations come quickly to mind. We worry that journalists working in such environments might be subject to physical attack, and immediately we picture journalists working in a political environment where corruption, censorship and intimidation are perils that need to be navigated. All these challenges are real and serious. Without wanting to add to our troubles and to make the task sound even more daunting, I would like to add another one to that list. It is a factor that should be obvious, but for some curious reason we give remarkably little attention to when discussing training in conflict-sensitive reporting. Journalists working on the effects of violence find in that subject material substantial emotional challenges. Later on we will be talking about a training seminar in Cambodia that our hosts today, Deutsche Welle Academy, organized and invited the Dart Centre to participate in. In fact our chairperson, Andrea Rübenacker, sitting beside me led the workshop. It was explicitly designed to factor in this emotional dimension. If we think about the situation in Cambodia the reason for doing this becomes clearer. Between 1975 and 1979, under the Khmer regime, somewhere between one and three million people were killed out of a population of 7.3 million. Let’s make a conservative guess and say 1.5 million. That’s an extraordinary percentage of a population. It is not an isolated case. In the Democratic Republic of Congo it has been estimated that 5.4 million have lost their lives since 1998. On a regular basis the journalists we are training to work in conflict-related settings will find themselves
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s itting in front of their fellow citizens and discussing what it was like to be raped or tortured, or to see somebody, perhaps a loved one, killed. The traditional, industrial model of journalism that many of us have grown up with puts reporters in a strange bind that is not commented that much on. On the one hand we think a good story is one that vividly captures the emotional responses of survivors and victims; on the other we pretend that the gatherers of these stories, the journalists themselves, should carry some form of personal immunity to being affected by the material they are reporting on. We think of journalists as Olympian Titans, who wade in other people’s misery, calmly pick out the bone-dry facts and then get back and write their reports. But just closing a notebook or putting a cassette away in its plastic case does not always neatly shut away the toxicity of the source material. It can leak out into the newsroom and into the journalists themselves in unpredictable ways, sometimes affecting their wellbeing as well as the accuracy and impartiality of their reporting. The UN and other agencies are now developing programs to counter “hate media”. By this expression we normally think of crude propaganda churned out by local websites and radio stations deliberately designed to stoke ethnic enmity. The hate campaign orchestrated by the Rwandan radio station Radio Télévision Libre des Mille Collines at the beginning of the genocide there would be the textbook illustration of the dangers of leaving such unchecked. But even well-intentioned journalists in conflict-related settings can end up vilifying the other, jumping to the wrong conclusions and using hot, intemperate language. Preventing this is not just a matter of exhorting journalists to get their facts right. We need to give journalists the space to examine how their own experiences affect the way that they interpret these facts. Reporters in conflict-related settings may themselves have been attacked or abused. They will almost certainly have family members or close associations with people who have. They may for that matter be connected to people who were, or still are, perpetrators. Unfortunately, as we all well know, those two categories are not necessarily as distinct
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as we would ideally like them to be. Aggressors may have been on the receiving end of earlier cycles of violence. There is danger in the attribution of blame, the need to unravel who did what to whom. How does a journalist ask a now established community figure what it was like to betray a friend, or even kill a neighbor for the sake of some political cause? We want journalists to interrogate power, but we need to make that they do so in a safe and insightful way. If we return to the young Cambodian journalist sitting opposite somebody who may be a victim or who may be a perpetrator, we can see the consequences of getting these sorts of conversation wrong can be dire: renewed traumatization, social withdrawal and in some cases outbursts of violence. Care needs to be taken, even if the events happened a long time ago. I first began working in this area while interviewing survivors of the bombing of Hiroshima for a BBC documentary. Even sixty years on, as soon as the conversation moved onto the morning of the nuclear attack, voices started to crack, eyes began watering and body postures crumpled in ways that expressed intense vulnerability. They talked as if they were seeing those events afresh again, as they had done in August 1945. Neurological studies show that exposure to significant trauma can leave structures in the brain altered. In the long run people may become stronger or they may be left weaker, but they are affected by what happens to them. The contemplation of a traumatic episode can return people to a sense in which they feel quite powerless and that the firm edges of their identity have suddenly given way. In the aftermath, this can lead to an oscillation between a fervent need to be understood and a fear that nobody can or wants to. Survivors often have vivid recall that is near perfect and describe what happened to them in extraordinary detail; in some cases, though, others can struggle to construct a logically coherent narrative out of all of the fragments of hot memory that crowd in when they try and recall the past. A journalist working around trauma benefits from insight into these processes. One of the trainees at the Cambodian workshop had previously interviewed
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somebody whose accounts of her torture had been contradictory and confusing. After talking it through, the journalist realized that the woman had not been trying to deliberately deceive her, but that, rather, she was incapable of piecing together exactly what had happened because of the intensity of the impact on her. Many of you may never have heard of the Dart Centre, and so it is probably useful now to give some background on what we do. We are a global network of journalists and mental health professionals, dedicated to improving the coverage of violence, trauma and tragedy. We act like a seed bank of specialist knowledge. For instance, when we were working with the BBC on helping them to develop a trauma awareness Âcurriculum for, initially, their foreign news teams, we brought in a military psychiatrist who had been working with the Royal Marines, Britain’s commando force. In the past we have also worked with ABC in Australia, the Washington Post, Al Jazeera, NBC, WDR in Germany, and many other international news organizations. We also work with some of the major journalism schools in the U.S. and U.K. and are expanding that outreach into other countries in Europe and elsewhere. I suppose if we stand for any one thing it is the idea that journalists need a space to think about these issues and to discuss them with their peers. We believe that this is the best way of boosting their resilience and the quality and accuracy of what they write, when covering issues, which arouse public emotion. This probably still sounds very abstract, and so let’s return to the training in Cambodia. The program was initiated by Deutsche Welle Academy with the purpose of preparing a group of Cambodian journalists for the difficult task of covering the Khmer Rouge tribunals and took place in Phnom Penh in December 2007. This year (2008) a joint UN and Cambodian government legal process to bring the remaining Khmer Rouge leaders to justice finally moved into its trial phase. The group was a mixture of print and broadcast, although the majority had been commissioned to make a documentary on the trials and the history behind the killings.
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L-R: Min Bahadur Shahi, Dr. Andrea Rübenacker (moderation), Reach Sambath
The first week concentrated on giving the students a thorough grounding in the technical aspects of filmmaking and good journalism. This was led by Deutsche Welle. The Dart Centre joined the process in the second week. There was input too from Internews and other local journalists. My colleague, Cait MacMahon, our Australasian director, convened sessions that presented material on how trauma can affect people, what journalists can do to boost their own resilience and how to develop sophisticated, emotionally aware interviewing techniques that are appropriate to those in distress or who are struggling to process traumatic experiences. Cait has a background in clinical psychology. Running such a group requires somebody who has experience in creating a safe space in which open discussion becomes possible. Journalists can find talking about these matters very exposing. This may sound all very “psychological” in flavor, but for any of it to be any use it has to be firmly grounded in where it belongs – in the journalism. Our work is very much journalism led. We present concrete information on evidence-based research into
traumatic stress, but the Dart method relies on drawing on the previous experience of the group. Rather than imposing a set of solutions on people we work with, we ask the group to develop their own set of proposals for self-care and best practice that reflects their own needs and working methods. We shape the direction of these conversations by feeding into them our own knowledge and experience. The second week gave the reporters a chance to practice their technical skills as well as to think about the ethical and emotional dimension of good journalism. In addition we used role-plays of interview situations and brought in journalists who had written extensively on the Khmer regime to share their insight with the trainees. Working across a cultural boundary adds additional complexity to the process. When we convene such workshops we always insist on working with local journalists and psychology professionals who can help mediate material that would sound less convincing were it to emerge just from the mouth of somebody who stands
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Anja Wollenberg, Gavin Rees
outside that culture. Trauma is universal but the way it is understood and how individuals and communities seek to deal with it varies from culture to culture. The participation of Sotheara Chhim, a psychiatrist and local member of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies, was vital to the success of the Cambodian workshop. Sotheara, who co-chaired sessions with Cait MacMahon, has worked with thousands of survivors of the Khmer regime and was able to give the students firsthand insight and to make the concepts meaningful in local terms. For instance, Cambodian ideas about karma and malign spirits were woven into the discussion of adverse reactions to traumatic stress. Cambodia is a predominantly Buddhist society, and so Sotheara discussed resilience techniques with reference to the psychology of local meditation practices. He also allowed the students to interview him about his own experiences of torture. As you can imagine, this was pedagogically powerful: he could give them immediate feedback on how effective their interviewing style was. This was difficult for
some of the students to get right. Many of the standard questioning techniques routinely taught to journalists and lawyers have – especially to the ears of the tortured – an eerie similarity to the verbal interrogation methods used by torturers. “Why?” and “how did you feel when?” questions can feel threatening when used carelessly. There are subtler and more consensual ways of getting information. Let me leave you with a number of simple propositions that I hope help to define some of the limits, dangers and challenges that we have been discussing and also offer a framework for future curriculum development. · Talking about the emotional impact of conflict is not easy. But we need to try if we are going to equip our colleagues with practical tools for working effectively and impartially in violent situations. · Instruction in good, emotionally aware interviewing is an inseparable part of training that promotes resilience or other aspects of safety. · Discussion of the impact of trauma benefits from specialist input, but for that to have relevance it has DEUTSCHE WELLE GLOBAL MEDIA FORUM 2008
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·
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to be woven into a context that focuses primarily on journalistic techniques and challenges. A trauma-sensitive approach to training in conflictrelated settings also has to be culturally mobile. It has to be tailored to the cultural background of the participants, bring in local partners and draw on their knowledge, if it is to be credible and effective.
Training Courses of the International Institute of Journalism (IIJ), Germany Astrid Kohl, Head of IIJ, InWEnt – Capacity Building International, Germany
Conflict itself is natural in any society. Disagreement and resolution is the essence of constructive change. However, a clash of interests, values, actions or directions often sparks a conflict that becomes violent at terrible cost and losses for the society. The media is now well-recognized as a critical influence in whether societies resort to violent conflict or not. Many of the conflicts and media influence appear directly related to journalistic quality of the news media in those countries and regions where conflict brews or boils over. Given their influence, socially responsible journalists are obliged to constantly consider and appraise their own and competing media’s coverage of conflict within and between their communities and borders. The International Institute for Journalism (IIJ) of InWEnt – Capacity Building International, Germany, has been offering advanced training courses for mid-career journalists from developing and transitional countries since 1964, with a special focus on print and online media in Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia and the Middle East. A strong emphasis is placed on political reporting, economic and financial reporting, online journalism and media ethics. In all these training courses the question of the media’s role in conflict transformation and peace building has always been discussed as an inherent aspect of media ethics. It was then a couple of years ago that the IIJ decided to design a capacity building program that
focuses on conflict-sensitive reporting, based on the demand that was discovered in the various regions the IIJ is active in. In Sub-Saharan Africa the IIJ currently runs a program for mid-career journalists that is tailored to the situation in West Africa. The aim of this program is to strengthen accurate and responsible journalism and to increase the awareness for the media’s contribution to the escalation of violence as much as to reconciliation and understanding among journalists in West Africa. While not always loudest, newspapers often remain the leading influence on many societies’ opinions and actions. What is special about this program with regard to the dimensions mentioned in the headline: challenges, dangers and limits? To answer this question I would like to refer to three aspects of our program: · Place where we hold the program · Participants of the program · Content of the program Place where we hold the program West Africa is a region that presents a very diverse political environment with some countries experiencing conflicts while others remain stable and peaceful. The experience of recent years has shown that instability in one country has the potential of spilling over into neighboring countries and therefore that violent conflicts can have regional implications. The overall effects of violent conflicts on media all over the world, including in West Africa, are well-documented. Especially in fragile states where media freedom is not sufficiently protected, state authorities succeed in making the media a tool for their own interests and propaganda. Structures designed to protect media freedom do not function. Collective structures often collapse due to divisions within society caused by conflicts. Legal harassment and physical violence are often used against journalists. The legal systems that exist in many countries in West Africa are repressive of freedom of expression and press freedom. One of the exceptions is Ghana. And it is
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against this background that the IIJ in cooperation with the Ghana Journalists Association and the Ghana International Press Centre conducts its training programs in Accra. The working environment that we find there allows the participants who come from all member states of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to discuss the need and the challenges to covering conflicts in a learning atmosphere that stimulates openminded discussions and helps broaden perspectives. Participants of the program All IIJ programs are based on the principle of networking among participants living and working in different partner countries of the German development cooperation. The international dimension of our programs makes for cross-border learning and international knowledge communities. Learning in an international context and acquiring intercultural competence is of particular importance in regions like West Africa that strive for regional cooperation and integration. In fact, ECOWAS is seen as a tool to foster peace, stability and economic development but it is still an organization basically driven by the elite rather than the majority of people living in the member countries. This makes it necessary in our understanding to promote networks where journalists can share their knowledge, where journalists working in one particular country can benefit from the experience and from solutions found in other countries. Thus, we are constantly developing and expanding our alumni network that provides the opportunity to broaden the professional and personal contacts, to gain access to global knowledge and information sources and to provide support to individual and organizational and social change and development processes by sharing the same values and aims.
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Content of the program The program “The media’s role in conflict transformation and peace building” that the IIJ runs for West African journalists consists of several elements addressing different target groups within the media sector and bringing them together with people from other sectors. The first of our target groups are senior editors. They are invited to short-term workshops to examine current conflict reporting and to explore more conflict-sensitive reporting as an opportunity for journalism development in the region. As a result, we achieve the buy-in of the gate-keepers who are most critical to making effective any conflict-sensitive reporting training for junior journalists. Based on the discussions with senior editors, the IIJ shapes its training courses for reporters – the second of our target groups. Good journalism is difficult work at the best of times. But when a society is threatened by violent conflict, the media faces much greater difficulties. To provide reliable information in a time of a violent conflict requires additional journalistic skills. Journalists need to understand more about the conflict itself, about what causes the conflict, how it develops and how it is resolved. Journalists should be able to analyze the conflict that lies beneath the violence. They have to be able to identify the different kinds of violence and to break these concepts down to the situation in their country or region. Above all they have to become aware of their own role, of the role the media plays in conflicts. This means that conflict analysis stands very much in the focus of our training programs with regional and local patterns of conflict coverage as the main issues to be discussed.
The IIJ’s journalists’ network is unique in its form. Many alumni work as senior editors who are decisionmakers at their newspaper and publishing houses. Others are young, up-and-coming journalists who are encouraged to help shape change processes and to improve their own interaction in order to take on executive responsibility at a later stage.
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The IIJ and InWEnt make then a further step in close cooperation with our alumni. We offer follow-up activities as an opportunity for continuous learning and networking. To cite an example: In May this year IIJ alumni who had successfully completed our conflict-sensitive reporting courses were invited to a workshop that was organized by the InWEnt division “Administrative Policy / Security Policy” and focused on “Strengthening drivers of change – co-operating for governance and stability in West Africa”. In other words, fragile statehood in West Africa was discussed, taking into consideration profiles, reasons, and options for solutions. InWEnt invited representatives from governments, parliaments, from NGOs and think tanks, from regional training institutions and last but not least from the media sector, i.e. all main stakeholders sat around the same table in order to address ways to cope with challenges and developments in conflict-related settings. The IIJ alumni, all of them senior editors, took an active part in these discussions to identify ways to overcome fragile statehood and to shape capacity building programs that contribute to more stability and conflict transformation in the region. We consider these kinds of discussions with inputs by the various stakeholders and with media workers among them as crucial if we deal with conflictrelated settings.
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Conflicts, challenges and conflict training programs in Nepal Min Bahadur Shahi, Chairperson, Association of Community Radio Broadcasters Nepal (ACORAB), Nepal
Background and context This year marks eleven years of existence of community radio in Nepal. Coincidently, this is also the year of formal ending of eleven years of Maoist insurgency that cost an estimated 15,000 lives and inflicted considerable physical, psychological, social and economic damage to Nepalese society. Community radio has widely been recognized as a means of positively impacting conflict, both through its function to communicate information, as well as to address issues and events in an objective, reliable and accurate manner. Nevertheless, community radio has been suffering from the conflict in a variety of ways even when it refers to broadcast media that are independent, civil-society based and that operate for social benefit and not for profit. During those eleven years, community radios went through many ups and downs. Initially they had to struggle to get licenses, later they had to exist amidst violent conflict that lasted until 2006. After that, Maoists gradually came into mainstream politics and though they have done so after the constituent assembly election, Nepal has many other, less visible conflicts that are
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L-R: Min Bahadur Shahi, Dr. Andrea Rübenacker (moderation), Reach Sambath, Anja Wollenberg, Gavin Rees, Astrid Kohl
“latent” and on the “surface”. Among others, various marginalized groups are organizing themselves more effectively and putting forward their demands assertively. Conflict management, which was earlier thought to pertain only to the Maoists, now has to include these groups too. Post-People’s Movement-II, the political experiment in Nepal has become that much more complex and difficult. Various agitating groups had wanted assurances on all these aspects before the Constituent Assembly election and most of them were using violent means to put forward their demands. Just before the election, the central and eastern Terai – the southern belt of Nepal – had seen a continued deterioration in security with the increase of armed political groups and an increased number of politically motivated murders, abductions, and threats. Though the security situation in the region is not excessively violent, such instability cannot be neglected again. During the same period, community radios of Nepal gained worldwide recognition as being “exemplary for the world”. This statement was mentioned in the reports of International Media Mission commissioned and sent to Nepal to observe the status of press freedoms in Nepal by organizations advocating freedom of the press across the world. Community radios in Nepal have been contributing incomparably in favor of the right to information and people’s freedom of expression and opinion. The radios which have launched a “Mission Democracy” from the very beginning of the peoples’ movement, even putting themselves at risk, are the most effective and accessible media for all the inhabitants of Nepal. Community radio in Nepal Since Nepal’s first community radio went on air in 1997, the government of Nepal has issued more than 135 licenses to operate community radio in the country, the majority since April 2006 when a new interim constitution and government were established after a protracted armed civil conflict in the country. The development of community radio in Nepal is highly significant and no country in the Asia Pacific region has experienced comparable growth of community radio and its contribution to consolidation of democracy
and human rights, social transformation and the peacebuilding process. Considering the current fluid political situation in Nepal, community radio has more responsibility to play a key role not only to contribute quickly and effectively to meeting new transition challenges, but also to working towards sharing views and experiences to build a shared vision for the future of the country. It also contributes to consolidating the on-going peace-building and conflict transformation processes and supports the process of making a new Constitution and the shift from a stage of confrontation to constructive engagement in the process of reconciliation. Community radio amidst a conflict situation The community radios of Nepal were caught in the middle of an increasingly brutal civil war between Maoist insurgents and government security forces. This conflict is considered the most serious internal crisis the nation has ever experienced since its founding in the mid-18th century. Both the Maoists and government forces have dismal human rights records, including the gravest of violations: summary executions, torture, arbitrary arrests and abductions, and persecution based on political associations. Journalists, human rights defenders and lawyers have often been attacked for their work. Enforced disappearances have been a particular concern during the armed conflict in Nepal. According to the UN Working Group on Enforced or Voluntary Disappearances, Nepal had the highest number of disappearances in the world in 2003. Most of those who “disappear” are never heard from again. Forced disappearances violate a number of human rights, including the right to life, the prohibition on torture and cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment, the right to liberty and security of the person, and the right to a fair and public trial. Widespread or systematic patterns of “enforced disappearances” constitute a crime against humanity. Multi-track diplomacy was the key tool for community radio journalists in areas of conflict. Although local level government officials recognized that in practice the Maoists controlled significant areas, this was not accepted by the central government. This made working at local level very difficult. In order to carry out DEUTSCHE WELLE GLOBAL MEDIA FORUM 2008
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journalistic activities, journalists had to deal with government officials and Maoists, yet officially they were not supposed to deal with Maoists. Seeking legitimacy, the Maoists started to impose all sorts of preconditions on journalistic work. When Maoist insurgency reached the stage of ‘strategic offensive’, King Gyanendra seized power in a bloodless coup on 1 February 2005 and ruled for 15 months in an autocratic manner. During the King’s direct rule, attempts were made to shut down FM stations. While transmission equipment was seized from some stations, others faced continuous harassment from state officers. The opening of some stations was delayed due to objections raised by the army in the name of security. As if this was not bad enough, some FM stations were also ransacked by the Maoists. Some stations faced temporary closures. The King’s regime tried its best to stop news and current affairs programs in independent radios. Some stations responded by sacking their entire news teams and others cut their staff significantly. During the period, community radios played a significant role in promoting civil and human rights in Nepal. Nevertheless, the historic first meeting of the Constituent Assembly abolished monarchy by declaring Nepal a federal democratic republic. The fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution were suspended throughout the rule. The army was posted in the offices of community radios and other independent radios. The then royal government issued a written order to the radios to broadcast only “music”. A ban was placed on broadcasting news and informative programs. Still, the community radios remained active for the rights of people. They broadcast about constitutional provisions on fundamental rights, the process of suspending these rights, articles of the Geneva Convention, international treaties and covenants ratified and signed by the Nepal government in their bid to making people of aware of their rights, including their right to information. They also frequently broadcast about the ban on news broadcasts and how the people’s right to information was infringed. Consequently, people gradually became conscious to get back their infringed rights. The Association of Community Radio Broadcasters Nepal (ACORAB) – the umbrella organization of all community radio
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stations of Nepal – joined hands with commercial broadcasters, the secretariat of the World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters (AMARC) Asia Pacific and promoters of radio to forge an alliance, Save Independent Radio Movement (SIRM), to forward the movement of civil and human rights in Nepal during King Gyanendra’s direct rule. SIRM is also involved in the alliance comprising the Federation of Nepalese Journalists (FNJ), Nepal Bar Association, Nepal Medical Association, Nepal Engineers’ Association and University Teachers’ Association during the King’s rule. SIRM launched extensive street protests for freedom of expression and the right to information even during the difficult time of the King’s rule when even the political parties and their sister organizations had not dared to come to the street. SIRM organized music concerts, poem recitals, comedy shows advocating freedom of expression, urged mainstream media to write editorials for solidarity in its movement for freedom of expression, asked cartoonists to sketch cartoons promoting radio rights. In this way, poets, musicians, singers, litterateurs and artists were involved in the movement for people’s freedom of expression. For a couple of months, because of frequent strikes in the Terai region, the entire market has remained closed. Since the business communities are experiencing losses because of the strikes, they have stopped providing advertisements to community radio stations, which is usually their main source of income. As a result, the radio stations are unable to pay salaries and have to cut down on staff. The stations had to make this harsh decision also because of threats to hill community staffs. Madhesi communities living in the southern region have begun a movement to drive hill communities out of the Terai region. This has a direct effect on program production. They used to produce current affairs-based programming. In addition, the safety of journalists in the Terai region, where various factions of Madhesi armed groups and Maoist splinter groups are becoming increasingly active, is becoming increasingly serious. More than six dozen journalists have been attacked since January 2008 and death threats in southern Nepal have become commonplace. The motives behind the attacks vary. There are cases in which the armed groups attack the press to demonstrate
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their anger against coverage of their abuses and atrocities. Sometimes journalists earn the militants’ wrath simply for covering their events, such as protests, demonstrations, rallies and other programs. At other times, armed groups attack the journalists on the pretext that their activities did not receive enough coverage. Armed groups are also harassing journalists with the aim of silencing them or turning them into means of propaganda. Each group exerts pressure not only to have their news covered but also to be given the most priority in relation to other groups. As a result, radio stations are about to stop broadcasting “news”, which is some of their most popular programming.
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· Do’s and don’ts during conflict periods ACORAB prepared a guideline for community radio stations to effectively perform their role of disseminating information and empowering people during conflict situations. In the guideline, ACORAB prepared both “do’s” and “don’ts”. Do · Create a common platform for conflicting parties to bring them closer. · Create public awareness about the negative impacts of conflict. · Advocate for the groups most affected by conflict. · Emphasize inclusion. · Be sensitive to balance between/among conflicting parties. · Cover voices of conflict victims but without giving priority to negatively, aggressively and emotionally spoken voices. · Discuss the main reason for conflict and conflict de-escalation. · Broadcast programs to consolidate unity among community members. · Broadcast programs in the local language that contributes to conflict management. · Broadcast programs during the conflict period for conflict resolution by packaging the outcome of conflict, international experience and history of the conflict. · Share relevant radio programs among radio stations. · Produce programs in an objective, reliable and accurate manner.
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Be impartial. Produce and broadcast radio programs in favor of human rights and peace-building. Engage in confidence building measures. Prevent the circulation of incendiary rumors and counteract them when they surface. Improve debate to make people understand the conflict in terms of causes, effects and ways of peaceful resolution. Produce and broadcast radio programs that contribute to social justice, minimization of social discrimination and equitable society. Give information about abducted and missing persons and call for their release. Operate community radio stations guided by common guiding principles and strategies. Broadcast dramas and discussion programs for developing positive attitudes. Develop programs that promote responsible citizenship. Produce programs to provide counseling.
Don’t · Do not broadcast programs that incite anger and conflict. · Do not broadcast programs that create division among civil society. · Do not broadcast programs disseminating purely negative messages about the conflict. · Do not broadcast programs that give further pain to conflict victims. · Do not broadcast programs that discriminate based on ethnicity, language, caste, gender. · Do not broadcast news without verifying it through reliable sources. · Do not broadcast biased programs. · Do not broadcast conflicting, pessimistic, humiliating and demoralizing programs.
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Previous initiatives for journalistic training in Nepal Tribhuvan University has conducted journalistic training in Nepal since 1976. Now two universities offer journalism education up to the master’s level and many more public and private colleges provide undergraduate education in journalism. In addition, training institutes such as the Nepal Press Institute (NPI) have been conducting such training for 500 journalists each year since 1984. There is huge demand and scope for journalistic training. Moreover, increasing competition among journalists has created an urge among journalists to acquire new skills and knowledge. Two specific training modules aimed at informing journalists of ways to report conflicts – Peace Journalism and Conflict Conscious Reporting – were tried out in Nepal in 2002. The training programs were implemented by NPI and the Centre for Investigative Journalism (CIJ) jointly and NPI respectively. Among other things, the training programs led to the realization among the participants that reporting conflicts was different from how “war” or “sports” journalism was done and how by doing good journalism journalists could better inform all stakeholders about what was going on in the right perspective. Improvement needed in conflict journalism training Bearing in mind the problems faced by community r adio journalists and the previous training initiatives in Nepal, conflict journalism training should address the following so that it can contribute to conflict management: The demand for journalists has attracted many to the profession, many of whom don’t have formal t raining in the basic social sciences and journalism. The participants of the training should demonstrate basic education criteria to ensure that they understand complex issues – including conflicts. · Better acquainting journalists with journalism skills and knowledge to help them understand conflicts and their dynamics. · Enhancing journalists’ understanding of violence – both behavioral (killing, beating, torture, maiming, etc) and structural – or the less obvious form,
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which according to Fisher et. al. “can be equally damaging and perhaps even more difficult to address” – (exclusion, discrimination, etc.). Emphasizing the preparing of reports not only based on events but also with in-depth analysis and adequate follow-up coverage. Most of the regular training programs now available in Nepal are largely focused on basic skills, which is why the reporting of the issues relating to Nepal’s on-going conflict and many other latent issues has remained inaccurate and incomplete. So improvement in quality of the training courses and the instruction methods and approaches is needed with more focused training programs. Improving the conflict-sensitive desk and copyediting so that sensational headlines and contents are not unintentionally prepared, some of which may have actually contributed to aggravating the desire for revenge to justify more violence. Being the channel of communication that is accessible to almost all sides in any conflict, the media – and by implication journalists – are best placed to take on the role of social mediation in a macro perspective. In addition to the journalistic training, their social mediation capacity should also be enhanced. The journalists should be prepared for both violent conflict as well as other less-visible conflicts.
Conclusion The world’s history of conflict has shown that the peace building process is complex, sensitive, delicate and very fragile. Our own previous experience in Nepal has also proved that negotiation is not very simple. Ceasefires and peace talks can be broken at any time without any further progress if all the conflicting parties do not make sincere efforts to restore lasting peace. Despite journalists having to face greater difficulties in a time of violent conflict in a society, they need to put all their effort into good journalism to play the role of an effective social mediator for resolving the different types of conflict and restoring lasting peace. As Ross Howard said, “Few journalists have any training in the theory of conflict. Having the skills
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to analyze conflict will enable a reporter to be a more effective professional journalist”. The capacity of journalists, nevertheless, needs to be built to understand conflicts and their dynamics which may vary from one to another. In addition to capacity building, solidarity among journalists is a must – not just to improve the role of journalists in conflict transformation and challenge those who violate the ethics of our profession – but also to face emerging challenges. The existence of ACORAB has helped community radios of Nepal by acting as a protective shield to save the radio stations and their journalists from any threat.
Journalistic training in Cambodia Reach Sambath, Press Officer, Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC), Cambodia
We all agree that good journalism requires adequate skills. If you don’t have those skills you cannot produce quality. And quality can go through different processes and methods. For example, Cambodia which has gone through many regimes from the Monarchy to the Republic and from Republic to pure Communist regime – led by Mr Pol Pot, who abolished all press, schools, markets, hospitals and money and millions of people died and executed – and then to the democratically elected government in 1993, when Cambodian media began to enjoy press freedom. But the freedom did not automatically make the press in Cambodia be on the right track because most of our working journalists have very limited education and no skills in journalism and computers. Some people compare our working journalists to a firefly which has just hatched and first starting to enjoy freedom. It can hit a wall, a tree or sometimes unluckily land in children’ hands. In other words they can be in danger very easily. That is why they need adequate skills. Without them, they cannot even defend themselves. Just like our panelists said prior to my presentation in Bonn on Tues-
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day, June 3rd, 2008, when you have more knowledge, t rouble disappears. Challenges / difficulties: When we talk about training journalists we mean training working journalists who do not have sufficient skills in journalism and training young high school graduates who are actually fresh students and want to become journalists. So our goal in training is to offer them adequate journalism skills to help make them become journalists. Training working journalists poses several difficulties: · They are not disciplined and punctual · They have very limited education · They have no computer or English skills · They think they do not need to learn new concepts Sometimes I compare them to a glass of water which already contains some water. When you put additional water into that glass it will never mix well. This is very opposite to the fresh students who are contrasted to all points mentioned above. German involvement brings a better future to our media Since 2003, with strong support from our German counterparts the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, the German Development Agency (DED) and the Germany Academin Exchange Service (DAAD), a journalism department with an academic program called Department of Media and Communication under the umbrella of the Royal University of Phnom Penh (RUPP) was set up with the aim of teaching freshmen year students. It is a four-year program and after graduation students obtain a bachelor’s degree. One cannot deny that DW also plays a very important role in DMC by sending well-experienced journalists to teach electronic media there and two of the trainers are here with us, Dr. Andrea Rübenacker and Dr. Helmut Osang, who taught at DMC on several occasions. DW and other German organizations also bring our students to Germany for internship. These young journalists become Cambodia’s new generation of journalists who have a mixture of Cambodian and Western journalism
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skills and insights. I call them “German seeds”. One hundred percent of our graduates have got jobs. But one should remember that imparting knowledge to human beings is not like planting beans. Beans may take one day to grow, but to implanting can take years to grow on the right track. So this means there is still along way to go. Dangers Many working journalists in Cambodia have gone through short-course training by foreign trainers. I think it is good to have foreign trainers, but in that kind of class we need to have qualified translators or a translator with skills in journalism. If not, it could also put journalism training in danger. For example, when you say press freedom entails responsibility and the translator misses the last part. So it could be harmful. Of course we need to have both foreign and local t rainers. Foreign trainers have up-to-date skills and know a lot about how to use modern equipment. Limits We also see that when conducting training we need to train both reporters and senior editors. I used to have complaints from my students that you are teaching us how to write an inverted pyramid style, but my editors did not agree with me. So why don’t you bring my editors to sit in your classroom as well? With that proposal we launched a Diploma Course in 2005 to train senior editors with the help of UNESCO. This course is also conducted under the RUPP, aiming to train them with an academic perspective and senior editors can obtain diploma certificates when they graduate. They are very happy with our new offer. This is similar to what our colleague from Pakistan mentioned at the forum about Pakistan’s situation. Within three days of notification, we received more than 200 applications. But we accepted only 36. The class convenes from 5:30 – 8:30 p.m. During this time they are free from their duties. We see a huge effectiveness and differences by conducting such training. Now those who have graduated from our diploma course are running media organizations in the country. Unfortunately that class doesn’t exist anymore due to funding problems.
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We also found a new solution that if we train working journalists only half days, the training is more effective. Normally working journalists can attend our class in the morning and they can work for their paper in the afternoon. The next day they can bring their articles to class for a classroom assessment technique.
Iraq – Bridging the gap between education and the working realities of journalists Anja Wollenberg, Head of Media in Cooperation and Transition (MICT), Germany
MICT – Media in Cooperation and Transition is a non-profit agency that specializes in the training of journalists and media producers, program and content development, as well as media monitoring in conflict zones. Since its founding in early 2004, MICT has been undertaking media-related projects together with Iraqi activists, journalists, artists, and media producers on political and cultural topics in Iraq. Training of journalists was and still is essentially part of these activities. Educational programs for journalists in Iraqi universities and vocational schools are hopelessly outdated and still strongly tied to the journalistic methods employed during the reign of Saddam Hussein. University teachers and curricula have changed very little in recent years despite the drastic transformations the country is otherwise going through. More than in universities and schools, education in journalism is most often achieved through programs offered by media outlets themselves, or by international institutions such as Deutsche Welle, BBC World Service Trust, Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR), Reuters, International Media Support, and the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) – to name just a few of the organizations active in the field of media development in Iraq. Qualification programs offered by foreign institutions are greatly needed and highly appreciated by the journalists and the media outlets which benefit from them. The combined efforts of foreign institutions and media outlets in the country,
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have led to remarkable improvements to the quality of journalism in Iraq over the last few years. The primary problem with working in Iraq, however, is that foreign professionals are not realistically able to enter the country and stay for any extended amount of time. It is all but impossible to run offices in Baghdad, or for Western organizations to run training courses on location. Instead, training is usually conducted outside of Iraq in neighboring countries or even in Europe, depending upon the sources of financial support. Training programs thus tend to be highly expensive and, as a consequence, rather condensed in terms of time and content. This problem is aggravated by the fact that good journalists are hard to find within the country, and that managers of media outlets cannot afford to allow their best team members to take any time off of work for more than a few days. Under these circumstances, a patchwork of short, specialized and intensive training programs conducted outside the country has emerged in Iraq. Although Iraqi journalists have clearly taken advantage of this diversity of educational input, education remains detached from the realities on the ground: training is factually detached from the working conditions of journalists in Iraq and the specific problems these journalists have to deal with. Among these problems is the extraordinary lack of security, the daily risk to life, lawlessness, but also the political affiliation of media with parties and other interest groups that have a strong impact on the work of journalists. Under theses circumstances a substantial share of newly acquired skills fades away in the transition from training to actual work. One result is that, though journalists tend to know a lot about good journalism in theory, the actual level of writing – when compared to the theoretical knowledge gained – often remains rather low. A number of strategies have been implemented to help bridge the gap between learning and working. One of these strategies is involving Iraqi or Arab experts as teachers in the training process rather than relying simply on foreign experts. Another is designing qualification programs not as single units but as series of learning
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units, in which the same group of journalists takes part from beginning to end. Another strategy has been moving training sessions to Erbil, in the north of Iraq, which has become a relatively safe area over the past years. MICT’s strategy for overcoming the gap is a systematic combination of both productive and educational elements in our projects. Work-related and learning components are systematically intertwined. How is that strategy implemented? Over the past two years, MICT has created a number of radio productions in Iraq which deal with cultural and political issues such as that of federalism in Iraq, women’s issues, freedom of speech and the elections in 2005. These projects were each designed as a series of radio shows, produced and broadcasted in cooperation with a network of six to ten Iraqi radio stations and in cooperation with a network of Iraqi journalists. Embedded in the workflow were the following learning components: · Training: the production starts and ends with a training session. Experiences from the joint production can be reflected on and used as material in the training. The latter is focused on the demands of the joint production. · Coaching: While working in the project, the participating journalists submit their contributions to an external expert (in most cases identical with the trainer) who provides feedback and advice on how to improve the given piece. Participants in the project receive constant feedback regarding the quality of their work. When learning components such as these are merged with the working process, a high level of learning deeply anchored in the working environment itself can be achieved. Another example of how to increase sustainability through the integration of work-related and training elements is the NIQASH project. www.niqash.org is a website in three languages covering the political transformation taking place in Iraq. The website has been managed by MICT for the past three years. Contributions to the site are delivered by a network of about twenty journalists from all parts of Iraq. Coverage of Iraqi politics thus comes from within and throughout the country. The embedded learning components are: DEUTSCHE WELLE GLOBAL MEDIA FORUM 2008
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Articles are submitted to the editor-in-chief of the website. That person in turn provides the authors with systematic feedback regarding quality aspects of their work. · The journalists writing for the website are invited to training sessions on a regular basis. The content of the training programs is designed in close correlation to demands articulated by the journalists involved. The continuity of cooperation, in combination with the integration of on-the-job training components, has led to a significant increase in journalistic competence among NIQASH journalists over the past three years. There are other European NGOs in Iraq that are actively supporting Iraqi journalists and that have managed to overcome the gap between training and professional work. IWPR has established an office in Sulimaniya and is offering ongoing journalist training programs for Kurdish and Arab journalists. The courses are visited by a growing community of journalists – both men and women – from all parts of the country. Another example: BBC World Service Trust founded the radio station Al-Mirbad in the southern city of Basra in 2004 and continuously provides training opportunities for the staff in Iraq as well as in the U.K. These are examples of successful qualification programs that will help to improve the spread of high quality information throughout the country. ·
In a Training Needs Assessment, the International Research & Exchanges Board (IREX) and the BBC World Service Trust recently recommended that the “demand for basic journalism training should be integrated into more complex projects, rather than conducted on a short-term, ad-hoc basis” and that “media development projects in Iraq need to include a built-in incentive to Iraqi media organizations to implement the acquired skills and develop a training tradition internally”. I would like to express my complete agreement with these findings and add that journalist training programs offered by Western NGOs in Iraq should seek to strengthen any possible links to the actual working processes involved and the working conditions experienced by media producers on the ground.
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Session 4 The Bonn Network – Enabling rapid action in conflict situations Background and activities of the Bonn Network Dr. Bent Nørby Bonde, Director, Media Progress, Denmark
One of the very important events at the DW Global Media Forum was the decision of more than 20 founding members to establish the Bonn Network as a legal entity in Brussels. The network organizes intergovernmental, non-governmental, broadcast and research organizations working with media in peace building and conflict prevention. One year earlier another conference in Bonn on Media in Conflict Prevention and Peace Building – Rapid Actions and Coordinated Strategies, gathered virtually all international, non-governmental and media organizations working with media in peace building and conflict prevention. They concluded that more cooperation was needed at strategic and implementing levels and better joint resources for rapid actions should be provided. Shortly after, the Bonn Network was created. Background Since the post-Cold War conflicts in the 1990s illustrated how strong a role media play in instigating conflict, the focus on professional media playing a constructive role in international conflict prevention has become an increasingly important factor in determining whether international efforts to sustain peace succeed. However, it is well-known that not all media support has been equally successful. Different international actors choose different strategies, giving their support to media haphazardly and local media surprise by not being committed to professional ethics with their de-escalating values. It also seems to be a continuous problem that media interventions come in late and not always have a long-term perspective. Lack of joint resources and capacity often delays restoration of facilities for production and distribution of crucial humanitarian information and independent news services in war-torn areas.
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Intergovernmental, regional and non-governmental organizations, as well as international and local media already possess important experience from their work with media in conflict prevention and peace building. Some organizations have worked with a mandate from the Security Council, whereas others have done without. In some cases they have collaborated constructively with local authorities, in other cases the work has been carried out solely through community media and local NGOs. The diversity in approaches from different organizations and donors has in some cases been counterproductive because of lacking will to cooperate or even participate in information sharing. In cases where the different actors have shared a minimum of common objectives, joint visions and values, the diversity in approaches has, however, proved to be strength. The Bonn Network was founded as a response to help bring about more coordination and to build a joint capacity for all its members to react rapidly in crises. However, the network was also intended to create sort of a neutral public sphere in which all actors independently from the funding donors could discuss, test, develop and implement media activities with greatest possible impact on peace building and conflict prevention. It was agreed that the aim of the Bonn Network is to increase, develop and pool international knowledge, expertise and best practices in the field of media as an integral part of conflict prevention and peace building to help actors to increase cooperation on the implementation of long term strategies and to contribute to independent analytics, experts, technical and financial resources for rapid and coordinated interventions in crisis situations. Activities for the Bonn Network: To enable all member organizations – alone or jointly – to act rapidly in crises a number of activities are foreseen: · By networking between international, regional and local organizations, members of the Bonn Network can ease the way for inputs from the field to donors and similarly to ensure that strategies can be developed collectively and implemented
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with solid local partners. By networking between the member organizations it is intended to identify and set up mechanisms for provision of much needed production and broadcast equipment in post-conflict media destroyed by wars. By networking between a number of international research institutes it is intended to have current and updated information about media landscapes and content in most potential conflict countries. By networking between the many member organizations with experience from conflict situations key experts will be identified to allow joint assessment missions and joint rapid actions. By networking with larger national and international organizations mechanisms for increased knowledge about local safety procedures will be offered to implementing members. By developing procedures for rapid actions a division of responsibilities between the member organizations will tentatively be agreed according to geographic, thematic and media competencies.
To enable coherent and coordinated strategies for using media in crisis situations a number of activities are foreseen: · By networking between the member research institutes and implementing organizations’ studies on methodologies and country-specific conflicts these resources then will be available for all members. · By setting up mechanisms which continuously involve member organizations and donors, coherent local strategies for peace building and conflict prevention will be carried out. · By ensuring exchange of members’ case studies, assessment and evaluation reports, the capacity of all organizations will be increased and the impact of their activities enhanced. · By adding to existing toolboxes, future methodologies for using media in crises will be developed and improved. To enhance advocacy and neutral policy advice towards the European Union, regional organizations and large national and international donors, a number of activities are foreseen: DEUTSCHE WELLE GLOBAL MEDIA FORUM 2008
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Dialogue about media strategies will be carried out with the European Commissions’ Instrument for Stability, the national desks of the Commission as well as the Council of the European Union, its secretariat and bodies for member states. Policy papers will be developed on integration of media assistance into mainstream European and national strategies for conflict prevention. Capacity of regional organizations like AU, OAS, Arab League and others will be established to integrate media into their crisis strategies. A mechanism will be set up for provision of neutral advice to donors and other international actors on how to use media for their crises interventions.
The Bonn Network has already become part of the Peacebuilding Partnership, developed by the European Commission, and is currently in the well-known process of fundraising for its activities. A first step was taken in DW’s conference in April 2007, a second and larger step in the DW Global Media Forum in June 2008, and hopefully we will soon be able to take the decisive step of establishing a secretariat in Brussels and let the Bonn Network start working on a larger scale.
Visions for the Bonn Network strategy Erling Dessau, Special Advisor to the Humanitarian Futures Programme, Kings College, France
Let me first provide you with a disclaimer: I am not as such a media person nor directly linked to the media. I benefit from and I have benefited in my work and I am a consumer of the media sphere. From my modest viewpoint I can see tremendous benefits from a closer collaboration between the media and the many parties and organizations involved in conflict prevention, peace-keeping and peace building like the EU, the United Nations, governments, etc. The proposed Bonn Network is in my opinion indeed a step in the right direction. The likely added value is apparent to sup-
port rapid action in any emerging “crisis situation”. In essence I would suggest there are at least four immediate beneficiaries from a body like the Bonn Network: Firstly the EU, the United Nations and other major international organizations as well as many governments funding and supporting conflict prevention, peace-keeping and peace building. Secondly the many humanitarian organizations like NGOs operating in conflict areas. Thirdly likely the media and several media organizations, but fourthly and not least, the parties to any conflict who may benefit from a better global understanding of the causes and the facts behind the conflict and the process of peace building and obtaining objective reporting. I may address you here today based on my quite long experience with the United Nations now for over 30 years and during this period also responsible as the UN Coordinator for Somalia and subsequently Afghanistan – although now some years ago – as well as my role as UN Resident Coordinator in six other countries, mainly in Asia. But also related to my subsequent experience working with UNESCO and with the University for Peace of the United Nations and its emphasis on media and conflict and now as member of a team at King’s College, London, concerned with the Humanitarian Futures Programme and the crucial role of a well thought out strategy by the humanitarian organizations, instilling and alerting such organizations to be anticipatory, agile, better informed and to collaborate more effectively and thus be better prepared for the future and for likely future human risks, threats and the potential vast human vulnerability and the wider human security all so relevant for any humanitarian operation. My own experience covers not only countries in conflict, but also several natural disasters like earthquakes and “the floods of the century” (in Bangladesh) and much more. As a United Nations officer I have, of course, been extensively involved with the media. So I like to believe I understand reasonably well the very important role the media can play, and are playing and have been playing in facilitating conflict prevention as well as peace-keeping and peace building. But also in distributing very crucial information in facilitating humanitarian work. As an example, in Somalia we benefited (and perhaps
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also misused) among others the BBC Somalia Services when we wanted to convey important messages to the population. Almost everybody had at that time access to a battery-operated shortwave radio. I would like to offer a few salient points: It is, I believe, a common experience that not all of the media people do their best “homework” or carry out the necessary research to better understand a complex, critical or crisis situation. It is therefore useful to have a good working relationship between the media and humanitarian organizations and the numerous other international organizations. I would in this context also like to refer to what I would like to call “knowledge-based” media and reporting. What I wish to emphasize is the importance of having access to baseline data, to have access to a depository of relevant local information in order to better analyze and understand a situation and to set the actual situation or crisis in the right perspective. And to recognize what role besides basic reporting the media would be able to fulfill. That means to recognize the broader “settings”: the political as well as the social, cultural and economical background. It is therefore necessary for the media, the humanitarian and other national and international organizations to work together for longer periods. The proposed Bonn Network is likely an important step to establish some more lasting and more intimate relationships. By building a knowledge base, a network, and identifying people and organizations who know what and how and why, we may likely be more successful in working together and in facilitating the work of the media and in strengthening the role of international organizations and NGOs. Also, from my many years of quite constructive connection particularly with the Nordic national radio and the press, I understand how important it is to have personal contact with media persons who are knowledgeable for instance of the UN or EU, and understand what role they can play, but of course who also have an understanding of the local situation, and to work with media that are willing to listen and try to better understand the actual situation.
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But it is not only the media, but also the listeners and television viewers, who are important. We must learn and understand what the population, the “common persons”, in the various places around the world are likely or willing to understand and be likely interested in. There are many competing news stories, for instance the recent cyclone in Myanmar and the earthquake in China at almost the same time. It is also important to balance the news. A terrorist bombing is always hot news, but the several long-lasting conflicts, like in Congo, Sudan, Somalia and perhaps Iraq, as well as the thousands of people dying everyday in conflict countries – or of malaria, tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS – usually many times more that any terrorist acts, usually get limited attention. The 9/11 tragedy was of course a big and very dramatic event in the United States and for the world at large, quite understandably, but compared to such a “macro event”, the likely larger number of people killed in traffic every day or the numbers of daily murders around the world get only scant attention. I would also like to mention the many wartraumatized children. This is perhaps a trivial remark but worth remembering. What I am trying to say is that it is necessary for the media and for us humanitarian practitioners to put our messages in the right perspective. This is of course a vast subject and often discussed. We are here today mainly to emphasize the importance of the possible future Bonn Network, which as already mentioned I can personally strongly endorse. It is highly important to see the media “as an integrated tool in conflict prevention and in peace building”. It is clearly very crucial for the United Nations and for the EU and any other international organization to have the capacity for rapid response and to have access to a depository of know-how and to highly experienced media persons.
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L-R: Erling Dessau, Adelheid Feilcke-Tiemann
Journalistic Training in Conflict-Related Situations
Dr. Bent Nørby Bonde
L-R: Erling Dessau, Adelheid Feilcke-Tiemann, Dr. Bent Nørby Bonde, Jean Réveillon
I would like to bring in another related subject: The role of the newest technology like the Internet, search engines, mobile phones, etc. I was perhaps among one of the very first in the UN to receive a so-called “mobile phone”. It was the size of a big suitcase and had to be positioned on the roof and turned in the direction of a satellite. Now a huge number of people have mobile phones including phones with television and a camera. The role of the media is indeed changing very rapidly. I am perhaps an old-fashioned person, enjoying my daily big newspapers like The New York Times, Herald Tribune and Le Monde, but I also listen extensively to BBC. But most modern people prefer the “flash news” without too lengthy and detailed exposés. So the skill is how to describe a complex situation in almost no time. All this is perhaps too detailed for our actual discussion here today.
So in brief I am very much looking forward to continuing to be a participant in this new, very important and highly useful Bonn Network. If Deutsche Welle, the EU and several more key organizations willingly adopt this new venture, I am confident we will all benefit tremendously.
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Session 5 Media diversity – Training for a digital world Media diversity – Training for a digital world Dr. Javad Mottaghi, Director, Asia-Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development (AIBD), Malaysia
In 1948, Mahatma Gandhi said that, “Nonviolence is not a garment to be put on and off at will. Its seat is in the heart, and it must be an inseparable part of our very being”. In 1965, Martin Luther King said that, “Mankind must put an end to war or war will put an end to mankind,” and the best way to start is to put an end to war in Vietnam. It is no longer a choice between violence and nonviolence. It is either nonviolence or nonexistence. In 1967 he said, “Every time we drop our bombs in North Vietnam, President Johnson talks eloquently about peace. What is the problem? Destructive means cannot bring about constructive end,” said King. Dr. King also said in 1965: “The reason I can’t follow the old eye-for-an-eye philosophy is that it ends up leaving everyone blind.” Racial injustice around the world, poverty and war are the three problems that human beings are facing. When man solves these three problems he will have squared his moral progress with his scientific progress. It is impossible to end hatred with hatred. Stability and peace in our land will not come from the barrel of a gun and peace without justice is an impossibility. If we journalists want to resolve conflict, we should not talk to our friends and onlookers only. We should talk to our enemies who hate us. The ultimate test of a journalist is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands in moments of challenge and moments of controversy. That is the art of the journalist in resolving conflict. I doubt that most of the politicians have the will or intention to create a peaceful world. It is therefore up to the media to push for peace before it gets too late. Peace through nonviolent means is neither illogical nor unattainable. All other methods have failed. Thus we must begin anew. Nonviolence journalism is a good starting
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point. If we do not act, we shall surely be dragged down the long, dark, and shameful corridors of time reserved for those who possess power without compassion, might without morality, and strength without sight. Wars and conflicts that have caused blood to be shed for centuries arise from passionate feelings and facile counter-positions, such as “Us and Them”, good and bad, among others. In short, it is all about power to set the global or national agenda. But who sets the agenda? Dr. Chandra Muzaffar, a Malaysian philosopher suggests that the elites who have more power, authority or influence than others in society set the agenda. A politician or a media practitioner may be part of the elite and as such he or she may shape the agenda at national or global level. He adds that a certain school of thought that he calls global capitalism is the dominant ideology. It serves the interests of elites, business and other economic elites, the political elites, cultural elites, elites in every sphere and hence it has become the reigning ideology, the ruling ideology. It is an ideology which equates freedom with the freedom to consume. The freedom to shop, that’s what it is. Some of the contemporary wars are also linked to this ideology, to greed, to the conquest of other territories and their resources. It is linked to the desire to dominate and to manipulate markets. We media professionals do not admit that some of the greatest tragedies that confront us are linked in one way or another with this ideology. The crisis of environment and climate change is related partly to human greed and greed is very much part of this philosophy, global capitalism. But we in media do not talk about this in great depth. We show what is happening in Chad or in Liberia, Palestine, Iraq, Afghanistan and so on, which is good but we will not deal with that underlying cause. The media may talk about so many dead in Iraq. At times we may even criticize a war. But we do not address the power structure that allows elite dominance and control because the mainstream media are controlled by the elite. Apart from hundreds of thousands of innocent people who lost their lives in war over the last 10 years, more than 1,000 journalists and critical support workers, i.e. our colleagues, have also died trying to tell the story and yet we do not address the roots. DEUTSCHE WELLE GLOBAL MEDIA FORUM 2008
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Journalistic Training in Conflict-Related Situations
Does this mean that we can hope for better things from the alternative media? Will they offer the changed agenda that we dream of? I’m not so sure. No doubt that the alternative media does make a contribution. It does say things which the mainstream media would not dare to touch upon. But even the alternative media, even citizens’ journalism, has its limits.
The issue of censorship is not confined to the governments. Governments may censor and it is visible and acknowledged. Media houses practice self-censorship. This is neither visible nor acknowledged. The digital media can help journalists bypass both, by offering a tool for free international communication to those who can access digital media and have the skills to use it.
New technologies offer information, which in earlier times was difficult to get. The ease and quickness in accessing information from varied sources can help journalists to report conflicts in a non-partisan manner. Web logs can offer alternative viewpoints and perspectives not considered by mainstream media. Web logs thus can help journalists create a balance in reporting events and issues. However, blogs will supplement, not replace, traditional forms of media.
I do not believe that we can change anything in the globe until we first change ourselves. I certainly feel that the most important challenge of the day for us as journalists is how to bring about a revolution in our hearts and minds, a revolution, which has to start with each one of us. Could be done by training? Perhaps. But it has to come from our hearts and minds. If that happens, we can transform our media to a platform for democratic discourse, the people’s network and a meeting place for the public. We can support the voice of the people by developing community media by capacity building of media professionals and media institutions. And, most importantly, we can win the public’s trust and confidence in the media.
The American author Doc Searls says that: “Journalism is going to have to get used to making room for lots of other people who are not journalists by training, but who are just moved by whatever their nature happens to be.” The American technology writer Dan Gillmor goes further to say an interesting point: “One of the things I’m sure about in journalism right now is that my readers know more than I do.” So perhaps it is true to say that “No One Owns Journalism”. Though no technology is inherently good or bad, it is probable that the use of any technology will reflect the ideology of a society’s dominant power structures, as well as contribute to the very shaping of that society. Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is a powerful tool for sustainable economic and social development, but as far as democracy is concerned, it poses both threats and opportunities. New media can also be used for generating hatred as well as to resolve conflicts – as much as the traditional media. However, in the long run, I am optimistic that change will take place. It is a combination of a variety of factors that brings about change – politics, economics, culture, and most importantly, individuals. All these will work together and in the end, I believe that we will have a different world. But it takes time.
So, we at the AIBD initiated a number of projects aiming to help conflict resolution. We have implemented, jointly with DW and others, peace journalism workshops in Nepal, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, Bangladesh, Indonesia and many other countries. We invited radio news reporters from only India and Pakistan to attend a two-week workshop in Kuala Lumpur on peace journalism, which was successful. We are planning to invite TV news reporters of the same countries for a similar joint workshop. AIBD and CBA selected two TV producers, one from India and another from Pakistan, to produce a TV program on the children of Kashmir, entitled “Children growing up in a conflict situation”. Since 2004 we have initiated a World Award on the Best TV Documentary Contributing to Conflict Resolution. The topic will rotate from conflict resolution and promoting religious understanding each year. In the first year we had only 12 entries, now we have more than 30 entries per year. We are trying to put them all on the air in many countries.
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There are hardly any religious commentators or special reporters familiar with religious issues in broadcasting organizations in our region. We have sports commentators, political analysts, etc. but we hardly have a person who has been trained in the field of reporting on religions and cultures. AIBD has initiated regional workshops on understanding and reporting religions and culture followed by various in-country workshops on the same topics sensitizing broadcasters to think about such areas. We initiated series of radio and TV co-productions on cultural diversity and migration. We initiated a new TV children’s co-production series entitled “I am…”; the programs look at various stories told by children, who talk about their culture and way of life – saying that I am Christian, I am a Buddhist, I am a Muslim, I am a Jew, I am Hindu, etc. We have also initiated the online MBA in media and communication. This would be in the form of 12 subjects for 12 months online, plus a face-to-face course for four weeks and a thesis at the end of the MBA. AIBD has also initiated several international and regional media dialogues: the Asia Media Summit, which is global gathering in Asia every year, and the Asia-Pacific and Europe Media Dialogue every two years with our partners in Europe. In addition to this we have organized North America-Asia Media Dialogue, Afro–Asia Media Dialogue and Arab Asia Media Dialogue, all considered to be positive steps towards creating a better understanding among media stakeholders around the globe. We have entered the age of increased speed and closeness of time, place and space. “The age of communication” can be the “age of dialogue” and traditional and new media can be the network, granted that we are tuned to and hear the silent voice of the world. However, in the process of dialogue, reaching a common view is not as important as reaching a mutual understanding. The world has now shrunk to a small global village due to the communication revolution and yet we have not had the ethical commitment to make it a brotherhood. We must all learn to live together as brothers or we will all perish together as fools. We must respect our differences and cultural diversity but focus on our commonalities.
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The evolving role of digital media in Africa: Kenya and Zimbabwe Chido Makunike, Journalist, African web entrepreneur and online writer, Senegal
African media is disproportionately dependent on Western agencies for news of the world, and even for news about much of Africa. A lot of the news diet served Africans by their media is therefore often the perspectives of Westerners. At worst this tends to focus on crisis, hunger and bloodshed to the exclusion of much else. But even when this is not the preoccupation, Africans often have to get news of their own reality through a Western filter. Perceptions and views of ‘self ’ and other Africans, and of people and events in the rest of the world, are based primarily on how those people and events are portrayed in the initial reports of the Western news agencies. Digital media has reduced this exclusive reliance on Western news agencies, and made it possible to get direct reports on issues and events of interest in many parts of Africa and beyond. Even when the still dominant Western news agencies are the primary sources of the initial reports on a situation in an African country, Africans with access to the Internet now have the means to widely communicate their own interpretations of the events to each other and to the world in a way that was not possible before the advent of this technology. As in other parts of the world in their relatively early stages with digital media, African web publishers have used these media mainly for social networking, to show off their interest or knowledge on a particular topic and other such personally focused uses. As elsewhere, African users of digital media have enjoyed the newfound power to be heard and seen in ways not accessible to them before, and on their own terms. The ‘professionalism’ of this type of citizen publishing is mixed. Many make little serious effort to adhere to rigorous professional standards, but most readers are savvy enough to treat the musings of bloggers, for example, with that in mind. A few blogs and websites work hard to produce a quality product, while many DEUTSCHE WELLE GLOBAL MEDIA FORUM 2008
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L-R: Dr. Javad Mottaghi, Staffan Sonning
are more concerned about expressing themselves than they are about quality. A more forgiving yardstick is used to judge the content of such media than is used for more conventional “professional” media. Bloggers are generally understood to be opinionated non-professionals who are not necessarily seeking to be journalists but to merely be heard, while the professional media is expected to also live up to certain minimum standards of objectivity.
and could publish ‘on the fly.’ Several Kenyan bloggers became reliable sources of as-it-happened news, perspectives, photos and rumors. Many of the conventional media began to cite the blogs to gauge what public sentiment was, even if they did not go as far as to claim the bloggers were delivering ‘straight’ news. In at least that regard the best of the blogs served a very useful function which conventional media struggled to keep up with, at least for the weeks of the unrest.
But there have been times when unrest in a country has forced such ‘vanity publishing’ to fill gaps left by conventional media. An example was the recent postelection unrest in Kenya. Several Kenyan blogs became important sources of news for many reasons. Events were developing faster than the conventional media could keep up with them. Conventional media was constrained by relatively inflexible publishing deadlines from delivering news as it happened, even if they also had an online presence that could have made them keep up with the bloggers. It was not just access to digital media that was the issue, but a completely different approach to publishing.
Although many of these blogs may have fairly limited readership during normal times, during Kenya’s crisis the conventional media amplified the reach of the bloggers by bringing them to the attention of many readers who might never have come across them. There were also some blogs that fed into the ethnic tensions and seemed to want to stoke them, but the conventional media was generally careful to stay clear of recommending these to their readers, helping to limit their reach and influence. Another factor was that the Internet is available to a rapidly growing but still small percentage of Africans, so the influence for both good and bad of digital media is still very small compared to radio, the main source of news for Africans.
The bloggers had no publishing deadlines and other structures to worry about as did the conventional media,
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L-R: Premesh Chandran, Chido Makunike, Daniel Hirschler (Moderation), Staffan Sonning, Matthias Spielkamp, Jotman, Dr. Javad Mottaghi
In most African countries the dominant media are generally government controlled, leading to a heavy emphasis on the views of officialdom. Digital media are now an important support help to independent conventional media. Kenya and Zimbabwe have many things in common. But their political progressions have sharply differed in the last decade. Kenya has become gradually more open and democratic, with a vibrant private media to provide balance to the official media. Zimbabwe, on the other hand, has seen its political and media space shrink dramatically. Many middle of the road and government-critical publications have been forced to close, both because of the country’s poorly performing economy and an increasingly controlled and hostile media-operating environment. The few remaining private independent media struggle to survive, and their reach has remained stagnant or declined. This has left a rabidly pro-government and virulently anti-opposition media (newspapers, radio and TV) as the only source of information for the vast majority of Zimbabweans, even those who dismiss much of what that official media serves as outright propaganda. The closure of many private news outlets on economic and political grounds has driven many of the country’s media professionals out of the country. That and the hunger of Zimbabweans at home and abroad for news alternatives to the government media has spawned a thriving, almost exclusively digital media alternative, based mainly in South Africa and the UK. This has led to the unusual situation of most of the Zimbabwean media being based outside the country! The many externally-based Zimbabwe websites and blogs broadly serve two main functions: to aggregate
news articles about Zimbabwe from all over the world and to provide platforms for Zimbabweans around the world anguished about events in their country to vent and debate their feelings and opinions. A number of the websites reflect the professional media training of their operators. These are run according to fairly strict journalistic standards, performing a role very similar to that of some of the now defunct Zimbabwe newspapers. Some of them have maintained good sources in Zimbabwe and are occasionally even able to feature news ‘scoops’ that shame the in-country media. Many of these more ‘formal’ types of digital media also often feature well-argued opinion and analytical pieces. It is no longer considered odd or unusual for readers of the externally based websites to be better and quicker informed of political news at home than many people actually living there. Most of the blogs and websites, however, are not and do not seriously seek to be considered as authoritative sources of news or analysis. They mainly provide space for readers to vent their true feelings about the overall crisis in Zimbabwe. While not professional journalism, this is nevertheless a useful function in a country where most avenues for political expression which is contrary to the official government view have been ruthlessly suppressed. As useful as is the function that is served by this more emotive, less journalistic type of digital media, it has its limits. For one thing, more expressive heat than analytical light is generated. This is not necessarily an indictment of this type of website/blog, but merely an indication of the unique and narrow, non-journalistic purpose for which it exists. It seeks to be a social vent for pent-up feelings that have few other means of being expressed, DEUTSCHE WELLE GLOBAL MEDIA FORUM 2008
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by either readers reluctantly far away from home, or at home but feeling politically oppressed. Almost all of the externally-based online Zimbabwean media are generally critical of the currently ruling government. In this respect it could be said to lack ‘balance.’ This state of affairs is to a large extent because most of the Zimbabweans who operate and patronize these websites are in some way ‘in exile’ because of the political and/or economic situation at home, and so as a group they can be loosely considered to be critics of the government. Others would argue that the overwhelmingly government-critical tone of the sites is simply a true reflection of the sentiments of most Zimbabweans. Still others would argue that this overwhelmingly government-critical stance is justified by the need to give a platform to the voiceless and to counter the stridently pro-government stance of Zimbabwe’s official media. The Zimbabwean digital media is an important source of information for the many Zimbabweans outside their country. They may still log onto the government’s digital media to get the official angle on an issue, but they will then resort to the private, externally-based websites and blogs for opinions, interpretations and contrary views. Although relatively few people in Zimbabwe itself have direct access to the Internet, this does not mean the influence of the external digital media there is minor. Those few who have access to it vastly amplify what they read online to many others because of the great ‘news hunger’ that exists in Zimbabwe. That amplification takes many forms. Word of mouth and cell phone SMS are two of the major means, with downloaded articles also being passed on electronically to those who may have email but not Web access. The externally-based digital Zimbabwean media therefore have an importance and influence far beyond their direct and primary reach. Government spokespeople have often inadvertently helped the penetration of the critical digital media by sometimes strongly reacting to articles featured in them, raising general awareness of the existence of such critical voices even when Zimbabweans have not been privy to the original digital articles being
Journalistic Training in Conflict-Related Situations
criticized! Such government reaction is partly in recognition of the powerful role of such critical digital media in influencing world opinion about events in Zimbabwe, even if the critical digital media’s direct influence in shaping opinion within the country is more limited. Training implications of the rise of digital media: · Many practitioners/operators of digital media are not professional journalists and do not seek to be. · Many trainers have their background in conventional media and look down on non-journalist digital media practitioners. This is a now outdated way of looking at things that the trainers need to be trained out of! Digital media and digital journalism are not necessarily one and the same thing, and yet many trainers still act as if they are or should be. The trainers themselves are still battling to catch up with the many changes that digital media has brought about. · More respect needs to be given by trainers to the many (and sometimes predominant) non-journalistic functions much of the digital media serve. This partly means it is no longer enough for ‘trainers’ to only be composed of media professionals. · Although the costs of establishing and running digital media can be a small fraction of that of conventional media, a steady income stream is a huge challenge to digital media practitioners. Frequently, even the ‘professional’ practitioners are forced to do many other things to keep food on the table, which impacts the quality and the rate of development of their digital publications. Yet grants and other such support money is only available to very few of them, as is advertising income. Training of digital media practitioners needs to include all these realities, and examples of successful coping strategies. · Training on ethics should be a strong component of digital media training. The relative lack of controls and the ease of digital media as well as the easy possibility of anonymity mean some web publishers drift towards character assassination and other socially harmful behavior.
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My own example(s): I consider myself a “professional blogger,” not in the sense of blogging being an occupation, but in the sense of the quality standards I try to maintain. I principally run two blogs, African Agriculture and Trade Africa. I began and continue them as supports for my agricultural/trade consultancy. They have proven to be a very effective marketing tool for my business by freely, professionally and regularly providing information that my prospective clients can use. They also serve to make me very well-informed on the issues I consult about. So while blogging, I am also always picking up information which makes me ever more of an “expert” in my fields of consultancy. The blogs have led to many contacts which have resulted in invitations to write articles, attend meetings and to actual consultancies. They are like a digital business card that anyone in the world can see. I like to think the quality of the blogs also gives potential clients an indication of the attention to quality with which I would do their jobs. These two blogs are quite easy to maintain because they are not composed of my thoughts and writing, but merely aggregate articles from all over the world on their respective subject areas. I estimate that updating them takes up about 20% of my work time. I feature Google advertisements on the blogs. They are a growing but very small source of revenue which does not even cover the time I spend on updating them. But because they merely serve a support function for other things, it is not necessary that the blogs be income-centers in their own right. They pay for themselves indirectly through the many other business benefits they make possible. Those benefits are quite considerable, and I don’t think it is an exaggeration to say that the consultancy and trade I am now involved in grew directly out of the blogs. I also more casually run Zimbabwe Review, a blog of my own political commentary on events in my homeland. I do it when I can. It has no advertising and no obvious material benefits to me. I try to make it more than just ‘venting,’ by contributing perspectives that go a little deeper than is frequently covered by both pro and anti-government Zimbabwean media. It has a small but respectable reach for a blog.
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Aspects of digital media Matthias Spielkamp, journalist and trainer, Germany
Are weblogs a sound and serious source of journalistic information? As in many cases the answer must be: it depends. It depends on who writes the weblog in what situation, how much information can we – as journalists – gather on the author and his/her credibility? Yes, weblogs can be a sound and serious source of journalistic information and they often are. Can they be trusted without doublechecking the facts? Of course not. Neither can eyewitness accounts be trusted in all situations or the filings of a correspondent or a stringer. If there is an established relationship with a blogger I don’t see a reason why we should not trust his or her accounts. A good example of how this can be included into mainstream media is France24’s “The Observers” project. At the conference “New Public Space? What Video Journalism, Blogging et al. mean for Society and International Broadcasting”, I asked Derek Thomson, editor-in-chief of multimedia for France24, how the editors establish trust with the bloggers they incorporate in their online edition. He replied: “It’s on a case-by-case basis. It’s a little like a journalist working with any source. You have to establish trust with them. We explain the process to them, we explain how it’s intended to work, if they like it they sign up, if they don’t, they don’t. It’s really like dealing with a traditional source.” Do digital media help bypass censorship? They can in some cases. In Malaysia papers are censored, websites are not. So you can “officially” bypass censorship by publishing online. As you would expect it’s not as clear-cut in most cases. If you look at the example of Zimbabwe, you see many journalists publish under pen names in foreign (online) publications. Control of the Internet is not efficient in Zimbabwe, so people there can access these publications. In other countries, most notably China and Saudi Arabia, it is much more difficult to bypass control of the Internet, so it is much more difficult to bypass censorship. See the entire interview at http://www.Streamminister.de/medienpolitik/ DEUTSCHE WELLE GLOBAL MEDIA FORUM 2008
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Does it offer free international communication? Free as in free beer? Maybe not. Especially in developing nations costs for Internet access are still very high in comparison to other commodities. But they are coming down quickly in many countries and they might already be low in comparison to traditional means of communication, like land line phones that might not be available at all. Free as in freedom? See above.
And who controls the digital media market/ business? Google, Murdoch, Microsoft, Yahoo, Bertelsmann, Sony, Time Warner, Springer, Bennett, Coleman & Co and many others I probably have never heard of. Oh, yes: and the Pentagon (see David Barstow: “Behind TV Analysts, Pentagon’s Hidden Hand“, The New York Times, April 20, 2008). Who does not control it? The public.
How do we ensure quality information? The Internet seems to be an amplifier of the situation of media in general. It crystallizes the dynamics of capitalist systems that treat information and public discourse as a commodity. The market can deal with a lot of things but I doubt that it can maintain a working agora.
Weblogs/podcasts: a public space for everyone? Definitely. All of these tools cannot bridge the digital divide. If people do not access, they cannot blog and they cannot podcast. But for those who have access it’s never been easier to publish. Is it easy to make yourself heard? If you look at the fact that Technorati.com claims to be currently tracking almost 113 million blogs, certainly not. Still I would argue that we have a situation not comparable any more to the days when freedom of the press was for those who owned a press. How this public space will evolve I’m unable to tell.
How can we deal with information overflow? It’s everyone for himself. We have more information available than we could ever process as a single human being for a couple of centuries (at least some members of society). This is not a challenge unique to journalists. It needs to be addressed in education where the tendency unfortunately seems to be a focus on tools instead of concepts and information instead of knowledge. Who regulates the digital information flow? That is too broad a question to answer in such a brief space. It allows me to stress that Internet governance should be a key issue in journalistic training, whether the journalists work for online or offline media (they’ll be working with the Internet anyway, no matter whether their stories will end up in an online archive or tomorrow’s fish wrap). Journalists’ awareness of who runs the infrastructure we all rely on is pitiful. Again, this is nothing new and resembles the knowledge about ownership structures in the publishing or broadcast business. Most employers don’t like their employees knowing too much about the business side of journalism.
How have the new media and seemingly endless sources of information changed media culture? I’m a journalist, not a media historian. I doubt I can contribute anything overly meaningful here. My impression is that most media channels are used to distribute commodities of the culture industry: entertainment, infotainment and the likes. Media societies are over-informed and under-comprehended, I’d say. Often journalism tends to overemphasize the role of the government and to neglect the relevance of civil society. This results in a sense of impotence and frustration. How have new digital technologies – the World Wide Web, etc. – changed this and provided? Citizen journalism can be a powerful force in some cases though I think these cases will be rare. But the more people know about how media work, i.e. because they run their own weblog, the better. For decades initiatives tried to help people “emancipate” by founding community radio stations and grassroots papers. Now everyone can try out how the content management system of a website works within minutes. If more people make
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themselves heard, journalism would have a harder job to ignore these voices.
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Experiences of a blogger Jotman, jotman.com, Thailand
New technologies give rise to civil (or public) journalism based on citizen participation, mobilizes lay experts, communicates expert and non-expert knowledge and is more likely to voice community issues. What are trends in the different world regions? I can only provide anecdotal evidence from my work as a trainer with people from around the world. It seems that social networks (Facebook, etc.) catch on well in the U.S. and Asian countries, not so much in Europe. Blogs are popular worldwide. Wikipedia is a worldwide phenomenon. Social bookmarking is a niche and I doubt it will ever be anything else. Participants from Africa tend to take up blogging more openly than those from Eastern Europe and Asia. How should we train journalists for a digital world? The fundamentals of journalism have not changed with the advent of the Internet. We need journalists who regard themselves as members of the fourth estate, who are not content with a place at the table. They must know how to do their research and double check facts. The more muckrakers, the better. Whether they voice their dissent in print, an online magazine, a TV report, a radio show, with pictures or Flash animations doesn’t matter. There’s one thing we should try to convey: don’t be afraid of technology. If used in a good way it can be liberating. If used in a bad way it can be oppressive. The more you know about it the better you can distinguish between the two. And never forget: technology is a tool, not a goal in itself.
Consider several recent news stories: Cyclone Nagris, the Tibet uprisings, or the earthquake in central China. These crisis situations share certain characteristics that could be summarized like this: None had been predicted. Few reporters were on the scene to cover them. They involved regions that generally go under-reported in the news media. Moreover, these events had a global impact. To some extent, each of these events has comprised the material for my blog, Jotman.com. Based in Bangkok, I have become something of a crisis blogger. The recent focus of my blog – crisis situations such as these – happens to resemble what the American writer Nicholas Taleb calls “the Black Swan”. In a recent book by that name, Taleb defines Black Swan events as unexpected events which occur outside widely accepted narratives. That is, popular expert models of the world may not have presupposed the occurrence of such upheavals. Yet from the fall of the Berlin Wall to the attacks of 9/11 the unexpected keeps happening. Taleb suggests that when the Black Swan happens in today’s globalized, highly networked world – defined by widely shared models and assumptions – the impact of the unexpected event can be magnified. That is, increasingly, a local crisis will have global ramifications. Might bloggers be especially well-situated to cope with or to help people navigate such occurrences? Some of the crisis situations that I cover on my blog lead me to believe this may indeed be the case. For example, here are some observations that can be made from my blog concerning recent crisis situations. Most experts did not predict it Suppose we live in a world where professionals operate according to certain models and assumptions and a crisis occurs which has the effect of challenging the whole framework of assumptions. It is possible that the blogger who is outside the mainstream has not bought into the models or prior assumptions of professionals. The blogger may be immune from the dogmas that affect various formal fields – from academia to journalism. As DEUTSCHE WELLE GLOBAL MEDIA FORUM 2008
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an amateur, the blogger may arrive on the scene with a fresh set of questions. Few journalists were following the story A blogger may have selected a niche that will largely be ignored by the mainstream press. In the case of my own blog, it was Burma, and to some extent Thailand, although I also blog about other places. The point I wish to make is that at a time of crisis, the obscure topic – the blogger’s niche – may become of central importance. Back in February, when I was learning about the food crisis, I spoke with an expert on Burmese agriculture. I asked him: might Burma be facing famine? The expert said Burma had had good crops. Later, when I heard that Cyclone Nagris had hit Burma’s rice-growing region, one of the first questions that came to mind was whether this year’s crops had been harvested yet; and if so, where the grain was stored. Some quick research on the effected region convinced me the stakes could be high. Raising these questions about the cyclone attracted a flood of visitors to Jotman.
Journalistic Training in Conflict-Related Situations
Bloggers may find themselves in a unique position in time of crisis. Also, at a time when costs seem to be constraining investment in international news coverage, tapping into bloggers may be one way to regenerate interest in international news. If the audience for such stories grows accordingly, more investment may follow. This should bring us to consider the challenge shared by bloggers and journalists: We confront a media ecosystem which does not provide sufficient major outlets for international news. Increasingly, news content is aggregated by popularity. The present popularity of a story or topic may be a poor guide to its future importance. What other people want to know today is not necessarily what you will need to know tomorrow.
Training journalists for the digital world Premesh Chandran, CEO, Malaysiakini, Malaysia
More bloggers than professional journalists on the scene Most notably, with the Burma protests, the photographs and video reached the outside world through blogs. In Tibet, there was one Western journalist, and there was also one blogger. When the coup happened in Bangkok, I was able to get my photos and account of the events long before most Western television networks had equivalent coverage. The observer impacts the thing observed. A story reported by bloggers, becomes a different story than one covered only by professional media. Even should it want to do so, journalism cannot write the blogger out of the story.
While new media technologies do not alter the fundamental tenets of journalism, they do change user behavior and hence news room paradigms, discussions and decisions. How then do journalists cope with the changing demands of the user and the new media newsroom? We are quickly moving into a world where speed and user participation share standard media priorities as authenticity, balance and accuracy. Journalists also have to jostle with bloggers for online space, with readers getting used to the mix of news, opinion, fact and fiction, and sometimes slander within the same medium – the Internet. Training journalists for this new media environment requires basic journalistic skills as well as some less novel ones. Here are some:
Global impact Today’s world is more interconnected, not only that, our models – and the assumptions they are based on – are shared more widely. A breakdown in one part of the world can have repercussions anywhere or almost everywhere. A blogger is at no disadvantage compared to conventional media when it comes to recognizing how an event occurring at once place could have far reaching ramifications.
Coping with innovation A good sense of how innovation works, what’s ahead, and the ability to deal with the ‘new’ would be great. Innovation, especially in terms of information technology, new means of communication, presenting of information, would be key. An ability to learn and not being afraid of having to keep learning would be necessary.
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Multimedia skills Media organizations are quickly becoming multimedia and hence journalists themselves will have to produce stories that have a multimedia dimension. The ability to present a story from visual, audio and contextual dimensions, as well as to be able to send quick summaries and updates (for mobile phone text messaging) will be a major advantage of any journalist, and such journalists will command a premium over others. Teamwork With the need for speed and complexity, comes teamwork. Self organization, trust building and coordination will enable stories to be better presented and faster without losing quality, in order to meet user expectations. Global citizenship while culturally local The ability to view issues from a global perspective while connecting to local sources and understanding the local context will be a critical aspect of journalism. This includes mixing with people of different cultures, living in different countries, learning various languages and understanding local sensitivities. Writing from a nationalistic perspective will not help. Lastly, I think every good journalist should have knowledge about the media industry. I would like to see journalists coming out trained to write well, but also to be able to spot trends within the industry, and change accordingly.
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Need for speed and the erosion of media ethics Staffan Sonning, Media Development Office, Swedish Radio
On the 2nd of February 1989, the first prototype of the new Swedish fighter jet, JAS Gripen, crashes on touchdown, tumbling into flames, turning into what a Swedish politician later would come to describe as “the world’s most expensive rotary cultivator”. Miraculously, the pilot survived with only minor injuries. This disaster for aircraft maker Saab has since then been an often quoted example in classes on automatic control engineering. The reason behind the crash turned out to be the flight control system. JAS Gripen is an ultra-modern unstable fighter, unable to fly an inch without the assistance of computers. The problem was that the regulating system was too quick and too accurate. On February 2nd, the computers compensated one of the pilot’s moves, the pilot disliked the action and compensated back, the regulating computers misunderstood the pilot’s intentions and compensated again. In seconds, all balance was lost in the system and the fighter went down in flames. Today, JAS Gripen is in flight, the reactions of the computers having been slowed down. Oversimplifying the matter, the JAS crash demonstrates the importance of matching man and machine in regulating processes. Now what on earth has this got to do with ethics in today’s media world? A lot, I argue. In the computerized media output of today, man and machine don’t match. The regulating system too often fails, the need for speed bypassing the regulatory ethical frameworks. In this, the old media have joined the new ones. We are all on the same ethical slope. This is a huge and potentially damaging problem that should be addressed in policy-making parts of all media development projects. I am a radio man so I will use a radio perspective: Once upon a time – not too long ago – radio was the only medium with constant live publishing capability. We had the advantage of speed. In almost every situation we could be confident that we would be ahead on the air, talking to our listeners hours ahead of our competitors in the news business. This advantage gave us the possibility – and the responsibility – to develop tools to handle the DEUTSCHE WELLE GLOBAL MEDIA FORUM 2008
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risks involved in instant news reporting. We developed sets of ethical rules and professional standards aimed at avoiding the temptations of “speed before truth”. This is the main reason behind Swedish Radio’s position as the most reliable medium in the country. For decades, every survey on reliability has put SR way ahead of both print media and television. The question is: Have we established this position because we did not initially have any competitors in speed? And, if that is the case, how do we handle the new media environment? What professional risks are involved in the competition to be first? Our environment has undergone dramatic changes. We are no longer the only medium with constant live publishing capability. On the contrary, if we work in a traditional way, we will not be the first to file – we will be last in the news line. Every newspaper has its own web site. TV news channels are running 24 hours a day. New technical equipment is erasing the difference between TV and radio. Videophones will soon deliver full broadcast quality. Every TV newsroom has its own web site. And, in addition, surfing the net you find hundreds or thousands of independent news sites of varying quality. Ultimately, it cannot be denied that this new competition brings more good than harm. The greater choice available to the public is forcing us to offer the listeners better and more qualified journalism. At the same time, we are pushed in a dangerous direction by the new competition. The need for speed is threatening our ethics and professional standards. There are numerous examples; I will only give you two from my time as head of news of SR, where our newsroom decided not to publish news that was spreading like wildfire in other media. The first example took place after the killing of the Swedish foreign minister Anna Lindh. You might remember that the murder investigation was exceptional. The killer was caught on several surveillance cameras. His picture was immediately published everywhere. Yet it took days before the police could present the media or the public with any result or outcome of the surveillance
Journalistic Training in Conflict-Related Situations
cameras. Suddenly one afternoon, one of the tabloids web sites broke the news that a suspect had been arrested. A few minutes later, the same news appeared on another web site, then a third. Soon the news could be found on numerous sites. Some quoted the tabloid, others quoted their alleged own sources confirming the arrest. Commercial radio stations aired the news, quoting the tabloid. We did not air anything. Fortunately, the news editor in charge was one of Sweden’s most experienced reporters on criminal affairs. He refused to publish the news on the alleged arrest. He checked with his own sources and quickly found out that something was wrong. It took about 45 minutes to sort it out: Nobody had been arrested, but a warrant for an arrest had been issued. When we were absolutely sure, we went on air with a news flash. Within minutes, the public had access to the new, and this time correct, version of the development, spreading on the net. The second example might not apply to all countries. It demonstrates how previously fundamental ethical rules can suddenly be overridden. Swedish media adhere strictly to the basic rule not to publish news of deaths before making sure the family has been informed. The only exception to this rule is if the death is of compelling common interest. In this story, two people went missing in the mountains after an avalanche. After a day or so, they were found dead. The news very quickly spread on the web. It was also to be heard on commercial radio channels. And, this time, also on television. One of our most senior duty editors was in charge at the news desk. He checked with the police and found out that the family had not been informed. He stuck to the rules. It took four hours before news of the fatal accident was published by SR. These are two examples of Swedish Radio being last to report on a news event. But our reporting was correct and in accordance with our traditional standards. Not so many years ago, we would have been both correct and first. Unfortunately, I could also give you quite a few examples where we, Swedish Radio, have failed to live up to our policies. I will just give you one: It is also from the coverage of the attack on Anna Lindh. On the morning of her death, we were all being kept in the dark
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by the government. The last bulletin early in the morning from the hospital told us that the foreign minister had undergone surgery, and that her condition was critical, but the general feeling was that there were good chances of recovery. Anna Lindh died twenty-nine minutes past five in the morning. However her death was kept secret for almost three hours. We kept on making stories on her condition and possible recovery. The Prime Minister, Göran Persson, had announced a press conference that got delayed when there was a news flash from Swedish News agency, saying Anna Lindh had died. We immediately started working on the confirmation. Suddenly I heard the alleged news being announced in one of my own Current Affairs programs, quoting the single source and without any confirmation of our own. The same thing happened in other channels, people were reading the news flash directly from the screen. This is of course contrary to our basic rules. In the event of news of this magnitude, we never publish news from a single source. We always get our own confirmation. In retrospect, it is obvious that I am the one to blame: I should have issued specific instructions on how to act under different circumstances. My point is that not so many years ago, such an instruction would not have been needed. In this case, as in the previous examples, I argue that the old media are being driven by the new competitors and that this has resulted in an obvious shift in ethical and professional standards. It should be a matter of great concern to all of us. There are several possible explanations behind the difference in professional and ethical judgments between the old and the new media. The first is that the standards of some of the news web sites have very deliberately been set differently. The web is being seen by some as an arena for opposition against the traditional media. A part of that opposition is a difference in views on freedom of expression. According to an ultra-liberal view, the ethical rules of the Swedish media are limiting the freedom of expression. The web offers the tools to exercise that freedom in full. A second factor that might affect the situation is that web creators to some degree are non-journalists. They have not been raised by the same professional environment. Another explanatory
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model points to the fact that journalists working with news web sites tend to be much younger than us in the old media. I say this with a lot of envy; it would be a good thing if the average age in my organization were 10 years lower than it is today. And 25 years lower than my own age … However, a news desk manned only by very young journalists is exposed to greater risks when it comes to making difficult publishing decisions in stressful situations. Whatever the explanation may be, I see a clear tendency towards a web-driven shift in ethical and professional standards. Interestingly, I see the changes also in the web editions of the traditional media. It is obvious that traditional print media in some cases have one set of rules for the web and another for the print edition. The standards of the web are slacker, seemingly based on the view that you don’t have to cover-check your story on the web, since you always can correct your mistakes in real-time. As radio people, we have always had this possibility: to correct our mistakes in the next newscast, never more than fifty-seven minutes away. But we have decided not to work accordingly. We have decided that it is better to wait. It is better to be right than to be fast. To sum up: Radio used to be the only true live medium. The radio developed tools to handle the risks involved. Today everyone can publish more or less in real time. But the new competitors are not using the same toolbox. This has created a new and potentially damaging situation. The public’s trust is a fragile commodity. When a story seems to be breaking everywhere, it is tempting to do one crosscheck less. Of course we must resist, but there is a price to pay: We will unavoidably find ourselves being beaten by our competitors on the majority of stories that turn out to be true after that final double check. The price for not doing that final check, however, will ultimately be higher.
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Session 6 Impact on peace and conflict: What journalists and peacebuilding practitioners need to know about it The role of media in peacebuilding: theory and practice dr. Vladimir Bratic, Assistant Professor, Communication Studies, Hollins University, United States of America Dr. Lisa Schirch, Program Director of 3D Security Initiative and Professor of Peacebuilding, Eastern Mennonite University, United States of America
The media are increasingly being used in areas of violent conflict as a significant partner in peacebuilding, specifically in the implementation of peace agreements. A body of literature on the topic now exists and more importantly, significant practical experience has been accumulated. This is certainly an optimistic shift considering the conventional exploitation of media in wars such as hate speech and propaganda. However, positive media engagement in conflict prevention and peacebuilding has emerged in practice but also as a new area of research. However, many questions remain unanswered; the theoretical argument for the media’s impact on peace is underdeveloped, the practical projects are vastly scattered and a systematic analysis of the practice is missing. These three areas must be addressed before conclusions are to be written. What is needed today is further analysis that will lead into a carefully developed conceptual framework for positive media engagement in conflicts. Such a framework should not be based on “armchair research”, but rather should emerge from the examination of best practices (and worst) and the theoretical understanding of media impacts and peacebuilding capacities. Media through history in conflict and peace Over the last century, armed groups have exploited the power of mass media to incite violence and hatred between groups. The impact media have in inciting conflict has certainly been well-documented in professional and academic studies. From the Nazi Ministry of Propaganda through the use of hate speech in Rwanda, media have
Journalistic Training in Conflict-Related Situations
proved their ability to instigate violence. Conversely, media have also instigated positive changes in health development, disease control and even climate change discourse. In the last two decades, a growing number of groups have experimented with the use of mass media to foster reconciliation between conflicting parties and tested multiple techniques of media interventions. Many media projects are developed by an instinctual approach and most projects are victims of ad-hoc planning. While there is general agreement that media have a role in preventing violent conflict and building peace, there has been little effort to provide comprehensive conceptual frameworks for the practical use of media in peacebuilding. Media in peacebuilding – beyond peace journalism and conflict-sensitive journalism By now most peacebuilding activists and professionals have heard about the general principles behind peace journalism and conflict-sensitive journalism. A central question in the discussion about those principles revolves around the question of how far journalists should go in advocating peace, but these discussions do little but reiterate old debates about the role of the social responsibility model of the press. Some journalists believe they should report professionally without any agenda, and others cannot resist the ethical imposition that drives them to embrace the agenda of peace. While this discussion has its place, its universal and philosophical nature tends to divert and dilute the discussion and it rarely leads toward a broader and more comprehensive understanding of the media. History shows us that governments are more effective in using media to promote their intended goals when they use a plurality of media practices, such as advertising, entertainment, journalism and other public performances. A review of World War I propaganda techniques shows that media are most effective when they employ a multitude of channels. The leading architect of the U.S. strategy that helped convince the American public to join the war, George Creel, wrote about his employment of all available channels of communication (printed word, spoken word, telegraph, movies, wireless/radio and sign-board). This could serve as a cautionary note for the present media projects in peacebuilding
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who should realize that the media impact on conflict and peace increases when a greater number of media strategies is employed. Maximum media impact on conflict prevention and peacebuilding is more likely when all available strategies are employed. Governments and NGOs are currently using one or more of these four media strategies to prevent conflict and build peace. · Peace and conflict-sensitive journalism · Peace-promoting entertainment media · Advertising or social marketing for conflict prevention and peacebuilding · Media regulation to prevent the incitement of violence Almost a century after the initial scientific study of media effects we are much more knowledgeable about the impacts that the media do not have: we now know that media cannot magically induce a change or penetrate people’s brains like a hypodermic needle. We now know media impact people gradually, indirectly and with the help of other social actors. The impact of conflict is so pervasive that it would be unrealistic to expect a positive impact from a single radio or television project in a sea of media messages and outlets. Only an integrated and coordinated set of media practices, developed in response to a particular violent conflict, can begin to have a considerable impact.
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Media in peacebuilding: integrated into overall conflict prevention and peacebuilding strategy A coordinated approach to using multiple media strategies seems more likely to make an impact at the regional and national levels in peace processes. Likewise, it is more likely that maximum media impact will occur when media strategies are more fully integrated into an overall conflict prevention and peacebuilding strategy. The field of conflict prevention and peacebuilding is itself so new that few platforms exist to coordinate the various actors and approaches within specific regions. There have been few attempts to coordinate early warning and comprehensive response programs to foster the transformation of beliefs, attitudes and behaviors at all levels of a society such as among various civil society actors (such as business, academic or religious leaders), government and military. Media’s influence is limited and dependent on many external variables. The quality and effectiveness of any particular media strategy relates to the success of the overall conflict prevention and peacebuilding strategy. An integration of all four media strategies into a larger peacebuilding strategy is more likely to make a significant move toward a peaceful society.
We believe that as many components as possible need to be integrated in a media plan for peacebuilding and conflict prevention and we have here outlined the importance of integrating journalism, entertainment, advertising and media regulation to create synergistic effort. Fortunately, journalists and news producers are determined to improve their practices that may facilitate peace (e.g. Bosnian, Columbian, Israeli, Palestinian and many other journalists have undergone training of this kind). The entertainment format has been utilized to effectively deliver messages of peace (in Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone and the Middle East, soap operas and dramas feature peaceoriented plots). Regulators have firmly condemned hate media (Bosnia, Kosovo, and Rwanda have all enforced the elimination of hate speech). And finally, marketing techniques have been used to support peace agreements (in referenda in Northern Ireland and Macedonia). DEUTSCHE WELLE GLOBAL MEDIA FORUM 2008
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Journalistic Training in Conflict-Related Situations
Dr. Vladimir Bratic
Conclusion New perspectives for journalistic training in 足conflict足related situations DR. CHRISTOPH SCHMIDT, Head of Academic Department, DW-AKADEMIE, Germany
The media can play a significant role in preventing the escalation of conflicts and in moderating inter-cultural tensions. Particularly in areas of violent conflict, the media are increasingly being used as a crucial partner in peacebuilding and the implementation of peace agreements. Thus, all actors in the field of media have a very important function: they ensure the flow of information to citizens and influence overall public opinion as well as individual political behavior. Every day, everywhere, good journalists form and disseminate knowledge throughout our world. If journalists intend to work successfully in conflict-related situations, they have to be well-prepared. Merely having the specialist knowledge from their own professional field is not enough. Professional training is therefore a key factor in
any kind of conflict-related situation. Ongoing globalization is the reason for good journalists to continue to adjust, improve and expand their journalism skills. This year we placed our primary focus on the field of journalistic training in conflict-related situations as it is being practiced in a variety of countries across the world, including examples from Africa, Asia and 足Europe. We considered both theoretical and muchneeded practical perspectives on journalistic training programs. Additionally we spoke about media diversity and quality journalism. The presentation of various theoretical and practical journalistic training programs and the exchange of opinions within an institutional journalism symposium is a remarkable step in the right direction, but a number of important steps have yet to follow. With the implementation of our annual journalistic symposium, we have initiated global networking and an intercultural dialogue. It should be a matter of course that we all have the same intention: we want to discuss different training concepts, we want to learn from best practice examples and we want to analyze relevant fields in
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order to support the professionalization of journalists with appropriate programs and to foster accurate and responsible journalism.
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I look forward to the next journalistic training symposium in 2009, in which we will deal with the topic “Bridging the Digital Divide – How to Prepare your Staff ”.
The international journalistic training symposium is a place where thinking about training concepts from different parts of the world and the presentation of exceptional and sustainable training strategies is desired. The theme is very important in order to provide practitioners with real hands-on experience and fresh insights. During the symposium on 3rd June 2008 in Bonn, 26 speakers and nearly 200 participants from more than thirty countries discussed current journalistic training methods and strategies in six panels. This first successful journalistic training symposium shows that there is a tremendous need for further development. Starting in 2008, the symposium will take place regularly in Bonn. The main agenda items will change but the event will always address ways to cope with the professionalization of journalists.
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press clippings The Media in Peacebuilding
they can act at a political level to promote good governance models, they can provide information on human rights-related issues, and, eventually, contribute to build a path to peace.
Peace journalism, Strategic Communication & Forms of Censorship
The main issues at stake A preconception is dominating the general view of the international situation: conflicts around the world seem to be increasing. In reality, in the past 20 years, the trend is following the opposite direction and the number of wars and conflicts is rapidly decreasing. According to the vice-president for strategy of Radio France Internationale, Erlends Calabuig, “part of the responsibility for that widespread misleading perception is of the media and their propensity to speak louder during conflicts”. There is a general agreement around the evidence that conflicts are part of human life, so that we can’t avoid conflicts but we can prevent their escalation. Media could be a powerful tool in this sense, and the proposals to make it effective are at the core of the Forum debate.
Author: Lorenza Fontana Publication: ITPCM Newsletter (July 2008) Country: Italy
How can media be used to promote peace? What are the best practices and the main challenges for international organizations, NGOs and local networks? Where are these initiatives more urgent or effective? The Global Media Forum organized in Bonn by Deutsche Welle was an opportunity for debate among practitioners, academics and representatives of the civil society from different continents that are concretely engaged in the effort to promote peace and avoid conflict through the media. At the beginning of June, the former German government Plenary Chamber, now transformed into a hightech and modern design conference centre, hosted a thousand people from more than a hundred countries to discuss how mass media can contribute to end conflicts and build a peace environment in critical areas. While a huge discussion and a number of academic studies have been developed around the media issues and its role in the promotion of violence and conflict (Rwanda and the Balkans are the most famous examples), a mirror debate on the use of tv, radio and newspapers in the peace process seems to be less appealing for scientists, journalists and media experts. In this sense, the Deutsche Welle Global Media Forum goes upriver and acts as a unique arena in which participants can share experiences and learn from their peers. Starting from the common sense: depending on its uses, the media can have the power to make local and international public opinion aware of the developments, the causes, the dynamics of conflicts,
Peace journalism and strategic communication for peace One of the most debated proposals is the so-called peace journalism, a form of journalism that frames stories in a way that encourages conflict analysis and a non-violent response. One of the first inventors and promoters of this idea, Nicholas Kristof, war correspondent of the New York Times, once said: “Earlier in my career I attempted to remain objective, but the stories forced me to take sides”. Although the difficulty to find a balance between the journalist profession and the personal commitment in defending human rights is evident, many practitioners are sceptical towards this solution. The polarization that emerges was one of the red lines among the discussions during the Forum. Shirin Ebadi, for example, is a supporter of peace journalism, saying that “it doesn’t compromise impartiality”, as a Western perspective often argues. On the other side, John Marks and Susan Collin Marks, the couple that leads Search for Common Ground, one of the major NGOs engaged in the creation of communication for peace, think that “peace
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journalism does not work. What we want to do is real journalism”. But in fact, the effort of this organization is more focused on strategic communication, than in journalism, as another important tool that applies commercial rules for the production of TV-series, advertisements, soap-operas, music videos and cartoons to products with an ethic, non-commercial goal: the promotion of peace and reconciliation. Some examples: an “ER-style” in which a news team covers the complex reality of today’s Nigeria, dealing with hot issues such as tribal violence, domestic abuse, corruption, unemployment and AIDS; a song in Arabic/Jewish by a Palestinian and a well known Israeli singer; a reality show built around the friendship between two cowboys – one from Texas, one from Cairo – discovering their reciprocal “ humanity” and losing their fears and prejudices. Geographical perspective: Asia and Africa and their current challenges While in Europe and in America the media environment has improved, helped by the process of democratization and the increasing attention for human rights, in Africa and Asia the situation is still unstable, with some alarming cases. As the Kenyan journalist Rose Kimotho highlighted, “in Africa the problem of the quality of local practitioners and the lack of good training are reflected in the low quality of the information products. On the other side, international media have often a very critical role and the power to set the agenda for the continent. They must be aware of that and try to work for a better understanding of the local reality. For example, avoiding simplification, as often occurs with African conflicts, especially when ethnicity is involved, or paying attention to local customs, such as the importance of the oral tradition and the use of vernacular languages. These dialects are much more nuanced than English and, for that reason, it is more difficult to catch the intrinsic meaning of metaphors and tones”. In many Asian countries, the major problem is constituted by the restrictions on the media established by the government in the name of human values: using an autochthonous version called the Asian values, they argue that press freedom is not part of the Asian culture but is a Western value.
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“This idea – explained professor Indrajit Benerjee of the School of Communication and Information, Nanyang Technological University in Singapore – has been very useful for governments to restrict the freedom of information, as in Pakistan and China. Moreover, some Asian media is fuelling the conflict, such as the Taliban media in Afghanistan which promote jihad, or the Chinese media that depict all the Tibetans as terrorists”. An open question remains around the problem of the media liberalisation and the public/private dichotomy: by multiplying the sources of information, a possible result could be the rise of the levels of conflict within a society; on the other side, a public monopoly of media generates evident problems and even worse risks. Freedom of expression As a crucial framework of the debate on media and peacebuilding, a bigger issue has to be addressed: freedom of expression. Without this fundamental institutional premise, no successful implementation could exist. Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Shirin Ebadi, special guest of the Forum, confirmed her well known commitment in the fight for human rights defence and emphasized this point by defining this right as “the most important instrument for the survival of healthy media, as well as the first step towards democracy. On the basis of human rights, the only instance which should restrict the freedom of expression are the issues that lead to the promotion of war and violence”. Another crucial problem mentioned by Ebadi is censorship, that could appear in different forms: from the Iranian ideological censorship (“In Iran there are no criteria or regulations. Everything is dependent on ideology, and this generates a lot of confusion among editors and writers”), to a “even worse” situation in other countries, where “the government doesn’t interfere directly in the publication neither arrests journalists”, but allows a de facto monopoly of media with a certain ideology, and thus other media don’t have the power to compete. “In the US only 5 corporations own the mainstream American media and the owners enjoy the same school of ideology. An independent-minded journalist doesn’t have the power to survive”. DEUTSCHE WELLE GLOBAL MEDIA FORUM 2008
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A third type of (indirect) censorship is the “digital gap between industrial and developing countries: in Angola the ratio of pc owners is 1/3000, and 15 million people in the world have not even seen a telephone”. This leave a lot of people completely out of the information environment. Finally, a concern of Mrs Ebadi that sounds as a meta-reflection on the organization of the Forum, a self-critique that, we hope, the DW will take into consideration for the 2009 edition (the third), already under planning: “Are we achieving any outcome talking about this issues? How many people are we reaching? People that attend the conference are at a management level. They are not people working in the field. There is a need to discuss this issues at a high level, but also we must evaluate how we can transform our work into consequences in the media system and ask how we can expect the role of the media have a concrete impact in promoting peace”.
Premier global Media Forum de la Deutsche Welle Le monde en quête de la paix Author: Khalida Anouar Publication: Midilibre, June 10 2008 Country: Algeria
La résolution des conflits par la guerre et la violence menace actuellement toute l’humanité. Dans ce processus de paix qui prend forme, les médias doivent jouer un rôle capital . C’est dans ce cadre qu’une conférence internationale, le Premier Global Media Forum sur «le rôle des médias dans la résolution pacifique et la prévention des conflits», a été organisée récemment à Bonn par la Deutsche Welle, service international de diffusion de l’Allemagne. Tous les pays du monde prennent de plus en plus conscience que pour la reconstruction de la paix, il faut s’asseoir autour d’une même table et ouvrir un dialogue
loin de toutes les sensibilités qui peuvent faire fausse note. La résolution des conflits par la guerre et la violence menace actuellement toute l’humanité et il est temps de chercher une issue pacifique à toutes les rivalités. Dans ce processus de paix qui prend forme, les médias doivent jouer un rôle capital qui consiste à véhiculer ce message en toute objectivité et intégrité. C’est dans ce cadre qu’une conférence internationale, le Premier Global Media Forum sur «le rôle des médias dans la résolution pacifique et la prévention des conflits», a été organisée récemment à Bonn par la Deutsche Welle, service international de diffusion de l’Allemagne (radio, télévision, internet). Plus de 900 invités, des personnalités politiques et d’éminents représentants des médias, de la culture, de la recherche, de l’économie et de la corporation pour le développement ainsi que le représentant de la diplomatie allemande, ont participé à cette conférence, financée à hauteur de 500.000 euros par le ministère fédéral des Affaires étrangères. Durant trois jours, les participants venus du monde entier ont discuté de la situation des pays en conflits et débattu des moyens à mettre en place pour instaurer la paix en donnant le premier rôle aux médias dans ce processus. L’invitée d’honneur de cette rencontre a été Mme Shirin Ebadi, prix Nobel de la paix en Iran. En prenant la parole au premier jour de la conférence, Mme Ebadi revient sur la situation des droits de l’Homme dans le monde et dans son pays également. Difficile de construire une démocratie en l’absence d’une liberté d’opinions et tant que la dictature persiste dans certains pays. A voir comment la présence des Américains est justifiée en Irak et à voir les guerres éclatées dans le Moyen-Orient et comment les écrivains et journalistes sont emprisonnés pour leurs écrits, un long chemin reste à faire. Cette femme de droit et enseignante à l’université de Téhéran est convaincue du rôle que peuvent jouer les médias dans la construction de la paix et la prévention des conflits. Elle relève que toute initiative de créativité et d’innovation est détruite dans son pays du fait que pour chaque publication, il faut une autorisation du gouvernement. Il faut un permis pour publier un livre. Chaque chose dépend des idéologies des personnes. Le directeur général de Deutsche Welle, M. Erik Bettermann, a focalisé son intervention sur le rôle décisif des médias pour relever ce défi dans un monde devenu un village global.
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«Tous les leaders dans les différents domaines, politique, culturel, économique et scientifique ainsi que dans le domaine du développement, sont réunis pour le même objectif : trouver des solutions de paix pour relever ce défi. Le plus important est de décrire un conflit et l’éviter par la suite.» Quant au représentant du ministère fédéral des Affaires de l’Europe et des Médias du Land du RhinWestfalie du Nord, M. Andreas Krautscheid, il a affirmé qu’il est impossible d’imaginer le monde d’aujourd’hui sans les médias électroniques qui sont en mesure de refléter l’image de ce monde au même moment. Soulignant le rôle important des médias, M. Andeas estime qu’«ils sont irremplaçables pour chaque société. C’est un moyen de communication et aussi des faiseurs d’opinions d’où leur rôle dans la prévention des conflits». Après ces interventions, le débat était ouvert dans la salle du Palais des congrès de Bonn où s’est déroulé le Global Media Forum. Entre les communications des intervenants des différents pays de l’Afrique, de l’Asie, de l’Europe et des Etats-Unis et les commentaires des participants, c’est une confrontation entre la théorie et la réalité. Il est évident que ce qu’ont vécu et vivent actuellement les pays d’Afrique tels que le Darfour au Soudan, le Congo, le Nigéria, le Niger et la Guinée et le Tchad ainsi que les pays du Moyen-Orient, la Palestine, l’Irak et le Liban laissent peu d’espoir à la paix. Les intervenants des différents pays ne voient pas d’issue pour l’instant au rythme où se déroulent les évènements. Le processus de paix reste théorique en l’absence d’une stratégie globale et d’une collaboration massive de toutes les forces actives de la société et notamment des médias. Le Global Forum Média s’est voulu le premier noyau précurseur d’un tel projet. Reste à définir comment instaurer la paix et prévoir les conflits en prenant comme partenaire les médias. Les visions ne sont pas encore claires sur ce point du fait que les journalistes, commentent les intervenants, ont besoin d’outils pour pouvoir transmettre ce message. Pour que les médias jouent bien leur rôle, il faut un journalisme de qualité et le journalisme de qualité n’est réalisable qu’avec de bons journalistes, bien formés et intègres. Professionnaliser le métier de journaliste, améliorer leurs conditions de vie, c’est ce qu’ont plaidé les représentants des médias africains. Un intervenant dira dans ce cadre que «l’important pour les pays africains est la paix et pour parvenir à cette paix, il
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faut mettre fin aux médias de la haine tout en garantissant la liberté de la presse». Evoquant le problème palestinien, un journaliste palestinien souligne que «la communauté internationale est silencieuse vis à vis de tout ce qui se passe en Palestine». Comment donc, s’interrogent certains journalistes arabes et africains, accomplir le travail de journaliste lorsque dire la vérité devient un crime ? Les médias peuvent avoir le rôle d’informer sur les injustices, la pauvreté, sur le développement et la bonne gouvernance, cependant, dans la prévention des conflits, beaucoup reste à faire, estiment les participants. Intervenant dans l’atelier sur «les richesses, conflits et rôle des médias», l’ambassadeur du groupe international de coordination des ressources, M. Bethuel Kiplagat, a souligné que «durant les élections en Ouganda, il était clair que les médias devaient jouer un rôle crucial. La seule solution pour sensibiliser les journalistes sur l’importance de cet évènement était de les rencontrer et discuter avec eux sur le sujet. J’ai dû donc inviter toute la presse durant plusieurs jours pour qu’ils véhiculent un message de paix durant ces élections et cette initiative a donné un résultat. Nous voulons pour l’Afrique un changement positif. Le conflit du Soudan a affecté tous les pays africains». Le représentant des programmes de la chaîne El Djazeera, M.Aref Hijjawi, dira, pour sa part, que «pour instaurer la paix, il faut beaucoup de volonté. Les médias ont un rôle à jouer tout en étant aussi neutres que possible». Le débat s’est focalisé au 2e jour de la rencontre sur le phénomène du terrorisme et les terroristes en line. Les groupes terroristes ont trouvé dans l’internet un moyen d’influencer l’opinion internationale avec des images qu’ils produisent eux-mêmes. Comment donc faire barrage à ce phénomène qui use d’une nouvelle technologie de communication ? Ammar Bakkar, le rédacteur en chef de «El Arabya.net» et responsable New Media de MBC, commente sur ce point en disant que «le terrorisme a été gonflé à force de parler de lui. Il est temps de renverser l’équation et utiliser le net pour le discréditer. Cette force du terrorisme doit être supprimée». Le Global Media Forum de la Deutsche Welle est désormais un évènement qui se tiendra chaque année à Bonn pour évaluer l’évolution de la paix dans le monde.
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UN peacekeepers must deploy in Somalia: ex-envoy Author: Bogonko Bosire Publication: AFP Nairobi, June 3 2008 Country: Kenya
The United Nations must urgently send peacekeepers to Somalia and enforce a ceasefire if lasting peace is to be restored in the shattered African nation, a former mediator said on Tuesday. As Somali Islamist and government delegates continue with peace talks in neighbouring Djibouti, former Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) mediator Bethuel Kiplagat said an urgent ceasefire was need in Mogadishu. “What is needed now is UN peacekeepers to deploy in full force urgently and enforce a ceasefire in Mogadishu. There can be no successful peace talks if there is no truce in that city,” Kiplagat told AFP in Bonn, attending a conference on the media role in peacebuilding and conflict resolution. Kiplagat urged the UN to keep pushing with the talks even though some Islamist militants have boycotted the negotiations until Ethiopian troops – deployed late 2006 to bolster President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed – withdraw. “Those Islamists who are boycotting the talks are actually isolating themselves before the eyes of their own people. The more they ignore the talks, the more they isolate themselves,” he added. Kiplagat said the urgent deployment of the UN peacekeepers could pave the way for the pullout of Ethiopian troops, whose presence in Somalia has spurred resentment among Somalis, who accuse them of occupation. “Ethiopian forces should not leave Mogadishu unless there is a strong UN force. We cannot afford a vacuum there,” said the envoy, who chaired two years of IGAD peace talks in Kenya that resulted to election of Yusuf as president in October 2004.
IGAD is six-nation east African group that promotes peace and development. “We need a peacekeeping force in Somalia to start relief operations lest people will continue suffering.” More than two million Somalians are in need of relief supplies and the UN warns that figure could climb to 3.5 million people in the face of rising food prices and record high inflation in Somalia. The Djibouti talks are being held amid relentless clashes between the Ethiopia-backed Somali forces and Islamist fighters that have raged over the past year and killed at least 6,000 civilians, according to rights groups and aid agencies. A UN Security Council mission visited the talks on Monday in a gesture aimed at boosting fresh talks on the first leg of their 10-day tour of Africa’s trouble spots. Somalia slid into factional fighting in 1991 after the ouster of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre was toppled. Numerous UN-backed efforts to restore stability in the nation of up to 10 million have since failed. Since then, many ceasefire agreements have failed. A joint UN-US peacekeeping forces withdrew from Somalia between 1993 and 1995 after a humanitarian intervention failed, pitting the local militia against the peacekeepers. Since then, Washington and the world body have been reluctant to commit peacekeepers. Currently, the African Union has deployed some 2,500 peacekeepers in Mogadishu – less than the pledged 8,000 troops – and have failed to restore stability in the seaside capital.
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Nobel laureate Ebadi calls for dialogue to save Zimbabwe
Ebadi, who has frequently fallen foul of the authorities in Iran, urged journalists to keep pressing for democracy and a free press in their country, saying: “Freedom has its own value, you should not fear going to prison for the sake of it.”
Author: Bogonko Bosire Publication: AFP Nairobi, June 2 2008 Country: Kenya
When telling the truth becomes a crime – The Zimbabwe case
Iran’s Nobel Peace Laureate Shirin Ebadi on Monday urged Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe and opposition chief Morgan Tsvangirai to talk ahead of this month’s presidential re-run in order to save the troubled African nation. Ebadi told journalists attending the Media in Peacekeeping and Conflict Prevention conference in Bonn that democracy had been severely curtailed in Zimbabwe. “Those two politicians must dialogue to each other in order to save democracy there,” Ebadi told reporters on the sidelines of the conference. She warned Mugabe to drop his hardline position, warning him that “He should see what has happened to other dictators ...” Zimbabwe authorities barred most foreign news organisations from covering the joint presidential and parliamentary elections on March 29 and warned they would deal severely with journalists who sneaked into the country. However, a number of news organisations such as BBC, CNN, Sky News have been filing reports from Zimbabwe using undercover journalists. Mugabe’s government passed a law on the eve of the last presidential election in 2002 – widely believed to have been rigged – which has been invoked to expel foreign correspondents and shut down at least four independent newspapers. “The main factor for considering democracy in a country is to look at freedom of press,” Ebadi said. “You should see how many journalists are in prison in Zimbabe to know that there is no democracy in that country.”
Author: Joyce Joan Wangui Publication: AfricaNews, June 15 2008 Country: Kenya
Today, the media is faced with a myriad of challenges in trying to shape up the tenets of democracy particularly in post-conflict and war-ton countries. Journalists are often caught between the battle lines as they try to tell the truth. Despite the signing of the Warsaw pact that paved way for the transformation from dictatorship to democracy and the dissolution of state media monopolies to private press, the media today, particularly in developing countries, is faced with completely new challenges. In Zimbabwe, the media fraternity operates on a ‘land mine’ as the environment for journalists keeps getting hostile by the day. The Zimbabwe government displays an openly hostile attitude toward media freedom and a draconian legislative framework that continues to effectively inhibit the activities of journalists and media outlets. Print, electronic and online journalists particularly from the independent media have born the heaviest brunt of media repression under the ghastly regime of Dictator Robert Mugabe. Photojournalists have not been spared either as they too risk their lives wherever they try to carry on their work. Everyday presents new challenges for journalists as they struggle to report the truth of the current scenario in Zimbabwe; they do it on their own risk. Most have DEUTSCHE WELLE GLOBAL MEDIA FORUM 2008
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succumbed to police brutality and the lucky ones flee the country and operate as ‘refugee’ journalists, reporting from the outskirts of the country. One, Boldwill Hungwe, a Zimbabwe photojournalist working for the privately owned newspaper “The Standard” has since fled into hiding fearing police brutality. The award winning photo journalist is currently in Germany where he compiles his photos and reports about Zimbabwe. “I fled Zimbabwe temporarily in 2007 after being ordered by police to turn myself in for taking pictures of a media lawyer who was abducted and tortured during interrogation,” said Hungwe while addressing a recent media forum in Bonn. The photograph in question depicts media lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa showing her buttocks and arms that were bruised in an alleged assault by police. The photo that appeared on the front page of The Standard newspaper infuriated the police who immediately telephoned Hungwe saying that the photo was obscene and it violated the Public Order and Security Act and the Censorship and Entertainment Control Act. According to Hungwe, the assaulted lawyer sustained major bruises after being assaulted by police for leading lawyers in a demonstration against the harassment and illegal arrest of fellow lawyers. “I took that obscene photo in the full knowledge that the police and the government at large would not take it kindly. I had to tell the story. Zimbabweans and the international community need to know the magnitude of police brutality against lawyers in the country,” said an irate Hungwe. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has questioned Mugabe’s government for what it terms as ‘a pattern of media repression’ that has a chilling effect on journalists. Gabriel Baglo, director of the IFJ’s Africa office castigates Mugabe and his cronies for violating the freedom of expression in Zimbabwe: “Violent attacks on journalists and other media workers are having a chilling effect on journalists who try to do their work. The numerous police intimidation on such journalists will continue to muzzle the press freedom in Zimbabwe.”
Hungwe, the award winner of the coveted World Press Photo contest 2008, tells in his pictures what it means to wage a daily struggle not only for food and energy but for justice and the freedom of expression and proves that the truth still has a voice even in a repressive regime. In another photo, Hungwe captures the police throwing teargas canisters to peaceful demonstrators in Harare. Children are seen scattering in all directions and crying for their mothers while the older ones flee for their own safety. “My photos aim to tell the truth as it is. When I photograph a depressed old woman clutching a note of 500,000 Zimbabwe dollars and not knowing what to do with the money tells a lot. Hungwe adds, “I get a chill down my spine if I think about the abduction and murder of former ZBH cameraman, Edward Chikomba, the torture of Gift Phiri of The Zimbabwean. Former Daily News journalist Luke Tamborinyoka was also tortured and is still detained since March. Given that scenario I fear for my life.” The harassment of journalists is part of the state’s crusade to harass the country’s independent media. “First, it was leaders of the opposition and civic society; then their supporters and the lawyers who defended them. Now they are coming for the messengers who carry images of their excesses to the wider domestic and international public,” adds Hungwe. He says that the police’ intention is to scare journalists us away from covering their (police) acts of naked brutality. Itai Mushekwe, former political reporter of the Zimbabwe Independent is a troubled journalist. He fled Zimbabwe last year after numerous threats from the police. Speaking from his new home in Cologne, Germany, Mushekwe is confident that Zimbabwe journalists are ‘professional’ and most of them will do everything to ensure the truth is told. “Whether Mugabe continues to put an iron claw on journalists, we will continue to tell the truth in black in white. Most of us have been harassed and beaten mercilessly for reporting the truth as it is,” says Mushekwe adding that telling the truth in Zimbabwe is viewed as a crime by those who curtail press freedom.
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Mushekwe appeals to the international media to use their muscle power and reveal the truth about Zimbabwe. Whether they report from inside Zimbabwe or from the peripheries, the truth needs to be told, otherwise Zimbabwe is headed for disaster, says Mushekwe. However all is not gloom for Zimbabwe journalists. Foster Dongozi, the Secretary General of the Zimbabwe Union of Journalists told the recent media forum in Germany that an independent voluntary media council is underway in Zimbabwe. “We are in the process of establishing a voluntary media council parallel to the one owned by the state. It will have both local and international backing and will protect journalists from intimidation and arrests.” Dongozi, a veteran journalist based in Zimbabwe says that there is a bright side of Zimbabwe that needs to be told. “Both local and international audience has been treated to gruesome stories in Zimbabwe but we want to tell you that there is a bright side of our country. Zimbabweans are hard working and very resilient people despite all the hurdles they face. We need to show the world (through our reporting) that they should not look down on Zimbabwe because of mistakes of a few.” As much as international media has reported about Zimbabwe without fear, most credit goes to the local journalists, according to Dongozi who, despite threats, have managed to tell the Zimbabwe story.
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Professionalism in media can tame conflicts Author: Joyce Joan Wangui Publication: AfricaNews, June 6 2008 Country: Kenya
The media needs to observe high professionalism standards that will pave way for balanced news that carries the truth to the public. Training of professional journalists should be a prerequisite in the media companies if the truth is to be told. A three day Global Media Forum organised by Deutsche Welle, German’s international broadcaster in Bonn, Germany has cited lack of media professionalism in many Africa countries as one of the major causes of imbalanced news that act as catalysts of conflicts. In Africa for instance, journalists are often caught between the battle lines for the truth to survive. Many are the times when journalists are bound by ‘restricted company ethics’ that prevent them from disseminating the truth to the public. Delegates are discussing the role of media in conflicts and ways to promote peace through dialogue. Middle East correspondents attending the forum said the quest for accuracy in reporting from conflict zones was often hampered by restrictions on access to information. Journalists working for state-owned media find themselves between a rock and a hard place as they are caught between acting as mouth pieces for their governments and telling the truth. In one of the plenary sessions that covered the topic, ‘How can the truth survive when many African journalists are caught between the battle lines?’ delegates discussed the role of both state-owned and independent media in bringing out the truth to the public.
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In this regard the role of independent media is vital in uncovering the ills and wrongs of politicians and exposing them to the public. The radio remains the number one medium of news in many African countries. But too often these vital broadcasts are dominated by state media or other interest groups with political objectives. Rose Kimotho, the Managing Director of a venacular radio station in Kenya-Kameme FM said that in as much as venacular stations play a role in educating the public as well as building co-existence among various ethnic groups, many are the times such stations are manipulated by politicians to serve their own interests. “In Kenya, we have seen the mushrooming of venacular radio stations that have many folds. Some genuinly educate the public in different capacities like health, education, civic rights, HIV/Aids among others while a section of others act as ‘Hate Media’. Kimotho added that in the run up to the Kenya’s disputed Presidential elections last year, many politicians mis-used some venacular stations to spread hate campaigns against some ethnic groups. “During this time, news rooms were split down the middle. Journalists were either reporting the truth or under reporting it. Some used hate propaganda that incitied their audience to go out and kill their enemies.” In DRC, the story is different. Politicians are often afraid of independent media and as such, they muzzle the press freedom. The Chairperson of the Indepenent Electoral Commission in DRC, Apolloniare Malu Malu said that local journalists are under permanent threats from the government. “In DRC, we have very few investigative reporters as they fear being jailed. When they report on cases such as corruption, human rights abuses, war crimes, they do it at their own risk because they will eventually be jailed.” Malu Malu continues that in DRC, media professionalism is not a priority to many journalists or their employers. They are more concerned about having a news aired or published. Many have complained to the few Media councils about lack of press freedom but their pleas have gone unasnwered.
Zimbabwe presents a basket case as far as media freedom is concerned. The government of dictator Robert Mugabe has perfected the art of forming draconian laws that muzzle the press. “Our government has an ‘Iron claw’ on media houses in Zimbabwe. Its in control of 90% of what is broadcasted or printed,” said Itai Mushekwe, former political reporter of the Zimbabwe Independent Mushekwe who currently lives in Cologne Germany fled Zimbabwe last year for fear of being jailed. He told delegates that that Zimbabwe is like a land mine for journalists. Most of them report on the peripheries in countries like Malawi, Botswana and South Africa. There are many professional journalists in Zimbabwe who risk being jailed or killed for reporting the truth. In Zimbabwe, its more the question of ‘professionalism’ and exposing the truth, which is most cases get muzzled by the government. Delegates unonimously agreed to prevent hate media and instead uphold the highest standards of journalism. During the Rwanda’s 1994 genocide, extremist radio broadcaster HTML served to fan the flames of hatred in the country, leading to an unprecedented bloddbath of close to a million people. However the Director General of Deutsche Welle Erik Bettermann offers a glimmer of hope for ‘curtailed’ journalists. “DW will continue training African and other journalists in different fronts and impart them with skills that they can later transfer in their mother countries.
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Deutsche Welle and peace building Author: Joyce Joan Wangui Publication: AfricaNews, May 13 2008 Country: Kenya
Germany’s biggest media house, Deutsche Welle will hold a Global Media Forum from June 2-4, to deliberate on the role of the media in peace building and conflict prevention. The forum will take place in Bonn’s new World Conference Center, the former assembly hall for the German government. It is expected to bring together a unique mix of international delegates that include media representatives from around the world, high-profile experts of inter-governmental and NGO’s, politicians, artists, entrepreneurs and scientists. Today, the media is faced with a myriad of challenges in trying to shape up the tenets of democracy particularly in post-conflict countries. Despite the signing of the Warsaw pact that paved way for the transformation from dictatorship to democracy and the dissolution of state media monopolies to private press, the media today, particularly in developing countries, is faced with completely new challenges. The forum will thus examine how the media should undertake steps that are in-line with peace buildings and not shaking the already rocky peace in order to achieve hasty success. In Africa, journalists are often caught between a rock and a hard place, particularly when democracy in their countries is at stake. A case for instance is the clumping down of independent media in countries like Guinea-Bissau, Zimbabwe and Niger, during times of conflicts. The Pre-concept paper of the forum already highlights the main topics of discussions. In one of the topics that will be the epicenter of the inaugural plenary sessions, participants will evaluate crisis prevention via media intervention.
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Hardly anything is as globalized as the media; the number of radio and TV broadcasters as well as the internet with global reach is growing constantly. Participants will evaluate how the international media and the internet can foster understanding and strengthen tolerance in conflict prone countries. However the same media via worldwide information exchange also gives populists, fanatics and terrorists a platform. Their threats and attacks win them global attention. The “new wars” of the recent past deftly use the Internet and the media to their ends. Thus the international media must put forward the issue of “responsibility”. How can they contribute to a dialogue of values? What should their strategy consist of in the short- and long-term? How can effective evaluation procedures be implemented? How can the truth survive? Participants will look into answers of this million dollar question that continue to boggle many a journalists’ minds. Many countries are trying to pick up the pieces after decades of war and with an illiterate population and intermittent electricity and internet access; radio remains the number one medium for news and information. The 1994 Rwandan genocide that claimed close to a million lives was partly fuelled by the then media. The extremist radio station HTML preached hatred that largely instigated the genocide. The DW forum will thus examine the role of independent media in objective reporting of news. Role of training
Good journalism demands good journalists. If one lacks the craft skills, one can’t produce quality. If you know nothing about journalistic ethics, you’re not up to the media’s democratization task. Against this background, delegates will discuss journalistic qualities and how they become crucial in post-conflict states. Reliable information and thoroughly researched output can save lives. Yet especially in these countries the standard of training of journalists and technicians are DEUTSCHE WELLE GLOBAL MEDIA FORUM 2008
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usually appalling. Many media workers were forced for years unquestioningly to toe the lines laid down by the one or other warring party, local potentate or tyrant. Hence journalistic training has to be one of the core activities of media promotion in the transformation phase. To this, the forum will also look at how it can be ensured that the outcomes of courses and seminars are fruitful in the long term. Participants will also have the opportunity to tour the DW television and radio newsrooms, as part of the forum events.
VOA chief calls for protection of journalists Newsmen want to be more professional but lack access to high quality training Author: Henry Owuor Publication: NATION Country: Kenya
Media outlets in developing countries have been urged to put in place an environment that protects journalists and allows them easy access to information. Speaking at a seminar in Bonn, Germany, Voice of America Director Danforth Austin challenged governments to promote better and more responsible use of the media. He noted that major international broadcasters can promote the best practices of journalism worldwide. “Journalists across the world often want to be better and more professional but lack of established traditions, shortage of formal training opportunities and lack of resources often stand on their way,” he said in a speech delivered at the Deutsche Welle Global Media Forum in Germany former parliament chambers in Bonn.
As aggressive as possible He added: “We need to be as aggressive as possible in spreading these values to journalists in developing countries and to render assistance in developing the best media regulatory climate possible which is the least regulation possible.” By bringing foreign journalists to their headquarters or conducting training in the journalists’ home countries, noted the VOA chief, international broadcasters can make substantial contributions to promoting responsibility in media. Mr Austin also reiterated the importance of governments to be transparent in their activities so that journalists can easily access needed information. He said that as the media fraternity encourages responsibility in business, they must demand access, accountability and transparency in government as the two go hand in hand. He reminded participants that credibility with audience was the key and the most powerful tool they have while urging scribes to report accurately and fairly. This, he said, will enable people to reach their own decisions. “If we draw the line between honest, fair reporting, analysis and influence operations, we show the world what it means to be responsible. We also give the people of the world, who often know propaganda when they see it, a clear choice of whom to believe, and whom to ignore or reject.” The VOA chief who joined the giant media outlet in 2006 after a sojourn in private sector, expressed his concern on the way some media outlets like the Internet and other digital platforms are being misused, encouraging international broadcasters to be more responsible and be harmless to society. He noted that unlike the days of short wave radio broadcasts when the masses were deprived of information, technology now makes it possible for almost anyone with inexpensive software and hardware to become an international broadcaster or publisher.
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Role of Media in peace building and prevention of conflict Author: Hamed Thabet Publication: Yemen Times Country: Yemen
More than 900 Guests from 100 Countries participated in a conference in the German city of Bonn from June 2nd to 4th to discuss the role of the media in peace building and conflict prevention at the Deutsche Welle [DW] Global Media Forum. “With this regularly-scheduled event, we are bringing together the expertise of a globally-networked media organization to create a platform for intercultural exchange between the stakeholders in globalization,” said Erik Bettermann, the Director General of DW. Bonn, a United Nations city, is “ideal for this ambitious event because of the city’s excellent infrastructure,” said Bettermann. “The World Conference Center offers the perfect atmosphere and for three days will be transformed into a ‘think tank’ for media professionals from around the world.” “Media representatives from around the world – including many of our partners – will have the opportunity to connect with decision makers from politics, culture, business, international development and science to develop interdisciplinary solutions for the many globalization challenges in which media plays a deciding role,” said Bettermann. According to the head of Germany’s international broadcasting company, these include peace building, conflict prevention, governance and human rights, civil society and conveying values, education and development. “The world in general and especially the third world needs to improve and develop its media system, main channels and ways to reach that point of a real democratic
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system that at present just exists only in name and not in action,” said Shirin Ebadi, the Iranian winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, who also participated in the conference. Participants and photographers came from all over but Africa, which has the most poverty, the most repressed media and the most conflict in the world, was particularly well-represented. According to international estimations, there are 300,000 child soldiers worldwide, many of them in Africa. They are being recruited for both regular armed forces and rebel groups and forced into combat. In many conflicts, child soldiers are a constant component of the military infrastructure. An important milestone in the fight against children in combat is the additional protocol to the United Nations’ (UN) Children’s Rights Convention, in which the signing nations agreed not to recruit anyone under the age of 18. Equally important is the International Criminal Court in Denmark. “We need more supranational efforts, new incentives and good ideas,” said Bettermann, who added that he thought many media conventions in Germany have turned into a “travelling media circus.” “I still stand behind the statement. The media conventions here in Germany usually have a regional or national focus and discuss programming and technical issues as the business and politics of media. These types of conventions have their place and Deutsche Welle takes part in some of them. But a national preoccupation in a globalized age is anachronistic. Each year, the same people are there, both at the podium and in the audience,” Bettermann said. Bettermann added, “There’s a danger of oversaturation. I am convinced that we need to broaden our horizons. The Deutsche Welle Global Media Forum is a step in that direction. It’s a media convention in Germany with an international focus and an interdisciplinary approach.” “There’s yet another aspect: Germany’s President Horst Koehler said in an interview with DW-TV that Germany had not sufficiently identified its position in the globalized world. The Deutsche Welle Global Media Forum can make a contribution to this discussion. DEUTSCHE WELLE GLOBAL MEDIA FORUM 2008
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We want to more concretely define Germany’s role in globalization as a nation with a European cultural heritage,” he added. To help define this role, DW-TV launched a program in the local languages of Dari and Pashto and provides the German national broadcasters with world news. DWAKADEMIE trains Afghan journalists and has assumed the lead role in an EU project to help modernise Afghan partner broadcasters. “Conflict prevention is a large part of the line-up we have produced together with our partner stations in Africa and Asia,” said Bettermann. “These are all measures that strengthen civil society and prevent conflicts. The scope becomes clear when we remember that two thirds of the world’s population lives in countries without free press.” Deutsche Welle complained about insufficient funding that has jeopardized its core business. “Due to globalisation and digitalisation, rapidly changing and growing competition in the global media market, Deutsche Welle’s tasks are constantly expanding. At the same time, are constantly confronted with new challenges in German and international politics – just look at Afghanistan and Iraq. There’s a gap between expectations and requirements on the one hand and funding on the other. Germany’s media presence must be increased if our country’s standing in the world is to be strengthened. Awareness for this is missing in our country and this needs to change,” according to Betterman. He added, “Co-sponsorship from the Foundation for International Dialogue of the Savings Bank in Bonn and further support from the German Foreign Office, the government of North Rhine Westphalia, DHL and the city of Bonn shows that we are on the right track with our agenda for the Deutsche Welle Global Media Forum. We have also attracted the support of numerous other partners, including the German Society for Technical Cooperation (GTZ), InWEnt and the Konrad Adenauer Foundation. Our financial participation is a good investment in our statutory mandate.”
Global media forum discusses peace journalism Author: Anaclet Rwegayura Publication: PANA, June 2 2008 Country: Ethiopia
Journalists working in less industrialised and non-industrial countries face thousands of problems and need support to ensure their voice is heard by the people, Iranian lawyer and Nobel Peace Laureate Shirin Ebadi said here Monday. “Journalists are the spokespersons of victims of human rights,” Ebadi said in keynote address at the opening of the first Global Media Forum that is discussing the role of the media in peace building and conflict prevention. As the voice of persons whose human rights were disregarded or violated, she said journalists in many developing countries were subjected to torture by undemocratic regimes. “Freedom of ideology, faith and expression is one of the fundamental rights of human beings as a first step to democracy,” said Ebadi, stressing that the most important instrument for human survival is freedom of expression. Hosted by Deutsche Welle and supported by the Federal Foreign Office of Germany, UN agencies and a number of international non-governmental agencies, the three-day gathering of over 1,000 journalists, academics, culture and representatives of development aid focuses on peace journalism as a way to strengthen democracy and the rule of law and promote human rights. On this, Germany’s Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, said that journalists carried a great responsibility “to defend their professional integrity and provide full and reliable information to as many people as possible in a daily challenge – and one which in many countries may cost them life and limb.”
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“One crucial factor, however, in the creation of a strong civil society is unrestricted access to uncensored information,” the minister added. However, access to information is still a far-off dream to millions of people in poor countries, where the Internet and electronic media are yet to be developed. For the poor societies, media is not something irreplaceable as the industrialised societies would say but invisible and unheard of. It is estimated that two-thirds of the world population live in countries where free press does not exist. In developing countries where the media has become vibrant, Ebadi cautioned journalists to avoid issues that would justify clashes of civilisations. “We should remain vigilant and ensure that publication of reports is done in a correct way that it would not be exploited by war-mongers. Unfortunately, very few media pay attention to this,” she said. According to the Forum organisers, the international media and the Internet can foster understanding and strengthen tolerance in society in order to avert conflict. But by the same token, the global information exchange gives populists, fanatics and terrorists a platform as their threats and attacks win them global attention. “We need to create awareness in the media and the civil society as well should have awareness of the role of the media in conflict prevention and peace building,” said Erik Bettermann, Director-General of Deutsche Welle, noting that the effects of conflict were usually not limited to one country but had a transnational nature. He said the human side of recent conflicts in Rwanda and Bosnia, for instance, created new attitudes towards peace building, whereby dialogue becomes an important factor to avoid conflict escalation.
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Good journalism can avert conflicts in Africa Author: Anaclet Rwegayura Publication: PANA, June 3 2008 Country: XXXX
In Africa, a continent where journalists are often caught between the battle lines, there is a lot of legislative ground to cover for the people to be provided with credible news and information. according to participants at the first Global Media Forum underway here. They said African populations in areas of conflict as well as those under dictatorial regimes count on the media to provide them with the right information. Fulfilling this task, however, has not been an easy experience for many in today’s media-saturated world. Every party to a conflict, for instance, regards the media as part of its arsenal. Mediators, human rights activists and peace keepers finding their resources constrained want the media on their side, just like victims of conflict in their struggle for basic needs of survival, justice and freedom of expression. Emerging from the ashes of war, many African countries are trying to build foundations for a free, democratic and promising future. The bottom line is that good journalism is the only effective machinery to turn such situations around. But good journalism needs good journalists. That is, however, one side of the coin. Budding African journalists need training and retraining to gain the necessary tacks for the mission they are embarking on. Journalists and their audience as well need to be equipped. Still with a high illiterate population, unreliable electricity supply in most of the countries, and DEUTSCHE WELLE GLOBAL MEDIA FORUM 2008
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limited Internet access, radio remains the top medium for public information throughout the continent. On account of historical reasons, radio broadcasts in Africa have been dominated by governments, and only in recent years have private broadcasts come on the scene, even though they remain under the grip of interest groups and individuals with commercial and political objectives. In some countries, authorities, going by the old adage that ‘he who pays the piper calls the tune’, set rules that bind public radio stations to tow the line of the party in power. Balancing information is an essential element of news reporting, but experience on the scales in Africa shows that it is often difficult to hold on to that vital part. At this three-day gathering of media people, including representatives of development agencies as well as cultural and human rights activists, are discussing the role of the media in conflict prevention and peace-building. The world, from East to West, North to South, has for too long been torn apart and ravaged by conflict. Despite the desire for peace that exists in every hot spot, the power of local and international media to contribute to conflict prevention is often recognised too late. During the political turmoils in countries such as Liberia, Sierra Leone, DR Congo, Rwanda and, recently, Kenya, some politicians were reportedly using the media to foment hate and incite violence among the people by sending out messages in local vernaculars. ‘Go and cut the grass’ and ‘Go kill hyenas’ are some of the harmless ethnic proverbs in Kenya that carry a hidden meaning. When used as rallying cries at a time of public tension, these sayings could mean encouraging people to rape and kill others presumed to have turned enemies at that time. “Hate comes from ignorance and lack of exposure,” said Rose Kimotho, managing director of Kameme 101.1 FM radio station in Kenya, who emphasised that the best
way to prevent conflict and engage people in development of their societies is the use of vernacular-based community radio stations. “We need sanctions against hate media, but we also need to give a voice to the people,” said Father Apollinaire Muholongu Malumalu, a Catholic priest from DRC who is also president of the Independent Electoral Commission (CEI) of his country. Discussion about state muzzling the media quickly brings to the mind the southern African country of Zimbabwe, where several private newspapers and radio broadcasters have been shut down, leaving the government in control of almost 90 percent of what is published for the people’s eyes and ears. “We really cannot talk of independent media in Zimbabwe at present because of the draconian rule of President Robert Mugabe,” said Itai Mushegwe, former political reporter of ‘The Zimbabwe Independent’. “Zimbabwe now is like a landmine. People depend on foreign media to tell them what’s happening in their country. “Zimbabweans voted (April 2008) for change, but because of the iron claw that the government has on the media, the people’s voice was overturned by those illegally hold on to power. “Government expenditure is increasingly becoming state secret, undermining the rule of law and justice,” Mushegwe charged, and appealed to the international community to raise its voice against what is happening in the country. Truly, Zimbabwe is turning into an explosive situation, and with the local media gagged by the authorities, their international counterparts have the duty to tell the powers that be that freedom of the press in every country is a fundamental value of all nations. There is no media without agenda, but for African media, conflict prevention and peace building should be the top agenda for all, be they politically, commercially or entertainment inclined.
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Without peace, there will be no Africa as a continent on whose people can stand out with their heads high. This three-day Forum is hosted by Deutsche Welle with support of Germany’s Federal Foreign Office and several international development cooperation agencies, including the Committee for the Protection of Journalists (CPJ).
Bonn Hosts Media In Peacebuilding Author: Ajoa Yeboah-Afari Publication: Ghanaian Times, June 4 2008 Country: Ghana
‘Peace journalism’, a self-explanatory new concept in journalism is the central focus of the first Global Media Forum, organised by Deutsche Welle (DW), taking place here in Bonn, and Africa is one of the regions under the spotlight. That Africa has the dubious honour of having 19 of the world’s 25 conflict zones, many using child soldiers, is perhaps the reason why the forum brochure features a haunting picture of a young African boy holding an AK 47 gun with a determined look on his face.
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s tability without development and progress. And that will happen only if everyone has a share in their country’s political, social and economic development. “To achieve that we need strong and independent media. For they have a vital part to play in creating an environment that encourages peaceful give and take.” At a special panel session on Africa yesterday (Tuesday), the sub theme was ‘How can the truth survive? In Africa journalists are often caught between the battle lines’.Media practitioners from Sierra Leone, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Chad, Zimbabwe and Kenya spoke about their countries’ experience of conflict and how in their view the media can contribute to peacebuilding. A common thread running through their presentations was the need for the enactment of laws that promote freedom of expression as well as the repeal of restrictive laws. The importance of professionalism and training were also highlighted. On the issue of the important role of radio and the great potential for harm of vernacular radio, Ms Rose Kimotho, Managing Director of Kameme 101.1 FM, in Kenya, said although there are continuing calls for the banning of vernacular radio, “you can’t legislate against hate media.” The best antidote, she said, is to ensure different views being heard to counter harmful messages.
The Africa focus is also related to the ‘Aktion Afrika’ programme launched by the German Federal Government earlier this year to further develop its partnership with Africa.
Understandably, the issue of ‘hate media’ is attracting a lot of discussion at this forum, especially ideas on how to prevent its occurrence. On Monday, the forum heard an interesting proposal from Mr Jan Hoek, Director-General of Radio Netherlands Worldwide. Radio Netherlands is proposing the establishment of an independent media monitoring and research centre that would have “a strict mandate to act as an early warning system, for instance, of incitement to genocide.” Such a centre would develop an alert system to warn the international community about countries or regions where the international laws against the use of media for teh incitement of genocide are being broken.
And, in the words of Frank-Walter Steinmeier the Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs: “Foreign policy is peace policy. But there can be no lasting peace and
A lot of sobering discussions are taking place at the forum, a lot of new insights being acquired into how media practitioners can help build peace and prevent
The theme of the three-day conference that opened on Monday, is ‘Media in peacebuilding and conflict prevention’ and some one thousand journalists and experts in various fields from all over the world are here to, as Erik Betterman, the Director-General of DW, the Voice of Germany, put it, “develop solutions for globalisation challenges in which media plays a deciding role.”
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conflict. And given the numbers here and the variety of expertise, undoubtedly by this important DW initiative which ends tomorrow, many networks would have been formed to continue the discussions and linkages.
’n Storie tussen oorlog en vrede Author: Jannie Ferreira Publication: Die Burger, June 24 2008 Country: Republic of South Africa
Hoe oorleef die waarheid in konflikgebiede, waar joernaliste dikwels tussen strydende groepe vasgekeer sit? Hoe kan diemedia bydrae tot die vermindering van konflik en die ontwikkeling van vrede? Jannie Ferreira het ’n kongres van die Duitse uitsaaier DeutscheWelle hieroor in Bonn bygewoon. Vryheid van uitdrukking is die eerste stap na demokrasie. “Ons moenie vergeet talle diktators kom demokraties aan die bewind nie,” sê die Iraniër dr. Shirin Ebadi, een van die hoofsprekers. Sy is in 2003 met die Nobelprys vir vrede bekroon. Godsdienstige mense moet die reg hê om hul oortuigings uit te spreek. Die enigste verband waar dit beperk moet word, is as dit gebruik om geweld en oorlog aan te vuur. In Duitsland geld ’n verbod op die uitspreek van twyfel oor die Joodse volksmoord gedurende die Tweede Wêreldoorlog, want dit kan tot vergrype lei. Sensuur word soms openlik toegepas. In Iran moet toestemming van die ministerie van kultuur verkry word voordat enige boek gepubliseer mag word. Daar is geen kriteria nie. Alles hang af van die ideologie van die beoordelaar wat die boek moet lees. Dit lei dikwels tot selfsensuur. Daar is ’n verskeidenheid idees oor dieselfde onderwerp. Dit skep verwarring vir skrywers en uitgewers. Selfs met vertalings van beroemde werke word vertalers gedwing om sekere dele weg te laat. Sensuur in Iran is soms só ekstreem dat dit ’n mens verstom laat, sê Ebadi, wat haar referaat in Farsi
v oorgedra het. Luidens die perswette word kritiek teen die grondwet in die pers of in die openbare media verbied, en enigeen wat dit nie nakom nie, loop gevaar dat sy media-instansie verbied word. “Dit is die hartseerstorie van sensuur in Iran. Die regering van die Islamitiese Republiek Iran sal nie toestemming gee vir die uitgee van boeke teen die amptelike ideologie nie – sal nie boeke toelaat waarin nihilisme en sekularisme voorkom, of rolprente daaroor toelaat nie.” Ebadi sê die owerheid in Iran dink feminisme is ’n Westerse verskynsel en glo nie in gelykheid tussen mans en vroue nie. Iran filtreer vele webwerwe, en talle bloggers het al in die tronk beland omdat hulle leiers gekritiseer het. “Van die beste joernaliste en skrywers is tans in die tronk. Ek bring hulde aan hulle. Talle publikasies se lisensies is die afgelope drie jaar opgeskort. Selfs berigte oor hofsake word verbied. “ ’n Kliënt van my is deur die moraliteitspolisie in hegtenis geneem. Twee dae later is haar lyk aan haar familie oorhandig. Tronkamptenare beweer sy het selfmoord gepleeg. Dit klop nie met die getuienis tot ons beskikking nie,” het sy aan die oewer van die Ryn in Bonn se Wêreldkonferensiesentrum, voorheen setel van die Duitse parlement, gesê. Nog ’n vorm van sensuur in Iran is van koerante wat gemonopoliseer is deur ’n groot groep met ’n bepaalde ideologie, soos in Amerika. Dit is hoe inligting deur enkele mense gemonopoliseer word sonder enige literêre of artistieke kreatiwiteit. Die kapitaal van die grootste vyf korporasies in Amerika beloop $5 000 miljard, sê sy en noem die samesmelting van Time en Warner om TimeWarner te vorm, wat met AOL saamgesmelt het om ’n reuse-maatskappy te vorm. Mnr. David Astley, sekretaris-generaal van die Asië-Pasifiese Uitsaai-unie (APU), sê daar is wêreldwyd sowat 40 lande wat as “lande in konflik” geklassifiseer kan word. Hy het die belangrikheid van “objektiewe” verslaggewing in konfliksituasies benadruk ten einde gehore in staat te stel om die agtergrond van konflikte beter te verstaan, want dit is deur hierdie begrip te ontwikkel dat samelewings begryp dat “die oplossing van ’n konflik nie beteken een kant moet wen en die ander verloor nie”.
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“Objektiewe” verslaggewing is uiteraard ’n praktyk wat deur sommige denkskole in die joernalistiek as te idealisties beskou word weens die noodwendige selektering van feite weens ruimte- of tydsbeperkinge bymedia-instansies. Hiervolgens word dikwels meer klem op “billikheid” eerder as “objektiwiteit” gelê. Astley sê dat die media meer moet doen om die kulturele en strukturele oorsake van geweld te ontleed en dat die bevordering van vredesinisiatiewe, uit watter oord ook al, ’n geldige redaksionele verantwoordelikheid is. Hy het Mianmar uitgelig as voorbeeld van ’n Asiatiese land waar die meeste buitelandse joernaliste verbied word om verslag te doen. Om meer joernaliste oor konflikgebiede verslag te laat doen, beteken daar kan geleidelik gevorder word van blote beriggewing oor gebeure na die verskaffing van konteks en agtergrond. So kan standpunte daaroor verbreed en die dekking mensliker aangebied word. Dit beteken meer vredesjoernalistiek in plaas van oorlogsjoernalistiek. Laasgenoemde kom neer op strydende partye met wenners en verloorders, en daar word net op amptelike bronne staatgemaak. In vredesjoernalistiek word ’n wyer reeks bronne gebruik, ook na die proses gekyk en wegbeweeg van die vertrekpunt van wenners en verloorders. Astley sê hoewel baie media nog nie vredesjoernalistiek beoefen nie, het hy al heelwat voorbeelde daarvan teëgekom by DeutscheWelle, die BBC en Al Jazeera English. Hy verwys sinies na ’n akademikus se ingewikkelde omskrywing van vredesjoernalistiek as die “gebruik van konflikontledings en transformasie om persepsies van balans, billikheid en akkuraatheid in joernalistieke ingryping te hernieu”. Net soos die media ’n rol het in die voorkoming van MIV/vigs en die bereiking van die VN se Millennium-ontwikkelingsdoelwitte en klimaatsveranderingsdoelwitte, kan hulle ’n rol speel in konflikvoorkoming en vredesontwikkeling. Daar word egter in sekere joernalistieke geledere gefrons oor hierdie idee van joernalistiek wat tot vredesontwikkeling en konflikvoorkoming moet bydra. Astley verwys na “Engelssprekende lande” en ’n “Westerse perspektief ”.
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Volgens hierdie kritiek, onder meer van David Loyn, word van verslaggewers verwag om selektief te werk te gaan deur spesifiek die vredemakers kunsmatig uit te soek wanneer verslag gedoen word. “Nuus is wat gebeur, en ons moet dit met verbeelding en skeptisisme (waar van pas) aanbied. Ons hoef dit nie met ander eise te laai nie. En ons moet sekerlik nie vredemakers uitsoek nie, behalwe as hulle inderdaad suksesvol is.” Astley se reaksie hierop: “Ek moet sê, in Asië is die meeste joernaliste en redakteurs verbind tot vredesjoernalistiek, en nie om dit te verkleineer nie. Dit is waarskynlik omdat ons in ’n streek leef waar ons so baie konflikte ervaar.” “Daarom het ons uitsaai-unies soos die APUwat ’n rol het in die bevordering van vredesjoernalistiek. “Ons sal moontlik ’nmiddelgrond moet probeer vind, ten einde die skeptici onder ons te oortuig dat om verslag te doen op ’n wyse wat ’n bydrae lewer tot die identifisering van opsies vir vrede, nie noodwendig beteken die joernalistieke waardes van onpartydigheid word ingeboet nie. “As ons dit kan bereik, as ons redakteurs en joernaliste kan bereik wat die keuses moet maak oor watter stories om oor te berig en hoe om daaroor te berig, op so ’n wyse dat dit geleenthede vir hul gehore skep om geweldlose reaksies op konflik te oorweeg, dan moet ons in staat wees om daarop aanspraak te maak dat ons ’n sinvolle bydrae gelewer het tot die fasilitering van ’n positiewe en pro-aktiewe rol vir die media in konflikvoorkoming en vredesontwikkeling.” Bron: http://www.dw-world.de
Vrye uitdrukking in Zim doodgewurg Die regime van pres. Robert Mugabe toon ’n liefde vir die bisarre en die makabere deur mense te martel en huise af te brand. “Net ’n dier sal ’n ander mens se huis af brand,” het mnr. Foster Dongozi, sekretaris-generaal van die Zimbabwiese Unie van Joernaliste, in Bonn gesê op ’n seminaar oor Zimbabwe, as deel van Deutsche Welle se mediakongres oor vredesontwikkeling en die voorkoming van konflik DEUTSCHE WELLE GLOBAL MEDIA FORUM 2008
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Dongozi beskryf die situasie in Zimbabwe as ’n burgeroorlog met ’n lae intensiteit. Ondersteuners van Zanu-PF en die MDC veg teen mekaar. Hy rits die name af van media-instansies wat gesluit is. Dit is koerante soos die Daily News, Daily News on Sunday, Weekly News en Tribune, asook Capital Radio. Soos die Wet op Uitsaaidienste diegene verhoed wat gemeenskapsradiostasies wil bedryf, word joernaliste wetlik verbied om die internet te gebruik. Dongozi sê die Zimbabwiese regbank was tot 2000 “uiters onaf hanklik”. Toe is met ’n “suiwering” begin. Kamerade het by geleentheid op regters se tafels gedans om hulle te intimideer. Die gevolg was dat ’n proses begin is waarin die regbank toenemend met ondersteuners en simpatiseerders van Zanu-PF gelaai is. Sommige regters het plase gekry as beloning vir hul “lojaliteit” (nie aan die oppergesag van die reg nie, maar aan die regime). Dongozi wys daarop dat howe steeds sporadies verras met ’n onaf hanklike uitspraak. Dit is meestal egter “kosmetiese gebare” om die indruk van onaf hanklikheid te wek. “Baie regters werk nou saam met die regime,” sê hy. Hy beskryf Zimbabwe se internasionale posisionering só: “Nie-amptelik is ons ’n Chinese kolonie. Weens al die gevegte met ander moondhede het ons besluit om oos te kyk.” Volgens hom verkies die meeste Zimbabwiërs in Suid-Afrika om weens armoede en geweld nie na hul land terug te keer nie. “Soms is dit soos om uit ’n braaipan in die vuur te spring. Die kans op betaamlike oorlewing lyk nogtans beter in Suid-Afrika,” se Dongozi. “Waar die Zimbabwiese regering ’n verskroeideaarde-beleid het, het geweld teenoor buitelanders in Suid-Afrika uitgebreek.”
Médias na construção da paz e Prevenção de conflitos Author: J. Rodrigues Publication: Correio da semana, June 7 2008 Country: Saõ Tomé e Príncipe
Terminou esta quarta-feira em Bona, o fórum de três dias sobre o papel dos meios de comunicação social na construção da paz e prevenção de conflitos, organizado pela Deutsche Welle. O jornalismo em África foi um dos temas abordados no encontro que contou com a participação de mais de 850 profissionais e personalidades de diversos ramos de actividade.provenientes dos quatro cantos do mundo. “Como pode a verdade sobreviver? Os jornalistas africanos estão muitas vezes na linha da frente dos combates”, foi o subtema desenvolvido num painel com representantes de jornalistas e personalidades de alguns países , que trouxeram exemplos de situações vividas no Zimbabwe, Quénia, Sudão, Tchad e República Democrática do Congo. A pressão do poder, a problemática e a influência das línguas nacionais, a necessidade de formação para aprofundar o profissiona lismo foram alguns aspectos levantados e com aparticipação activa da assistência. “Como pode e deve a Europa prevenir conflitos”, o “Papel dos Média na prevenção de conflitos”, “O desenvolvimento económico, a estabilidade política e o papel dos média na Ásia”, “A percepção e os prejuízos no Médio-Oriente” e “Como usar a Televisão e a Rádio na construção da paz” foram alguns dos temas abordados na plenária. Durante os trabalhos realizaram-se também workshops e seminários sobre variados temas, como por exemplo, “Terroristas online”, “Recursos, conflitos e o papel dos média”, “Populismo e liberdade de imprensa”, “O pacto para a paz: pode os orgãos de comunicação populares contribuírem para a liberdade de opinião?”
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O director-geral da Deutsche Welle, ao discursar no encerramento considerou que o fórum foi um êxito, opinião partilhada por vários participantes. Na abertura, Erik Bettermann disse que no contexto actual, é fundamental, “em primeiro lugar sentarmos para no plano internacional discutirse sobre a prevenção do conflito e paz. Isso deve ultrapassar as fronteiras, ter em conta as culturas e as línguas de todas as partes e as diversas perspectivas. Na aldeia global, não devemos falar dos outros, mas falar uns com os outros”. Em segundo lugar, acrescentou Bettermann, esse debate é multidisciplinar. “Representantes dos organismos de Cooperação, da Política, da Economia, Investigação, da Cultura e dos Médias devem sentar-se a uma mesa para procurarem soluções. Estamos a trabalhar nisso com os demais.” Os participantes puderam igualmente ver uma exposição sobre “Crianças soldado” nos diversos pontos do planeta, nomeadamente África, Ásia e América Latina. A realização deste I fórum na Cidade da ONU, como Bona também é chamada, cuja organização levou dois anos, só foi possível com o apoio de múltiplos parceiros que a Deutsche Welle conseguiu envolver. Angola, Cabo-Verde, Moçambique e São Tomé e Príncipe fizeram -se representar no encontro. O II Fórum terá lugar no próximo ano, segundo anunciou o directorgeral da rádio internacional alemã e tratará de aspectos relacionados com a Globalização, as Novas Tecnologias e o Papel dos Média.
Dialog der Kulturen Deutsche Welle veranstaltete Global Media Forum Author: Brigitte Knott-Wolf Publication: Fernseh-Informationen 6/2008 Country: Germany
Presse- und Informationsfreiheit sind weltweit anerkannte Normen. Es gibt zahlreiche Resolutionen und völkerrechtlich verbindliche Vereinbarungen dazu. Aber es mangelt an ihrer Durchsetzung. Immer wieder – auch
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in Europa – kommt es zu Fehlverhalten der Medien, ebenso zu Versuchen, Journalisten zu machtpolitischen Zwecken zu instrumentalisieren. Das war der Ansatzpunkt für das „Global Media Forum“, eine internationale Medienkonferenz über „Media Peacebuilding and Conflict Prevention“, veranstaltet von der Deutschen Welle, mit rund 900 Teilnehmer aus 100 Ländern. Unter dem gleichen Thema hatte bereits im April 2007 in Bonn eine von der Deutschen Welle organisierte Konferenz mit über hundert Teilnehmern stattgefunden, die sich aus Vertretern von nationalen und übernationalen Regierungsorganisationen, Nichtregierungsorganisationen, internationalen Medienorganisationen und Sponsoren zusammensetzte. Sie waren zu dem Schluss gekommen, diesen Dialog über die Rolle der Medien bei Friedensstiftung und Konfliktprävention fortzusetzen und ein weltweites Netzwerk an Engagierten aufzubauen. Zuvor hatte die Deutsche Welle im März 2007 in New York ein Abkommen mit den Vereinten Nationen unterzeichnet, in dem vor dem Hintergrund der Globalisierung gemeinsame Aktivitäten verabredet wurden, mit einem besonderen besonderen Schwerpunkt auf den Programmaustausch mit Afrika. Strategiewechsel In dem vom deutschen Bundestag von 1992 bis 1999 als Parlament genutzten, noch immer vom Bundesadler geschmückten Plenarsaal, der heute Teil des „World Conference Center Bonn“ ist, eröffnete DW-Intendant Erik Bettermann den internationalen Erfahrungsaustausch. Er erinnerte an den dänischen Karikaturenstreit und wies darauf hin, dass es keine lokal begrenzten Medienkonflikte mehr gebe und diese auch nicht auf den publizistischen Bereich beschränkt blieben, sondern ebenso Auswirkungen auf Politik und Wirtschaft hätten. International und interdisziplinär solle über Konfliktprävention und Friedensstiftung diskutiert werden. Statt um „Peacekeeping“, einer auf Vermeiden neuer Konflikte ausgerichteten Strategie, wie sie bis in die späten neunziger Jahre verfolgt worden sei, ginge es heute mehr um „Peacebuilding“, um eine Strategie, die darauf ausgerichtet sei, vorhandene Konflikte durch Dialog und Verständigung aufzulösen und deren Eskalation auch langfristig zu vermeiden. Der – von einheimischen Radiosendern vehement unterstützte – Völkermord in DEUTSCHE WELLE GLOBAL MEDIA FORUM 2008
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Ruanda (1996) und der Bosnienkrieg hätten hier ein Umdenken eingeleitet. Mit diesem Strategiewechsel ist die Bedeutung der Deutschen Welle und anderer internationaler Medienunternehmen gestärkt worden. Bettermann nannte als Beispiel die Unterstützung der Deutschen Welle beim Auf bau afghanischer Medien und der Ausbildung afghanischer Journalisten. Der Minister für Bundesangelegenheiten, Europa und Medien des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen, Andreas Krautscheid, erinnerte in seiner Begrüßung an die derzeit bestehenden etwa 40 größeren militärischen Konflikte in der Welt, über die in den Medien zu berichten sei. Deshalb müsse der Ausbau demokratischer Medien gefördert werden. Der Minister verwies in diesem Zusammenhang auf den im Sommersemester 2009 startenden, auch von Nordrhein-Westfalen unterstützten neuen Masterstudiengang „Internationale Medien“ der DW-Akademie. Zensur und Selbstzensur Das Eröffnungsreferat hielt die iranische Anwältin Shirin Ebadi, die im Jahr 2003 für ihr Engagement den Friedensnobelpreis erhalten hatte. Sie forderte Meinungsfreiheit auch für Regierungsgegner und Minderheiten ein, die für ihre Veröffentlichungen nicht bestraft werden dürften. Eine berechtigte Einschränkung dieser Freiheit, die für sie ein Bestandteil der allgemeinen Menschenrechte ist, sieht sie nur dann gegeben, wenn es um Kriegstreiberei geht. So wandte sie sich gegen Versuche der Rechtfertigung von Krieg, gegen Theorien, die von einem Kampf der Kulturen ausgingen. Damit spielte sie nicht explizit nur auf den gleichnamigen amerikanischen Bestseller an, sondern auch auf die durch die Medien erfolgte Rechtfertigung der amerikanischen Intervention im Nahen Osten. Ein zweites Thema, das ihr in diesem Zusammenhang sehr wichtig war, ist das Problem der Zensur, der offiziellen Staatszensur wie auch der in einem restriktiven Meinungsklima erzeugten Selbstzensur, die künstlerische und journalistische Kreativität zerstöre. Sie erwähnte dabei ausdrücklich den Iran als einen der Staaten, in denen diese existiere. Dabei stünden die Kriterien und Bestimmungen, nach denen Veröffentlichungen erlaubt oder verboten würden, nicht genau
fest, so dass ihre Anwendung willkürlich wäre. Selbst bei erteilter Genehmigung zum Publizieren könne es daher vorkommen, dass beispielsweise Autoren oder auch Übersetzer bestraft würden. Diese „traurige Geschichte der Zensur im Iran“ habe es allerdings auch schon unter dem vorherigen Regime gegeben. Ebadi beklagte die pauschale Verunglimpfung von Nihilismus, Säkularismus und Feminismus im Iran, die als westliche Phänomene eingestuft würden. Aber sie kritisierte auch Zensur, wie es sie nach ihrer Meinung in westlichen Ländern gebe und die vor allem durch die Monopolisierung des Informationsmarktes zustande käme. Als Beispiel nannte sie die USA, wo die Meinungsmacht auf einige wenige Medienkonzerne zurückzuführen sei, die den Mainstream bestimmten. Und sie beklagte das Nord-Süd-Gef älle in der digitalen Welt, „die digitale Lücke zwischen Industrieländern und weniger entwickelten Ländern“. („50 Millionen Menschen weltweit haben noch nie ein Telefon gesehen.“). Die iranische Friedensnobelpreisträgerin beabsichtigt, wie sie auf einer Pressekonferenz am nächsten Tag erläuterte, im Juli einen „Nationalen Rat des Friedens“ auf zivilgesellschaftlicher Grundlage zu gründen, dessen Mitglieder sich aus gesellschaftlichen Gruppen wie Umweltbewegung, Gewerkschaften, Frauenverbänden, Studentenorganisationen zusammensetzen sollen. Medien für Menschenrechte Ein aktuelles Thema in diesem Zusammenhang ist derzeit China, ein Land mit rigoroser Pressezensur, in dem am 8. August die Olympischen Spiele eröffnet werden. Günter Nooke, Beauftragter der Bundesregierung für Menschenrechtspolitik und Humanitäre Hilfe, äußerste sich dazu in Bonn im Rahmen einer Pressekonferenz. Von einer erst durch die jüngste Berichterstattung über die Unruhen in Tibet und den olympischen Fackellauf erfolgten Politisierung der Olympischen Spiele könne nicht die Rede sein, so Nooke, denn bereits 2001, bei der Vergabe der Spiele nach Peking, sei von den Chinesen selbst ein Zusammenhang zwischen Menschenrechten und Spiele hergestellt worden. Sie selbst hätten den Spielen einen positiven Impuls für die Entwicklung der Gesellschaft zugesprochen.
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Aus Sicht der Menschenrechte sei es, so Nooke, gut, dass die Spiele nach Peking vergeben worden seien. Er plädierte für freie Meinungsäußerung auch für Sportler, allerdings hätten Sportler keinen expliziten politischen Auftrag. Die Athleten dürften dabei nicht kriminalisiert werden. Nooke beklagte in diesem Zusammenhang die fehlende Rechtssicherheit für die Sportler, denn die vom IOC erlassenen Richtlinien böten diese nicht. Georg Boomgaarden, Staatssekretär im Auswärtigen Amt, der über Konfliktprävention als eines der Hauptziele der EU-Außenpolitik sprach, beklagte die in verschiedenen Ländern gegenüber Journalisten ausgeübte Gewalt, wobei vor allem einheimische Journalisten die meisten Opfer stellten. Medienarbeit sei ein zentraler Punkt für Friedensarbeit; die Pressefreiheit sei ein grundlegender Wert. Dabei ginge es nicht nur um die Presse als Verantwortungsträger, sondern auch um den Nutzer, der zur kritischen Bewertung von Propagandaund Hassberichterstattung befähigt werden sollte. Wer die Fähigkeit zur Pressefreiheit verloren habe, verliere auch die Fähigkeit zur internen Kommunikation; das hätte beispielsweise zum Zusammenbruch des Ostblocks beigetragen. Die Verpflichtung auf den Frieden und gegen den Terror liege jedoch bei dem einzelnen Journalisten und nicht in der Verantwortung des Staates. Auf dem Global Media Forum dominierten die praxisbezogenen Diskussionsrunden, die sich auf einzelne Regionen und ihre spezifischen Problemen konzentrierten. Hauptsächliches Ziel dieser Veranstaltung war es, Gleichgesinnte miteinander ins Gespräch zu bringen, etwa über die Rolle der Medien in Asien und Afrika, dem Nahen und Mittleren Osten oder beispielsweise auch in einem eigenen Workshop über das Verhältnis von Bundeswehr und Journalisten. Gab es häufig Übereinstimmung, was diese Zielsetzung betraf, zeigten die zahlreichen Podiumsdiskussionen schnell ein breites Meinungsspektrum, das die Einsicht vermittelte, dass es für friedensstiftende Medienarbeit keine einfachen Patentrezepte gibt.
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Konferenzsprache bei diesem Dialog der Kulturen war vorwiegend englisch – der Intendant sprach deutsch und Ebadi hielt ihren Vortrag auf Farsi. Die Deutsche Welle will in Sachen Internationalität mithalten können – „Wir sind ein Sender des christlichen Abendlandes und der Auf klärung“, so hatte das Erik Bettermann vor einem halben Jahr in einem Interview mit der Funkkorrespondenz (41/2007) ausgedrückt. Auf Kritik an einem übermäßigen Ausbau vor allem der englischsprachigen Programme beim DWFernsehen reagierte der DW-Intendant erst kürzlich in einem Zeitungsinterview (taz, 4.6. 2008) mit folgendem Hinweis: Die Deutsche Welle sei „die mediale Visitenkarte der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, was aber nicht heißt, dass wir die PR-Agentur der Deutschland-AG wären“. Auslandssender wie das französische Programm France 24 und das russische Programm Russia Today, aber auch – mit besonders großem Erfolg – der 1996 gegründete transarabische Sender Al-Dschasira (Al Jazeera) senden ebenfalls ihre internationalen Programme in englischer Sprache. Sie verfolgen dabei hauptsächlich das Ziel, auf diese Weise das Berichterstattungsmonopol, das Sender wie CNN und BBC World in manchen Regionen haben, zu durchbrechen. Das erste Global Media Forum der Deutschen Welle war zugleich auch eine Demonstration für das Selbstverständnis der Rundfunkanstalt, nicht nur ein internationaler Informationssender zu sein, sondern auch Botschafter einer Medienkultur, die auf den Dialog setzt. Eine Fortsetzung dieser internationalen Medienkonferenz im nächsten Jahr ist geplant.
Konferenzsprache englisch Die in sechs Sessionen unterteilte Veranstaltung mit zahlreichen Referaten, Podiumsdiskussionen und Workshops war international besetzt mit mehr als neunzig Referenten, darunter rund ein Dutzend DW-Mitarbeiter. DEUTSCHE WELLE GLOBAL MEDIA FORUM 2008
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Pressefreiheit gerät immer mehr unter Druck Author: Dr. Kira Welter Publication: Spreerauschen – Politik & Medien, June 8 2008 Country: Germany
Frieden, Medien und Pressefreiheit waren die Themen des Deutsche Welle Global Media Forums in Bonn. Zu den prominenten Gästen zählte Friedensnobelpreisträgerin Schirin Ebadi, die die Zensurmaßnahmen im Iran, aber auch in manchen westlichen Ländern stark kritisierte. Zum Abschluss des dreitägigen Kongresses äußerte der Intendant des deutschen Auslandsrundfunks, Erik Bettermann, die Sorge, dass die Pressefreiheit weltweit immer mehr unter Druck gerate. Er appellierte an die rund 900 Teilnehmer aus 100 Ländern, einer drohenden „publizistischen Verarmung und einem Verlust an Pluralismus“ entgegenzuwirken. Vom 2. bis 4. Juni 2008 fand zum ersten Mal das „Deutsche Welle Global Media Forum“ in Bonn statt. Drei Tage lang diskutierten Repräsentanten aus Medien, Politik, Kultur, Wirtschaft, Entwicklungszusammenarbeit und Wissenschaft über die Rolle der Medien in Friedensstiftung und Konfliktprävention. 2009 soll die Konferenzreihe fortgesetzt werden. „Mit der regelmäßig geplanten Veranstaltung schaffen wir eine Plattform für interkulturellen Austausch zwischen Akteuren der Globalisierung“, so Bettermann. Zensur und Selbstzensur Zu den Höhepunkten der Konferenz gehörte die Rede der Friedensnobelpreisträgerin Schirin Ebadi. Die Iranerin kritisierte die zahlreichen Zensurmaßnahmen gegen Journalisten in ihrem Land. „Einige der besten iranischen Journalisten und Autoren sind derzeit im Gefängnis“, so Ebadi. Sie verwies aber zugleich auf mehr „subtile Formen der Zensur in westlichen Ländern“. Als Beispiel nannte sie die USA, wo die Medien monopolisiert seien und nur die Interessen ihrer Aktionären
vertreten würden. Zum Ende ihrer Rede forderte die Nobelpreisträgerin nachdrücklich „die digitale Kluft zwischen Nord und Süd möglichst rasch zu schließen“. Während jeder zweite Westeuropäer einen Computer besitze, komme in Angola auf 3000 Menschen nur ein PC. Der ungleiche Zugang zu elektronischen Kommunikationsmitteln führe zu einem „ungleichen Rennen“, so die Juristin aus Hamadan. „Aus diesem Grund gehen etwa Preise für literarische Leistungen überwiegend an Vertreter westlicher Länder“. Außenminister Steinmeier sagte ab Frank-Walter Steinmeier war ebenfalls als „KeynoteSprecher“ eingeladen. Doch der Bundesaußenminister musste kurzfristig aufgrund einer dringenden Auslands reise absagen. An seiner Stelle trat der Staatssekretär des Auswärtigen Amts, Georg Boomgaarden, auf. Der Diplomat betonte die Wichtigkeit unabhängiger Medien zur Absicherung der Demokratie. „Freie Medien und ihre vielfältigen Informationsangebote sind eine Voraussetzung dafür, dass demokratische und rechtsstaatliche Strukturen funktionieren können“. Leider leben derzeit etwa zwei Drittel der Menschheit in Staaten ohne Medienfreiheit. Ist die weltweite Demokratie vielleicht ein zu hoch gestecktes Ziel? Zudem sprach der Vertreter des Außenministeriums über die Gefahren der Berichterstattung in Krisengebieten. Über 1000 Journalisten seien allein in den letzten zehn Jahren bei der Berichterstattung getötet worden, äußerte Boomgaarden. Wie gefährlich die Berichterstattung über Krieg und Kriminalität sein kann, konnten Teilnehmer des Deutsche Welle Global Media Forums aus erster Hand erfahren. Zu einem der Workshops wurden Marcelo Moreira von TV Globo aus Rio de Janeiro und Stefano Marcelli aus Italien eingeladen. Die zwei renommierten Journalisten berichten seit vielen Jahren über Mafia, Drogen und organisierte Kriminalität – und das nicht ohne Gefahr. Schwerpunkte Afrika und Asien Hauptthema der diesjährigen Konferenz war die Situation der Medien in den Krisengebieten von Afrika und Asien. Namhafte Medienvertreter aus Afghanistan, Zimbabwe, Malaysia, Nigeria, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Israel und vielen anderen Ländern nahmen an den Diskussionen im World Conference Center in Bonn
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teil. Im Krieg ist die Wahrheit bekanntermaßen ein knappes Gut. Genau dann spielen Medien eine wichtige Rolle. Sie können ihren großen Einfluss nutzen, um die Spannung zwischen den Kriegsparteien zu entschärfen, oder sie können dagegen selbst zu einem Teil des Konflikts werden. Dies zeigte sich beispielsweise im Falle der Rundfunkstation ‘Radio Mille Collines’, die 1994 vor dem Völkermord in Ruanda Hass-Propaganda gegen Tutsi betrieb. Was aber zeichnet Journalismus für den Frieden aus? Und können Medien überhaupt Frieden schaffen? Sie können auf jeden Fall viel erreichen, meint Nobelpreisträgerin Ebadi. Medien entlarven Gewalt und rütteln auf. Deshalb sei Journalismus eine „heilige Tätigkeit“, sagte sie am vergangenen Montag zum Auftakt der Konferenz. Pressefreiheit in Lateinamerika auch ein Thema In einem Workshop über „Populismus und Pressefreiheit“ wurde zudem die Situation der Medien in Lateinamerika unter die Lupe genommen. Bekannte Journalisten aus Argentinien, Bolivien, Mexiko und Venezuela waren dazu eingeladen, unter ihnen Marcel Granier, Generaldirektor des venezolanischen Privatfernsehsenders RCTV, der im vergangenen Jahr wegen der Nichtverlängerung der Sendelizenz durch die Regierung weltweit bekannt wurde. Seit Mai 2007 sendet RCTV nur noch über Satellit, Kabel und Internet. Die Journalisten aus Lateinamerika berichteten über ihre Erfahrungen und diskutierten die Perspektiven der Medienlandschaft in ihrer Region. Wichtige Themen waren der zunehmende Erfolg populistischer Politiker in einigen Ländern und die wachsende Selbstzensur in vielen Medien. Außerdem sprach der Mexikaner Jorge Ochoa über die immer größer werdende Macht der Drogenmafia in seinem Land – ein Problem, das derzeit nicht nur Mexiko, sondern auch Kolumbien und Brasilien stark betrifft. Dies führe ebenfalls zu Selbstzensur, so Ochoa, denn viele Journalisten haben Angst um ihr Leben. Für ihn ist eine Militäreinbindung die einzige plausible Lösung. Die Polizei in Mexiko sei in hohem Maße korrupt und demzufolge machtlos, sagte der Korrespondent der Zeitung El Universal. Der Venezolaner Granier zeigte sich da eher skeptisch. Eine Militärbeteiligung würde das Problem leider nicht lösen, meinte der
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Geschäftsmann aus Caracas. „Drogen beschädigen alles, womit sie in Kontakt kommen“. Da wäre also nicht auszuschließen, dass auch das Militär irgendwann bestechlich wird. Nur eine ehrliche Überzeugung seitens der Bevölkerung könnte etwas bewirken, so Granier. Guter Journalismus braucht gute Journalisten „Die Voraussetzung für guten Journalismus sind gute Journalisten“. Unter diesem Motto organisierte die DW-Akademie ein Symposium über Journalistische Ausbildung in Konfliktsituationen. Die ganztägige Veranstaltung fand am zweiten Tag des Forums statt. Dabei ging es vor allem um journalistische Qualität und Integrität. Doch die wachsende Vielfalt der Medien und die Rolle von modernen Technologien wie Internet und Mobiltelefone bei der Berichterstattung in Konfliktsituationen wurden auch diskutiert. Wie können diese neuen Technologien am Besten eingesetzt werden? Inwiefern können sie bei der Umgehung von Zensur helfen? Diese und viele anderen Fragen wurden während einer Sitzung über Mediavielfalt behandelt. Zu den Gästen dieser Sitzung zählte beispielsweise der Blogger Jotman, der am Frühmorgen des 20. Septembers 2006 einige der ersten Fotos vom Militärputsch in Bangkok veröffentlichte. Für diese Bilder und die Berichterstattung über die Protestbewegung in Burma erhielt das Weblog aus Thailand den Best of the Blogs 2007 Preis der Menschenrechtsorganisation Reporter ohne Grenzen. Am 4. Juni ging die dreitägige Konferenz zu Ende. „Staatliche Willkür und übersteigerte wirtschaftliche Interessen gefährden die Presse- und Meinungsfreiheit. Diktatoren ebenso wie ‚Heuschrecken“, fasste der Intendant der Deutschen Welle in seiner Abschlussrede zusammen. „Medien müssen ihrer Verantwortung gerecht werden können, damit sie unvoreingenommen und unparteiisch Informationen zugänglich machen“. So könnten sie in Konfliktsituationen deeskalierend wirken und Friedensprozesse nachhaltig unterstützen.
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Eine NGO sticht «Hass-Medien» aus:
Radio gegen ein zweites Ruanda Author: Matthias Funk Publication: netzeitung.de, June 10 2008 Country: Germany
Mitte der 90er Jahre wurde ein Radio in Ruanda zum Instrument der Mörder. Der Sender RTLM nannte die Namen der nächsten Opfer. Das Ehepaar Marks setzte dem Hass-Radio etwas entgegen, wie Matthias Funk berichtet. John Marks und seine Frau Susan Collin Marks wissen was sie machen müssen, wenn sie vor großem Publikum reden. Das Paar steht an der Spitze einer Nichtregierungsorganisation (NGO), leitet eine Produktionsgesellschaft, John war Social Entrepreneur des Jahres, in der Szene der Nichtregierungsorganisationen haben sie einen großen Namen. In Bonn werfen sie sich auf dem Global Media Forum elegant die Bälle zu, zeigen Beispiele ihrer Arbeit – und bezirzen. Aber auch Marks und Collin Marks wissen nicht immer gleich, was zu tun ist. Was soll man machen, wenn sich – wie in den 90er Jahren in Ruanda – Hutu und Tutsi metzeln? Wenn man selbst an der Spitze einer Nichtregierungsorganisation steht, die sich Search for Common Ground, also Suche nach Gemeinsamkeit, nennt? Wo hätte sich damals in Ruanda noch ein gemeinsamer Grund finden lassen? Und dann die Frage direkt ins Herz, die Frage eines Freundes: Warum tut Ihr da nicht irgendwas? «Warum tut ihr da nichts, in Ruanda? Auf der Konferenz in der Bundesstadt ging es in der vorigen Wochen um den Auf bau von Frieden und die Prävention von Gewalt und darum, welche Rolle Medien dabei spielen können. Praktiker, Forscher und Geldgeber kommen zusammen. Es ist auch eine Messe. Immerhin, dem Bereich wird in den letzten Jahren immer mehr Aufmerksamkeit geschenkt. So engagiert sich die Weltbank etwa inzwischen stark.
Aber was hat Search for Common Ground damals getan, damals, als Bilder von knüppelnden und niedergeknüppelten Hutu und Tutsi um die Welt gingen, Bilder eines seltsamen Krieges am Ende des 20.Jahrhunderts? Während die industrialisierte Welt im Golf krieg schon mit ferngesteuerten Waffen getötet hatte, setzten in dem afrikanischen Land die Menschen von Angesicht zu Angesicht den tödlichen Hieb an. Gegen Hass-Radio wie in Ruanda Die Antwort der Marks’ auf die Frage des Freundes war Engagement in Burundi, im Nachbarland Ruandas. Auch dort lebten Hutu und Tutsi, es bestand die Gefahr, dass Burundi ein zweites Ruanda werden könnte. Es gab Gewalt wegen der unterschiedlichen ethnischen Zugehörigkeit und unterschiedlicher politischer Ansichten. Es bestand die Gefahr, dass Hutu und Tutsi sich auch dort metzeln. Search for Common Ground gründete in dieser Situation eine Radioproduktion. Die Macht des Radios war bekannt, nicht zuletzt wegen der ruandischen Station Radio Televison Libre des Mille Collines (RTLM). Der Internationalen Strafgerichtshofs für Ruanda hat die Rolle von RTLM beim Anstacheln und sogar Dirigieren des Genozids an den Tutsi dokumentiert: Führende RTLM-Macher wurden wegen Genozids, Anstachelung zum Genozid und wegen Verbrechen gegen die Menschlichkeit verurteilt. Der Sender meldete, wer zu töten sei, und wo sich diese Personen auf hielten. In Burundi waren die Hass-Medien Elite-Medien In Burundi habe es zwar Hass-Zeitungen gegeben, berichtet Eva Palmans, die gerade ihre Dissertation über Medien in Krisenzeiten am Beispiel Burundis abschließt. Als Zeitungen seien sie aber vor allem in der Hauptstadt und unter der lokalen Elite verbreitet. Radio hingegen war nach Schätzungen von mehr als vier Fünftel der Bevölkerung zu empfangen. Wenngleich ein Sender aus dem Ausland eine Zeitlang ins das Land hinein ausstrahlte, gab es doch zum Glück in Burundi selbst kein Hass-Radio, Die Marks wollten dafür sorgen, dass das so bleibt. Sie machten sich – mehr noch – daran, die Macht des Radios im positiven Sinne zu nutzen.
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Das Projekt von Search for Common Ground heißt Studio Ijambo, ins deutsche Übersetzt «Studio Weise Worte». Das Charakteristikum: Die Redaktion war ethnischgemischt. Nie ging ein Hutu oder ein Tutsi allein los, immer recherchierten ein Hutu und ein Tutsi gemeinsam. Als Search for Common Ground die einheimischen Mitarbeiter anheuerte, machte es gleich klar: „Hier musst Du dem Journalismus dienen, nicht den Hutu oder den Tutsi“, erinnert sich Collin Marks in Bonn. Dem Journalismus dienen, beide Seiten zeigen Sie ist selbst Journalisten, war bei der Überwindung der südafrikanischen Apartheid aktiv. Sie unterstreicht das hierzulande Selbstverständliche, das in Burundi aber nicht selbstverständlich war. Zu Journalismus gehört eben, beide Seiden zu hören und die Aussagen beider Seiten auch zu senden. Bis dahin war es meist so, dass die Hutu-Journalisten für ihr Hutu-Publikum über Tutsi-Grausamkeiten berichteten, berichtet das Paar. «Und umgekehrt genauso.» Plötzlich sei es um Werte wie Objektivität gegangen, darum, Glaubwürdigkeit zu gewinnen. «Wir haben das in Gang gebracht, um Hass-Journalismus etwas entgegenzusetzen.» Was setzten sie entgegen? «Das Gegenteil von Hass-Journalismus ist nicht LiebesJournalismus», erläutert Marks. Er hält auch nichts von einem Begriff wie Friedensjournalismus, wie er in der Szene die Runde macht. Wer andere Fragen stellt, erhält auch andere A ntworten Marks hat früher im diplomatischen Dienst der USA gearbeitet, dann aber aus Protest gegen den Vietnamkrieg gekündigt. Er wurde Friedensaktivist, Journalist und Buchautor. Marks spricht von konflikt-sensitiven Journalismus. Journalismus bleibe aber Journalismus. Seine Frau erläutert, es gehe nicht darum, den Journalismus aufzugeben, sondern darum, Journalist zu sein und seine Menschlichkeit zu leben. Journalismus betont in der Regel die Differenzen: Der Search For Common Ground-Touch im Journalismus ist die Suche nach konstruktiven Aspekten, die Reporter sollen nicht nur die Verzweiflung zu zeigen. John Marks sagt: «Wir können andere Fragen stellen, dann erhalten wir auch andere Antworten.»
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Neue Helden braucht das Land Marks macht das an einem Beispiel deutlich, am Begriff des Helden. Früher waren diejenigen Helden, die für ihre ethnische Gruppe getötet haben. Indem Studio Ijambo bewusst andere Helden gesucht hat, hat es auch andere gefunden. Hutus, die das Leben von Tutsi gerettet haben, und Tutsi, die das Leben von Hutu gerettet haben. «Das war eine ganz neue Art von Heldenjournalismus.» Die Marks nehmen selbstbewusst für ihre Arbeit in Anspruch, dass die neuen Fragen zu einer Umbelegung des Heldenbegriffs geführt hat. «Wir haben die politische Begrifflichkeit in Burundi geändert – ein Held war nun derjenige, der eines anderen Leben gerettet hatte.» Hutu und Tutsi gemeinsam auf Recherche Palmans bestätigt die Wirkung der Arbeit von Marks und Marks und ihrer Organisation für den Fall von Burundi. In der Tat hätten zunächst nur Hutu nur für Hutu berichtet, Tutsi nur für Tutsi. Plötzlich tauchten ein Hutu und ein Tutsi gemeinsam auf zum Recherchieren. Bis dahin konnte ein Hutu nicht in ein Tutsi-Viertel und umgekehrt, nun gewährten sie sich gegenseitig Schutz. Das Ergebnis war erstaunlich: Am Anfang hatte das Berichten aus beiden Sichten – bei Studio Ijambo garantiert durch die gemischten Teams – verheerende Konsequenzen. Denn beide Gruppen schenkten dem Programm keinen Glauben, schildert Palmans die Ergebnisse ihrer Forschung. «Zuerst wurde Radio Ijambo von keiner Gruppe akzeptiert, weder bei den Hutu noch bei den Tutsi.» Aber das wandeltte sich, so die Wissenschaftlerin von der Universität Antwerpen, die vor Ort geforscht hat und viele der Ijambo-Journalisten kennt. «Es hat Zeit gebraucht, aber es hat sich geändert.» Ziggy Marley unterstützt die Arbeit Radio Ijambo blieb nicht das einzige Projekt in Burundi. Zu den Nachrichten von Ijambo, die an andere Kanäle verkauft wurden, weil Ijambo selbst keine Frequenz hatte, veranstalteten die Macher Treffen, auf denen die verschiedenen Ethnien ins Gespräch kommen sollten. Die eigene Produktionsgesellschaft Common Ground Productions entwickelte eine Soap Opera, auch das ein Mittel, das immer stärker in der Friedensarbeit eingesetzt wird. «Du must nicht nur den Kopf erreichen, sondern auch das Herz», sagt Marks. Ziggy Marley, der DEUTSCHE WELLE GLOBAL MEDIA FORUM 2008
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Sohn von Reggae-Ikone Bob Marley, und in Burundi selbst ein Vorbild der Jugend, stellte sich für einen Bekenntnis-Spot zur Verfügung. Paradebeispiel nachhaltiger Medienzusammenarbeit Studio Ijambo ist in der Entwicklungszusammenarbeit auf dem Mediensektor ein Paradebeispiel. In diesem Sektor ist Nachhaltigkeit ein noch größeres Problem als in anderen Bereichen der internationalen Zusammenarbeit. Radios werden gegründet, sie werden von Geberländern und –institutionen finanziert, Entwicklungshelfer bauen sie auf, Einheimische werden ausgebildet und arbeiten dort. Aber meist gelingt es den Sendern nicht, auf eigenen Beinen zu stehen. Versiegt die Geldquelle in der Ersten Welt, verstummt auch der Sender in der Dritten. Ein Erfolg ist es dann schon, wenn die einheimischen Beschäftigten wieder in lokale Medien zurückfinden und ihre Fähigkeiten dort einsetzen können. Radio Ijambo hat Maßstäbe gesetzt Ijambo dagegen hat mehr erreicht, weil es unabhängig von seiner eigenen Existenz weiter wirkt. Ijambo hat Maßstäbe gesetzt: Auch später entstandene Privatstationen in Burundi haben die Ijambo-Standards übernommen, berichtet Palmans. Vor allem geht es um Ausgewogenheit. Aber auch darum, dass ganz normale Menschen zu Wort kommen. Auch das war neu, als Ijambo die Arbeit aufnahm, und es wurde von den Regierenden kritisch beäugt. Palmans sagt, Search for Common Ground habe immer klar gemacht, dass nicht ewig Geld fließen würde. Am Anfang sei das aber kaum ernst genommen worden, 2007 schien noch so lange weg zu sein. Aber jüngst habe Ijambo eben über hundert Leute entlassen müssen. Einige Ijambo-Journalisten haben inzwischen einen neuen Sender gegründet, Radio Isanganiro. Eine Journalistenkultur geprägt Für den Erfolg von Search for Common Ground ist das alles aber gar nicht mehr wichtig, weil Ijambo Standards gesetzt hat. Es lässt sich wohl sagen, dass das StudioProjekt der Brutkasten für eine neue nationale Journalistenkultur war.
Nachhaltigere Erfolge, als eine neue Kultur zu prägen, gibt es kaum. Was die Nachhaltigkeit angeht, ist Ijambo in der Medienzusammenarbeit also die Ausnahme von der Regel. Aber das ist ja für den Journalismus gerade interessant. Übrigens, Palmans ist sich sicher, dass Studio Ijambo und die Journalisten vor Ort mindestens dazu beigetragen haben, dass Burundi kein zweites Ruanda wurde.
Für eine konfliktsensitive Berichterstattung International Global Media Forum zu „Medien, Friedensstiftung und Konfliktprävention“ Author: Petra Tabeling Publication: DART CENTER, June 5 2008 Country: Germany
Gavin Rees, Koordinator des Dart Centre Europe mit Sitz in London, berichtete in seiner Keynote speech im Rahmen der Fachveranstaltung „Journalistische Ausbildung in Konfliktregionen“ über die Notwendigkeit des sorgfältigen journalistischen Umgangs mit Betroffenen. Medien hätten eine besondere Verantwortung bei der sensiblen Berichterstattung über Vergangenheitsbewältigung und dem Umgang mit Zeitzeugen und Opfern. Rees ist selbst Journalist und arbeitete u.a. als Filmautor für die BBC und Channel 4 und an Dokumentationen über die Überlebenden von Hiroshima. Als positives Beispiele berichtete der heutige Dart Europe Koordinator von der erfolgreichen Kooperation mit der Deutschen Welle Akademie in Kambodscha. In diesem Training wurden Ende 2007 lokale Journalisten im Rahmen der aktuellen Gerichtsprozesse über das Schreckensregime der Khmer Rouge darauf vorbereitet, über die Situation, Überlebende, über Opfer und Täter zu berichten.
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Wachsende Gefahren – Kriminalität im eigenen Land In dem spannenden Workshop „Covering Hostile Environments. From conflict zones to organised crime“, berichtete Rupert Reid, Sicherheitsexperte und Mitglied des Dart Europe Beirates, über die Risiken von Journalisten, wenn sie über kriminelle Organisationen recherchieren. Gefahren, die tödlich enden können, wie sie Marcelo Moreira, Nachrichtenchef des brasilianischen Senders Globo TV, anhand von Reportagen seines Senders aufzeigte. Sein Kollege wurde nach einem Bericht über den täglichen illegalen Waffen- und Drogenmissbrauch erschossen. „Und fast jeder bei uns muss darüber regelmäßig berichten,“ so Moreira. Cheche Lazaro, international bekannte philippinische Journalistin, veranschaulichte die alarmierende Entwicklung in ihrem Land. Unter der Regierung von Präsident Arroyo starben bereits 33 Journalisten, die über lokale Korruption berichteten, Hauptverdächtige: vor allem Regierungsangehörige. Stefano Marcelli, Präsident der Organisation „Information and Freedom“ in Italien und TV-Journalist, warnte vor der zunehmenden Korruption und den mafiösen Strukturen auch in den westeuropäischen Ländern und die damit verbundenen Risiken: „Journalisten und Medienunternehmen müssen sich dessen bewusst werden. Und wenn wir nicht gemeinsam dagegen stehen, werden mehr Journalisten sterben“, appellierte der erfahrene Journalist. Konfliktzonen, Gefahren und sinnvolle Trainings Unumstritten ist die Tatsache, dass immer mehr Journalisten in der Ausübung ihres Berufes sterben, ob Afghanistan, Irak oder andere Krisenländer: die Notwendigkeit nach relevanten Trainings ist groß. Das sie Leben retten könne, zeigte Andrew Kain, Initiator der ersten Sicherheitstrainings für Journalisten weltweit und Gründer der Sicherheitsfirma AKE. Der Fachmann zeigte auf dem Panel spektakuläre Filmausschnitte, in dem ein schwedisches Kamerateam Ende 2007 in Zaire unter Beschuss gerät und der Kameramann verletzt wird. Dennoch filmt dieser mit, wie ihn die Kollegen vor Ort notdürftig verarzten und wie sie sich letztlich aus dem Kugelhagel retten können. „Ohne das Sicherheitstraining, das diese Journalisten kurz vorher bei uns absolviert haben, wäre dieser Mann jetzt tot“, so Kain.
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Sandra Petersmann, Auslandskorrespondentin der Deutschen Welle, absolvierte so ein Training, auch sie geriet in Afghanistan, das sie seit 1993 kennt, in gefährliche Situationen. „Als „Kriegsreporterin“ sehe ich mich nicht“, so Petersmann, „mir sind die die Geschichten der Menschen in dem Land wichtig“. Und darüber könne man nicht unbedingt in der Begleitung von Streitkräften wie der Bundeswehr berichten. Frank Smyth vom Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), Moderator und Co-Organisator des Panels, kritisierte die oftmals zynische und gängige Praxis von Redaktionen, Journalisten keine Versicherung bezahlen zu wollen, dennoch aber gerne Berichte einkaufen, wenn diese dann „wieder lebendig“ zurückkehren. Ein Problem, das Sarah de Jong vom International News Safety Institute (INSI) nur zu gut kennt: „Auslandsredaktionen meinen, sie müssten um jeden Preis wirtschaftliche Erfolge erzielen, das ist eine Gefahr. Jede Redaktion sollte Sicherheitsrichtlinien implementieren.“
Guter Journalismus allein reicht nicht Krisen und Konflikte stellen an Berichterstatter besondere Anforderungen Author: Bärbel Roeben Publication: welt-sichten 7-2008 Country: Germany
„Wir dürfen im globalen Dorf nicht übereinander, sondern müssen miteinander reden.“ Mit diesen Worten eröffnete Erik Bettermann, der Intendant der Deutschen Welle, Anfang Juni in Bonn das erste Global Media Forum. Etwa 650 Teilnehmer aus aller Welt diskutierten über die Rolle der Medien in Konfliktregionen und darüber, wie Journalisten und Journalistinnen den Frieden fördern können. „Hassmedien“ in Krisenregionen wie Radio RTLM in Ruanda, das 1994 offen zur Ermordung von Tutsis DEUTSCHE WELLE GLOBAL MEDIA FORUM 2008
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a ufgerufen hat, können Konflikte zusätzlich anheizen. Der oft beschworene freie Informationsfluss ist offenbar kein Patentrezept für friedensfördernde Berichterstattung. Oder doch? Danforth W. Austin vom Sender „Voice of America“ meint, die beste Medienregulierung sei die, die mit den wenigsten Regeln auskomme. Auf dem Global Media Forum lobte er das interaktive Web 2.0, das mittels Blogs oder Videos stärker von den Nutzern gestaltet und deshalb wirksamer gegen konfliktanheizende „Hassmedien“ sei als das alte Web 1.0.: „Wenn viele Standpunkte gehört werden, dann kann einseitige Propaganda zerstreut werden“, sagte Austin. Dieses Vertrauen in die Selbstregulierungskräfte der Medien teilen aber nicht alle. Aref Hijjawi (Al Jazeera Arabisch) verwies in Bonn darauf, dass jede Information zugleich eine bestimmte Perspektive enthalte und dass es „rote Linien“ gebe wie zum Beispiel religiöse Gefühle, die respektiert werden müssten. Bin-Laden-Videos würden von Al Jazeera nicht kommentarlos gesendet, sondern von der Redaktion erläutert und in einen Kontext eingebettet. Auch Jan Hoek (Radio Nederland) betonte, der „Kontext“ sei entscheidend – zum Beispiel dafür, ob man jemanden als „Terroristen“ oder „Freiheitskämpfer“ bezeichne: „Wenn Journalisten kritiklos Stereotypen verwenden, werden sie Teil des Konflikts.“ Während viele qualitativ hochwertigen Journalismus allein bereits als Beitrag zur Lösung von Konflikten werten, betonten Teilnehmer des Bonner Forums, die besonderen Herausforderungen in Krisenzeiten erforderten einen spezifischen Friedensjournalismus beziehungsweise konfliktsensiblen Journalismus. Vladimir Bratic, ein aus Bosnien stammender Medienforscher aus den USA, vertrat die Ansicht, Medien an sich beförderten tendenziell eher Konflikte als Frieden, da sie zumeist über negative Ereignisse berichteten – nach dem Motto: „Wenn Blut fließt, ist es ein Aufmacher“ (If it bleeds, it leads). Zudem würden Journalisten und Journalistinnen immer wieder instrumentalisiert wie jüngst im Irakkrieg als vom Militär „eingebettete Berichterstatter“. Konfliktsensibler Journalismus dagegen, so Bratic, nehme die Perspektive der Opfer auf beiden Seiten ein, analysiere die Situation und verdeutliche mögliche
Lösungen. Ein Beispiel sei die Medien- Kampagne für eine Friedensvereinbarung 1998 in Nordirland. Vor allem unterhaltende, emotionale Medienbeiträge können Konflikte entschärfen helfen. Ein Beispiel sind die Seifenopern, die Hutus und Tutsis im Studio Ijambo in Burundi gemeinsam produzieren. Die Organisation „Search for Common Ground“ startete das Projekt 1995 nach dem Völkermord in Ruanda. Die Schließung der irakischen Zeitung Al-Hawza durch US-Soldaten 2004 wiederum nannte Bratic als Beispiel für die Regulierung von hassfördernden Medien. Solche Maßnahmen wirkten aber nur, wenn sie in andere friedensbildende Aktivitäten eingebunden seien. Medien in Krisenregionen müssten sich auf ganz unterschiedliche politische Situationen einstellen. In Simbabwe werden regimekritische Journalisten mit dem Tode bedroht, in Pakistan geraten sie ins Visier nichtstaatlicher Kräfte wie der Taliban oder der Drogenmafia. In solchen Ländern stößt das Journalistentraining westlicher Organisationen an Grenzen. Deshalb werden Teilnehmer und Teilnehmerinnen aus Konfliktregionen in Nachbarländern oder in Europa fortgebildet, journalistische Produktion und Lernen werden miteinander verbunden und Journalisten und Journalistinnen aus verschiedenen Ländern einer Region gemeinsam geschult und ermutigt, Netzwerke zur gegenseitigen Unterstützung aufzubauen. Beispiele für eine gelungene friedensfördernde Vernetzung von Medienschaffenden, Wissenschaftlern und Entwicklungsorganisationen sind das „Bonn Network“ zur Koordinierung internationaler Medienhilfe, das zur Zeit aufgebaut wird, und das nach dem Karikaturenstreit entstandene „Rapid Response Media Mechanism“ der UN-Allianz für Zivilisation, das unter anderem eine Datenbank von Experten und Expertinnen bietet, die konflikträchtige Ereignisse einordnen können. Die Suche nach Gemeinsamkeiten, die Zusammenarbeit verschiedener (ethnischer) Gruppen in den Redaktionen und die Einbindung der Medien in friedensfördernde Aktionen – das war auf dem Global Media Forum der rote Faden für einen konfliktsensiblen Journalismus, der durch Netzwerke befördert werden soll.
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Bewusstseinswandel Das „Global Media Forum“ der Deutschen Welle Author: Ralf Siepmann Publication: Funkkorrespondenz 23.2008 Country: Germany
Seit mehr als zwei Jahrzehnten beobachtet der jordanische Journalist Salameh B. Nematt die Entwicklungen im Nahen Osten, in Europa und den USA, speziell die Krisenherde in der islamischen Welt. Analysen des früheren Leiters des Washingtoner Büros der Zeitung „Al-Hajat“ bestechen durch Substanz und Prägnanz. Beim „Global Media Forum“ der Deutschen Welle (DW), das vom 2. bis 4. Juni in Bonn stattfand, stufte er die meisten Medien in der arabischen Welt als antiquiert ein, „von der Zensur und zu 100 Prozent von ihren Regierungen kontrolliert“. Nematt machte indes auch auf Unzulänglichkeiten in der Berichterstattung in westlichen Medien aufmerksam. Dort werde, so einer seiner Kritikpunkte, selten registriert, dass neun von zehn Opfern islamistischer Attentate selber Muslime seien. Den jüngsten Bombenanschlag vom 2. Juni in Islamabad auf die dänische Botschaft – womöglich ein Reflex auf den noch nicht verglimmten Aufruhr um die Mohammed-Karikaturen in der dänischen Tageszeitung „Jyllands-Posten“ – rückte der pakistanische Journalist Hamid Mir beim Bonner Forum in einen Zusammenhang mit dem rechtspopulistischen niederländischen Politiker Geert Wilders und dessen Ende März über das Internet veröffentlichten Anti-Koran-Film „Fitna“. Das Attentat auf die Botschaft bezeichnete er als einen „perfekt geplanten terroristischen Anschlag“. Mir, der beim pakistanischen Sender Geo TV eine Talkshow moderiert, berichtete ergänzend, er habe seinen Zuschauern nahegebracht, dass nur eine Minderheit der Niederländer hinter Wilders stehe. Dies habe deeskalierend gewirkt. Nur fünf Prozent seiner Landsleute, bestätigte Jan Hoek, Generaldirektor des Auslandsrundfunks Radio Netherlands Worldwide, teilten die Meinung von Wilders. Hingegen habe die Mehrheit der Medien – ein Indiz für die Meinungsfreiheit in seinem Land – die Internet-Veröffentlichung von „Fitna“ befürwortet.
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Die „rote Linie“ für die Presse Couragiert und unverblümt – offenkundig die Protektion der internationalen Gemeinschaft genießend – kritisierte die iranische Friedensnobelpreisträgerin Shirin Ebadi (Universität Teheran) in Bonn die massive Einschränkung und Unterdrückung der Presse- und Informationsfreiheit in ihrem Heimatland: „Die Zensur ist so extrem, da kann man nur mit offenem Mund staunen.“ Die „rote Linie“ für die Presse – vielleicht eine bewusste Anspielung auf das Blut, das Journalisten in Diktaturen für ihre Suche nach Wahrheit zahlen – werde von Tag zu Tag breiter. Ebadi prangerte indes auch die „subtilen Formen der Zensur“ in westlichen Gesellschaften an, die nicht weniger wirkungsvoll seien als direkte Sanktionen gegen Medien und Journalisten. So bestimmten in den USA fünf Medienkonzerne die veröffentlichte Meinung. Der ungleiche Zugang zwischen Nord und Süd zu elektronischen Kommunikationsmitteln, speziell zu Computern und zum Internet, vertiefe darüber hinaus die „digitale Kluft“. Solche Rückmeldungen in einer Art Süd-NordUmkehrung der Debatte um die interkulturelle Verständigung in einer globalen Welt machen auf Dauer den spezifischen Wert des international und interdisziplinär angelegten „Gobal Media Forums“ aus. Sind doch Bekenntnisse zum Dialog der Kulturen erst dann überzeugend, wenn auch die eigenen Positionen und selbst Fehlentwicklungen „auf Augenhöhe“ diskutiert und sanktionsfrei kritisiert werden können. Die frühere BBC-Journalistin Jacky Sutton, die seit kurzem im UN-Auftrag Medienprojekte im Irak betreut, lotete den archimedischen Punkt im Denken aus, rechnete indirekt noch einmal mit der Mentalität des Kolonialismus ab. Die Vorstellung, es gebe und man verfüge über eine „ultimative Wahrheit“, sei aufzugeben. „Meine Rolle ist, nicht zu verurteilen, sondern Vertrauen für Zusammenarbeit aufzubauen.“ Das Verständnis für unabhängigen Journalismus müsse Schritt für Schritt in den Gesellschaften und mit ihnen aufgebaut werden, sagte Sutton in Bonn. Den Blick in eine Welt richten, in der zwei von drei Menschen außerhalb freier Medien leben, und das Korrektiv von außen konstruktiv annehmen – in dieser Dimension könnte das „Gobal Media Forum“, das DEUTSCHE WELLE GLOBAL MEDIA FORUM 2008
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DW-Intendant Erik Bettermann als „Medien-Davos“ am Rhein etablieren möchte, sein Alleinstellungsmerkmal entwickeln. In einem solchen Konzept würde es sich dann gewiss von der Vielzahl der Medienkongresse zwischen Hamburg und München mit nationaler und europäischer Ausrichtung unterscheiden. Despoten und autoritäre Propaganda Despoten und autoritäre Propaganda beanspruchen seit jeher die Hoheit über Bilder und deren Deutung. André Gide, der 1951 verstorbene französische Schriftsteller, hat die Erkenntnis hinterlassen, um mit Überzeugung etwas abzulehnen, dürfe man das, was man ablehne, nie angesehen haben. Bilder werden zur Verfestigung von Stereotypen oder Simplifizierungen instrumentalisiert. Autoritäre Regierungen hindern Menschen daran, sich ihr eigenes Bild zu machen. Die Strategie ist stets die gleiche, wie in Bonn in puncto Birma und China, Kenia und Simbabwe, Afghanistan und Iran deutlich wurde, nur die Methoden variieren. Der jordanische Journalist Nematt unterstrich, in arabischen Ländern verbreiteten die Medien unter dem Druck der Despoten die Botschaft, Demokratie sei „schlecht für die Menschen“. Durch Abschirmung stabilisierten sie ihre persönliche Macht. Apollinaire Malu Malu, Vorsitzender der Wahlkommission der unabhängigen Republik Kongo, sagte, aus der Sicht der Regierenden seien Journalisten „eine Bedrohung für das Schweigen zu Kriegsverbrechen und Korruption“. Im 20. Jahrhundert hat sich der traditionelle Kurzwellen-Auslandsrundfunk vor allem in der Ost-WestKonfrontation das Renommee erworben, zum Fall von Diktaturen und zum Einsturz von Mauern beigetragen zu haben. Seit etlichen Jahren hat sich die Strategie auf die Vermeidung von Kriegen und die Etablierung von Zivilgesellschaften mit tendenziell freien Medien verlagert. Andreas Krautscheid, nordrhein-westfälischer Minister für Bundesangelegenheiten, Europa und Medien, betonte in diesem Kontext, welches Potenzial der Auf bau von demokratischen Medien bei der Krisenprävention habe. Eine Reihe von Diskussionsrunden und Präsentationen brachte das Engagement der westlichen Auslandsrundfunkanstalten für „Peacebuilding“ (Bettermann) im Prozess der Verhinderung und Auflösung von Konflikten durch Dialog und Verständigung auf
einen Nenner. Das Spektrum reicht vom Auf bau von Sendern und Programmen in Landessprachen nach Ende eines Krieges, wie es etwa die Deutsche Welle in Afghanistan gemacht hat, bis hin zum Training journalistischer Kompetenzen. Solche Anstrengungen werden, das wurde auf „Global Media Forum“ deutlich, international spürbar intensiviert. Die Ankündigung von DW-Intendant Bettermann, die Fortbildungsangebote für Medienakteure in Entwicklungsund Transformationsgesellschaften auszuweiten und einen internationalen Master-Studiengang für Nachwuchsjournalisten im Rahmen der DW-Akademie in Bonn zustarten, weist exakt in diese Richtung. Ein bewegender Appell kam von Rose Kimotho, Direktorin von 101,1 FM Kameme, einem privaten Radiosender in Kenia: „Die internationalen Medien dürfen uns nicht im Stich lassen.“ Die Agenda Afrikas werde von internationalen Medien bestimmt. Doch im Norden Afrikas und in Nahost sind dies längst nicht mehr die großen westlichen Auslandssender allein. Das „Gobal Media Forum“ brachte nachdrücklich zu Bewusstsein, wie stark hier der Beitrag, den die panarabischen TV-Kanäle Al-Dschasira und Al-Arabia bislang für die Differenzierung der Sichtweisen und die Erweiterung der wechselseitigen Wahrnehmung geleistet haben, im Westen unterschätzt wird. Vehement beteuerten deren Repräsentanten in Bonn – freilich außerhalb der Podiumsrunden – ihr Engagement für eine freie Berichterstattung. Sie verwiesen auf den Preis, den sie für die Risiken dieses Kurses – bis hin zum Einsatz von Menschenleben – bezahlt hätten. Mit dem Etikett „Off Shore Democracy“ quittierte dies Salameh B. Nematt mit spürbarem Respekt. Frühwarnsystem zur Aufspürung von „hate media“ Alle Auslandsrundfunksender sehen sich derzeit mit den dynamischen Prozessen der digitalen Konvergenz konfrontiert. So warf Danforth W. Austin, Intendant von Voice of America, die Frage auf, ob sie auf diese Entwicklungen wohl schnell genug reagieren könnten und die finanziellen Budgets für die erforderlichen Zukunftsinvestitionen ausreichten. Im Übergang von der klassischen Massen- zur individuellen Kommunikation läuft das überkommene Sender-Empfänger-Schema womöglich mit der übernächsten Generation aus. Auch
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Militärdiktaturen, wie sie etwa in Birma an der Macht sind, können es trotz eines Riesenapparats von Polizei nicht verhindern, dass Menschen via Handy Bilder in das „globale Dorf “ einspeisen können. Das zeigte sich etwa bei der Berichterstattung über die verheerenden Schäden, die der Zyklon Nargis Anfang Mai in Birma angerichtet hat. „User Generated Content“, die Integration von Nachrichten, Bildern und nonkonformistischen Sehweisen internetaffiner Laien, avanciert zu einer wichtigen Quelle für die sich gerade bildenden Multimedia-Plattformen von BBC World News, CNN, Deutsche Welle und Co. Jede Technologie hat bislang aber auch ihre Kehrseite hervorgebracht. Reicht nicht unsere Fantasie schon heute so weit, sich ein „hate medium“ in afrikanischen oder asiatischen Konfliktzonen bald als SMS-Service auf Mobiltelefonen vorzustellen? Unter diesem Begriff wurden beim „Global Media Forum“ Erfahrungen mit „Hassmedien“ diskutiert. Im Vorstadium von Konflikten und während der kriegerischen Auseinandersetzungen – wie etwa in Ruanda – haben sogenannte „hate media“ zur Ermordung ganzer Bevölkerungsgruppen aus rassischen oder religiösern Beweggründen aufgestachelt. Die Anregung Hoeks, einen internationalen Medienmonitor als Frühwarnsystem zur Aufspürung von „hate media“ im Rahmen von Krisenprävention einzurichten, hat vor diesem Hintergrund ihre absolute Berechtigung. Bald 20 Jahre nach der Wende ist es nach Darlegung Erik Bettermanns an der Zeit, dass sich Deutschland international orientiert. In der universalen Mediengesellschaft könnte das mit rund 900 Teilnehmern aus 100 Ländern und einer erklecklichen Zahl an Sponsoren (Auswärtiges Amt, nordrheinwestfälische Landesregierung, DHL) sowie nationalen und internationalen Partnern gestartete „Global Media Forum“ für den überfälligen Bewusstseinswandel zu einem wirkungsvollen Prozessor und zu einer beachteten Adresse werden. Dafür bietet Bonn mit seinem Profil als Stadt internationaler Einrichtungen, der Entwicklungspartnerschaft, der Kultur und Wissenschaft und der prosperierenden Kongressinfrastruktur günstige Bedingungen. Bei der Premiere waren allerdings einige hochrangige Persönlichkeiten wie etwa Bundesaußenminister Frank-Walter Steinmeier aus unterschiedlichen Gründen verhindert.
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China beispielsweise hat sein Spitzenpersonal – auch in den Medien – nach dem Erdbeben von Sichuan und vor den Olympischen Spielen in Peking mit starken Restriktionen im Hinblick auf Auslandsreisen belegt. Bonn als „Medien-Davos“ von übermorgen könnte den Ehrgeiz entwickeln, Absagen zur raren Ausnahme zu machen.
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THE ROLE OF THE MEDIA IN PEACEBUILDING A CLASSIC CASE OF MEGA FM RADIO david okidi, Station Manager, Mega FM
1. Background of Mega FM
Mega FM is a public/community radio station based in northern Uganda, broadcasting to the people in 9 districts in the region. Its signal coverage is enhanced by a 2 kilowatt transmitter at the station and another relay transmitter of the same capacity. This makes it possible to reach an audience of about two million people. The station was built with a bilateral grant from the British government through DFID to help in the process of pacifying the war torn region. Its mission is to provide the Luo speaking population in the region and beyond access to relevant and accurate information aimed at increasing opportunities for engagement in peace building and development. Its programming has a bias towards peace building. It broadcasts mainly in Luo [80%], the language spoken by the majority of the people and other languages 20%. There are about 40 staff at the station.
2. The role of Mega FM in peace building
Mega FM has played a significant role in peace building through its programming that is audience-driven in the following ways: · Awareness creation about the amnesty law enacted by GOU in 2000. During the amnesty promotion programmes the rebels and the general population were made to understand that they would pardoned and protected if they abandoned the rebellion. The NGOs, government officials (Amnesty Commission officials), political and cultural leaders would come on the radio to explain the concept of the amnesty. These were both live and pre-recorded programmes · Dwog Paco programme. (Come Back Home) This programme started in 2003 to broadcast testimonies and appeals from returnees (These are former rebels and abductees) targeting those still in the rebel ranks.
The programme is aired live three times a week but with no phone calls and at odd hours (10:00-11:30pm) The choice of this time is deliberate and strategic because at this time the rebels are believed to be stationary and listening to the radio. A returnee would be accompanied by one prominent person from the community or a relative to give him or her comfort and confidence. The returnee would be invited on the radio at least twice to dispel the rumours and propaganda by the rebels commanders that the returnees were forced to talk on radio and later killed. Having realised that the programme was causing a number of rebels to escape back home, listening to radio by non-commanders was unacceptable and therefore a serious crime. This did not stop us from going ahead with the programme because we knew they would always find a way of stealthily listening to the radio programme. As is always the case through multiplier effect the programme continued to reach a good number of rebels who would positively respond by escaping from the bush back home. The programme was also used to provide entertainment to the rebels as the returnees on the radio would send greetings to their former colleagues in the bush and ask for favourite songs, It was also used to link the returnees with their family members at home as it became the first channel through which abductees’ family members came to know about them since their abduction or joining the LRA ranks. The Dwog Paco programme was equally important to security agencies as it became the best means to obtain vital information about LRA and its sinister plans. By 2006 over 10,000 returnees had come back home. Most of those interviewed attributing the radio programme and the military pressure as a major factor that influenced their escape from the bush.
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· K abake: Village debate programme which started in 2002 where the communities particularly those in the Internally Displaced Persons Camps (IDPs) freely discuss issues of interest to them. This became a popular forum through which the impoverished people can express their views. The programme is supported by Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAF) · Traditional songs/music Through the radio a number of relevant songs were recorded and aired with messages targeting the rebels and believed to be sympathetic with the rebels · Peace talks Since the inception of peace talks between the government and the LRA the station has been playing a notable role. In 2004 the government and the LRA had demonstrated some seriousness towards peace talks as a better option to resolve the Northern conflict. At this time the government went ahead and appointed its negotiating team. The LRA did not appoint its team. The station ran a series of appeal messages from the government and the people to the LRA leadership to reciprocate the government. This peace talks never materialised as it became apparent that the rebels were not keen at resolving the conflict through dialogue. This was the same period for the first time ever that the LRA leader Joseph Kony called the radio during a live-talk show. This was a landmark for the station because the people and government representatives in the studio for the first time had the rare chance of talking with the elusive rebel leader, though indirectly. Copies of the recordings sold like hot cakes, not by the station but by recording studios that had made off-air recordings. In 2006 a more serious peace talks between the government and LRA was hatched and held in the south Sudanese capital of Juba. Mega FM did its best to inform the people about the peace process and also to be as a channel of communication between the negotiating teams and the people.
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With the signing of cessation of hostilities agreement by the two warring parties the Dwog Paco programme had to stop as it would violate the agreement since it would be considered a hostile propaganda by the rebels. We had become an important source of information not only to the people but also to other media houses particularly the print as the LRA leadership had chosen to channel their messages through Mega FM. Our radio presenter had built a person contact with the LRA leadership which reinforced the rebels confidence and trust in the station. The station was able to send its staff in the wilderness of DRC to interview the LRA leadership during the peace process.
3. Challenges
In executing these roles the station encountered some challenges: · The over sensitive nature of the audience made reporting on some issues very difficult as they would quickly connect any incidence to a particular media report · The difficulty of getting the rebels to give their side of the story · The difficulty to get government clearance to air out views of the rebels · The risks of sending reporters to the field to interview victims of LRA atrocities · Threats from the rebels for having broadcast some programmes or news stories or even songs against them · Using the right judgement to select what to be broadcast as some of the contents of the messages might have provoke the rebels to attack the communities
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the role of the mass media during the 2007 post-election violence in Kenya Peter Oriare Mbeke, Lecturer, University of Nairobi and Regional Coordinator, The Regional Centre for Stability, Security & Peace in Africa
Abbreviations
1.0 Introduction
BBCWST British Broadcasting Corporation World Service CNN Cable News Network ECK Electoral Commission of Kenya ET Expression Today FM Frequency Modulation KHRC Kenya Human Rights Commission KNCHR Kenya National Commission on Human Rights MCK Media Council of Kenya TV Television NARA National Accord and Reconciliation Act 2008 NMG Nation Media Group ODM Orange Democratic Movement ODM-K Orange Democratic Movement Kenya PNU Party of National Unity SG Standard Group SPRR Strategic Public Relations and Research TV Television UN United Nations UNDP United Nations Development Program VOA Voice of America
The role the mass media played in the 2007 post-election violence triggered by flawed presidential elections continue to elicit concerns nationally and from around the globe. Generally, critics argue that the media initially failed to report in full the gravity of the post-election violence and fueled the post-election violence. Others argue that the media were made a scapegoat in the postelection violence. This paper seeks to address the question: How did mass media contribute to post-election violence in Kenya? The purpose of the paper is to examine the contribution of media towards conflict prevention and peace building in the 2007-2008 post-election violence in Kenya. The paper discusses the contributions of media before, during and after the flawed 2007 presidential elections in Kenya.
1.1 Background
When the Electoral Commission of Kenya (ECK), on December 30th declared President Mwai Kibaki, the incumbent, winner of the hotly contested but flawed 2007 presidential elections in Kenya (EU, 20087), the response from disaffected Kenyans was swift and furious. It triggered a crisis of immense proportion never witnessed in post-independence Kenya. The post-election conflict between Party of National Unity (PNU) and Orange Democratic Party (ODM) supporters left over 1,200 people dead, over 350,000 people displaced and property worth billions of shillings destroyed setting the stage for Kenya’s worst humanitarian crisis since the Mau Mau emergency in 1952 (UN, January 2008). Although the dominant perception that PNU rigged the elections triggered the post-election violence, the failure by succeeding governments to address deep seated and sensitive issues of political impunity, land reform, constitutional reform, economic inequality, marginalization and historical injustices provided the foundation for the conflict (National
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Accord and Reconciliation Act (NARA), 2008). Fortunately, with the help of African Union and International Community, the PNU and ODM consented to form a grand coalition government where PNU’s Kibaki and ODM’s Odinga would equally share power as President and Prime Minister respectively. The pact between Prime Minister Odinga and President Kibaki was absolutely necessary to stop the country from sliding into the abyss of anarchy and steer it towards reconciliation and reconstruction. According to the National Accord and Reconciliation Act (NARA 2008), the protagonists are committed to resettle the internally displaced persons (IDPs), reform the ECK, investigate post-election violence, address historical injustices through a truth, justice and reconciliation commission and give Kenyans a new comprehensive constitution within one year. Despite the formation of the grand coalition government, the country is still deeply politically and ethnically polarized over the resettlement of IDPs, roadmap for a new constitution, the review of the performance of ECK and electoral reforms, amnesty for perpetrators of violence and land reforms. The economy is in doldrums with projected economic growth of only 4 percent from projected 7 percent in 2008, soaring inflation of over 26 percent, basic food prices going up to over 36 percent annually (GoK, 2008), a budget deficit of over KShs.30 billion and a serious food insecurity threat.
1.2 Research questions
The main question is: What contributions did mass media make towards the post-election violence in Kenya? The secondary questions are: a) To what extent did the media use hate speech? b) To what extent did the media encourage the use of ethnic stereotypes and metaphors? c) To what extent did the media dramatize conflict and did they dwell on the immediacy of the conflict? d) To what extent did the professional conduct of media owners, editors and journalists contribute to the post-election violence in Kenya?
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1.3 Understanding concepts
The paper explains the following concepts: mass media, hate speech, conflict and peace. The mass media refers to both the traditional major media and new media. The traditional major media include radio, television, newspapers, magazines and billboards while new media comprise the internet and the mobile phone tools such as short text messaging (Dominick, 1994; Sandage, Fryburger and Rotzoll, 2004). The mass media were important channels of communication during political campaigns and conflicts in Kenya. They are often used to influence perceptions, attitudes and habits with a view to mobilize public support either for peace or conflict depending on the political motives of the sources of the messages (Rutten, Mazrui and Grignon, 2001; Chweya (Ed). 2002; Wanyande, Omosa and Chweya, 2007). Generally, social conflict is a struggle between opponents over values and claims to status, power and scarce resources (Coser, 1956). Politically, conflict is an on-going state of hostility between organized groups of people that leads to state instability. Conflicts arise because of competing vested interests and values among groups with irreconcilable goals (Dietz, Stern and Rycroft, 1989). The conflict in Kenya is about rivalry between various political parties and communities for raw political power that guarantees control, dominion and monopoly of the state and resources at its disposal. Hate speech is a form of speech that degrades others and promotes hatred and encourages violence against a group on the basis of a criteria including religion, race, color or ethnicity (KNCHR and KHRC, 2006). It us often manifested in the use of metaphorical language that negatively labels and stereotypes members of other ethnic communities.
2.0 Media scene in Kenya
Kenya has a plural, sophisticated and robust mass media and communication sector that serve the various competing political, social, economic, cultural and technological needs of diverse interest groups (BBCWST, 2008). The sector has grown rapidly in the past 15 years because of a combination of factors including political DEUTSCHE WELLE GLOBAL MEDIA FORUM 2008
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the role of the mass media during the 2007 post-election violence in Kenya
and economic liberalization; and Kenya’s strategic location as a regional and international economic and communication hub. The media earned about KSh.8.4 billion in 2004, KSh.9.3 in 2005 and KSh. 13.6 billion in 2006 (Daily Nation, March 19, 2008). The figure could have double in 2007 owing to the huge advertising budget for ODM and PNU during the 2007 elections. Before 1992, the media scene was small, urban based and less independent owing to repressive media laws and regulation. Today, the media especially radio and television, reaches all urban centers and almost all rural communities. The media are relatively free despite the overbearing government tendencies towards it. The government cracked down on unlicensed media in 2003-2004 and harassed popular radio stations for alleged culturally insensitive programming (BBC News, 2004). Prior to the Referendum on the Proposed Constitution in 2005, the government accused sections of the more assertive and independent mainstream media of sensational reporting and being anti-government. However, critics of government argued that the media were merely pushing further the limits of freedom of expression and the press following decade’s repression under one party rule. The government set out to crack down on dissenting media when it lost the referendum to the ODM. By 2006, a frustrated and unpopular President Kibaki government raided the more assertive Standard Group offices, beat and arrested journalists, destroyed property worth millions of dollars, burnt newspapers, dismantled the printing press, computers, TV masts and shut down the oldest media organization in the country. The entire media fraternity assertively condemned the raid in solidarity with the Standard Group. Faced with an impeding 2007 elections with low popularity ratings, the government abandoned the confrontational strategy and adopted a more conciliatory approach towards media leading to the enactment of the Media Act 2007 that put in place self-regulation mechanisms for the media (Mbeke, 2008). However, the repressive tendencies of government towards media surfaced again when post-election violence erupted following flawed 2007 presidential elections. The government banned live media coverage owing to allegedly national security threats that critics have rubbished as merely excuses to deprive
ODM of the means of communicating with its supporters across the country (ET, March 2008). The broadcasting sub-sector is diverse, dynamic and competitive with substantial reach (BBCWST, 2008). There are about 14 TV and 63 radio stations in Kenya (Steadman Group, 2008). Radio is the number one source of information reaching almost 90 percent of the entire population followed by television reaching about 40 percent and newspapers (30 percent). There are about 7.5 million radio sets (1.9 million in urban and 5.6 in rural areas) and 3.2 million TV sets in Kenya (1.4 million in urban and 1.8 in rural areas) in the country. There are about 16.7 radio listeners across the country with 12.4 million in rural and 4.4 million in towns (Steadman Group, 2008). Interesting developments in the broadcasting sector include the proliferation of FM stations broadcasting in over 21 ethnic languages out of 42 (CCK, 2008). The FM stations broadcasting in ethnic languages command about 30 percent of the market share today. Unfortunately, low professionalism characterizes most of these FM stations because they employ untrained and less experienced journalists. Satellite broadcasting is also thriving particularly among the upper and middle class in urban areas (Howard, 2008). Although the print media has a history of relative independence, it remains an urban phenomenon in Kenya (BBWST, 2008). Kenya has over 8 daily newspapers and over 10 weekly newspapers. The dominant newspapers are the Standard with a daily circulation of 80,000 - 110,000; and Nation newspapers with a circulation of 100,000 – 120,000. A recent development is the proliferation of new media with Kenya boasting of 10.6 million mobile phone owners and 3.2 million internet users. There are over 600 active blogs in Kenya. Safaricom, Kenya’s number one mobile operator commands 70 percent of the market had over 7.4 million subscribers (Business Week, August 2007) with a sales growth of about 36 percent per year. While both Celtel and Safaricom mobile operators offer internet connectivity, only Safaricom, in partnership with Digital Satellite Television (DSTV), offers pay TV services to up-market audiences (Safaricom, 2008).
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There is a tendency towards concentration of media with few politically connected individuals and business organizations owning most of the media (KNCHR, 2007). Kenya Broadcasting Corporation, the oldest and only public broadcaster, has the largest network of TV and radio stations across the country. Although it operates as a semi-autonomous state agency modeled along the lines of British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), KBC is strictly controlled and managed by the government of Kenya (Makali, 2004). KBC radio service, broadcasting in over 21 ethnic languages, is the only network in Kenya with the capacity to reach all audiences across the country. It also operates KBC TV (channel 1), pay TV (channel 2) and Metro TV (channel 31) and K24. KBC largely serves the interest of the government and rarely gives equal opportunity to members of the opposition contrary to the Inter-Party Parliamentary Group recommendations (1997) that it serves all parties equally (GoK, 2007). Royal Media Services, owned by media magnate S.K. Macharia, is the second largest media house in Kenya. It operates a newspaper the Leader; Citizen TV which has a national reach, and several radio stations broadcasting in ethnic languages including Kikuyu (Inooro), Luo (Ramogi), Kamba (Musyi), Luhya (Mulembe). While it is aligned with the PNU, it allows its ethnic channels to identify with the interests of the local political elites and parties in each area.
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the former President Daniel arap Moi and his close aide Joshua Kulei as the key shareholders. Regional Reach, a company owned by media professional, Rose Kimotho, operates the popular Kameme FM which broadcasts in Kikuyu language, as well as the GTV satellite network. Patric Quarcco owns Kiss FM, Kenya’s number one radio for the youth and Nairobi Star, a daily newspaper. Industrialist Chris Kirubi owns Capital Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) that runs CBC TV and Capital FM. Other media include the People (politician Kenneth Matiba), the Kenya Times (formerly owned by KANU), STV formerly owned by professional journalist Hilary Ngweno. Kenya also has a strong faith-based broadcasting media including Hope FM, Radio Waumini owned by the Catholic Church; and Family TV and radio FM owned by Leo Slingerland. A number of international news agencies and organizations operate from Nairobi, Kenya. These include the BBC, VOA, Deutsche Welle, Radio France, Radio China, Al Jazeera and CNN. While the press covers mainly politics and economic issues, the broadcasting stations in Kenya are characterized by heavy music and light entertainment programming lazed with interactive talk shows on politics and current affairs.
3.0 Theoretical framework
The Nation Media Group (NMG) is the largest media network in Kenya with interests in newspapers, magazines, TV and radio. It operates the Daily Nation, Sunday Nation, the Nairobi Metro, the Business Daily, the EastAfrican newspapers as well as True Love, Drum, Tourist Guide, the Business Directory among other magazines (BBC Media Monitoring, 2007). MNG runs the NTV as well as Easy FM (1999) stations both with national reach. NMG is listed on the Nairobi Stock Exchange (NSE) with the Aga Khan as the key shareholder. The Standard Group (SG) runs the popular Kenya TV Network, Kenya’s first private TV station (1989) and the East African Standard Newspapers, the oldest newspapers having started in 1902. The SG is listed on the NSE with Baraza Limited, a company closely associated with
The paper uses theories of modern conflict and mediasociety to explain the contributions of mass media towards the 2007 post-election violence in Kenya. The key assumption of modern conflict theory is that structural inequality and competition over scarce resources cause conflicts (Thompson, 2007; Dietz, Stern and Rycroft, 1989). Indeed, the post-election violence in Kenya was triggered by stiff but flawed political competition for political power that guarantees control of scarce national economic resources. However, weak and ineffectual constitutional and legal frameworks that bred political impunity in all sectors of governance; social and economic inequality and historical injustices such as improper allocation and alienation of communal and ancestral land gave impetus to the conflict. ODM supporters resorted DEUTSCHE WELLE GLOBAL MEDIA FORUM 2008
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the role of the mass media during the 2007 post-election violence in Kenya
to mass action and violence because of the perception that President Kibaki used state power to rig the presidential elections and retain monopoly of state power that would be used to stiff the aspirations of its supporters. The conflict was characterized by a stiff struggle between ODM and PNU supporters on one hand and Kikuyu community and the Kalenjin community over land rights in the Rift Valley. The Kalenjin argued that founding President Kenyatta and the Kikuyu elite used raw power to improperly settle large numbers of Kikuyus in their ancestral land without consent or compensation. Members of the Kikuyu community fought back to protect their land rights, which they claim they bought. According to the media-society theories the mass media plays a critical mediation role between the protagonists in a conflict (MacQuail, 2005). The protagonists often seek out media as tools for reaching the general public and for conveying their competing agendas (KNCHR and KHRC, 2006). In deed, ODM and PNU courted media attention during the conflict with a view to get their messages out. The media as a mediator between reality and perceptions can be seen to play such diverse roles as a window, a mirror, a filter, a signpost, forum, disseminator or an interlocutor (MacQuail, 2005). ÂAccording to the media-society theories, the mass media, therefore, can either be honest or dishonest brokers of peace by the way they handle information. The critical political-economic theory of media-society explains the motivations behind media behavior during conflict. The critical political-economy theory examines the relationship between the political-economic structures and the content of mass media during conflict (MacQuail, 2005). The theory considers the media as part of the political and economic systems and is concerned with how media ownership, media control and market forces influence the coverage of conflicts. There is a close relationship between the media in Kenya and the political and economic systems in Kenya. Licensing of media, until only recently, was closely controlled by the government to the extent that only politically connected individuals or business concerns would practice. Although most broadcasting stations are in the names of various businessmen, it is an open secret that the top politicians own most of the radio and television stations
in the country through shareholding ()KNCHR, 2008). As such, most of the media in Kenya were not fully independent (ET, March 2008; Howard, 2008); tended to avoid economic and political risks; and rarely engaged in thorough investigative reporting during the conflict. In deed, the media in Kenya were co-opted either into the ODM or PNU camps depending on the owner’s political party and ethnic affiliation during the elections and soon after the conflict started. The theory also views media processes as economic activities with the audience being the key product. The media deliver audiences to the advertisers and success depends on the size of audience delivered. In deed, the media in Kenya tended to play to the whims of ethnic audiences which were clearly aligned either to ODM, PNU or ODM-Kenya. As such, the media tended to guide their audiences to view the conflict in a particular way. Therefore, various media houses tended to set various public agendas to suit various ethnic audiences before, during and after the conflict. According to the critical economicpolitical theory, advertising expectations and practice influenced media behavior. It is only by delivering the ethnic audiences that the various media would be guaranteed of receiving adverts. However, this may not be fully true as some FM stations aligned to ODM had a difficult task accessing adverts in a market dominated by a business community sympathetic to PNU (Radio Umoja, 2008).
4.0 Media prior to 2007 post-election violence
The Mass Media in Kenya played a significant role in the 2007 general elections (ET, 2008; BBCWST, 2008). The media supported the efforts of the Electoral Commission of Kenya (ECK) towards the realization of free and fair elections. In deed, the media shaped national and global public opinion, attitudes and practices towards various political parties, presidential candidates and critical issues during elections campaigns in Kenya (UNDP, 2008). Elections present opportunities for making leadership decisions, for holding politicians accountable and, of course, encouraging public participation in decision
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making that shapes the agenda for a nation until another election. The Kenyan media supported this process by investing in additional equipments and staff to effectively monitor and cover the election campaigns and balloting (Mbeke, 2008). The NMG, for instance, financed weekly opinion polls to gauge perceptions on issues and popularity of various parties and presidential candidates. Various TV and radio stations also invested in daily call-in and SMSopinion polls. Apart from making their own investments towards the elections, most media houses benefited from the Joint Elections Assistance Program whose objective was to build the capacity of media to support efforts towards a free and fair election in 2007. The program trained journalists and editors to build their capacity to accurately and fairly report election issues. It also supported media monitoring activities aimed at identifying gaps and issues arising from media reporting of the 2007 election campaigns; and then feed backing to the media with a view to improve the reportage of the campaigns. The program as well as the National Civic Education Program (URAIA) also bought space and airtime to conduct issue-specific media campaigns across media (UNDP, 2008). Apart from mounting their own civic awareness program during election campaigns, the media generally supported the civic education programs conducted by various civil society organizations. For instance the media supported the “Vijana Tugutuke” (Youth stand up it is your turn) campaigns aimed at motivating young people to register as voters and vote in 2007. Over 2 million youth were registered within one year and high voter turnout registered among the youth. Therefore, the media contributed by stimulating the registration and political participation by the youth in 2007 general elections in Kenya (Mbeke, 2008). The mainstream media dedicated several pages and airtime per day on pre-election analysis of various local and national issues (SPRR, 2007). They provided profiles of various political contestants as well as analysis of various critical issues facing all constituencies and municipalities across the country. The TV stations held numer-
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ous live-in-studio audience interactive debates such as Agenda Kenya, Election 2007 and Vote 2007. Through the URAIA program the Luis Otieno Show conducted live-in-studio town-hall-interactive debates from various constituencies across the country. Therefore, the media not only helped voters to make informed choices but also mobilized them to actively participate in the 2007 elections. The FM radio stations broadcasting in ethic languages, most of who are owned or have connections to politicians, played very fundamental roles in mobilizing votes from ethnic voting blocks. They were popular outlets for public debate and expression for the ethnic communities hither to unaccustomed to voicing their concerns publicly through media. Most ethnic FM stations, though lacking in professionalism (Howard, 2008) became mouthpieces of political parties patronized by their audiences (ET, 2008; BBCWST, 2008). For that matter, FM stations broadcasting to ODM constituencies supported the ODM campaign issues and efforts; and FM stations in PNU and ODM-Kenya regions did the same. For instance, Ramogi FM supported the ODM cause in Nyanza where its target audience resides. Despite this, the ethnic FM stations were fundamental in creating civic awareness on local issues and introducing various contestants to local voters. During the voting and tallying of results, the mass media provided consistent flow of updated information on unfolding events across the country. The NMG run a short message service (SMS) showing updates of presidential and party results. The last SMS indicated that ODM’s Odinga had 4.3 million votes while PNU’s Kibaki had 3.7 million votes. The media vigorously held politicians accountable over critical national issues emerging during the campaigns and during balloting. KTN exposed plots to rig elections using Administration Police in Kenya (KTN, December 2007). As public watchdogs the media were the first to bring to public attention the tallying anomalies of presidential votes that led to the current political crisis in Kenya. They also showed live the sharp political divisions and fights at the ECK media centre, where the results were being read, between various political parties, ECK and observers. For the first time in media history DEUTSCHE WELLE GLOBAL MEDIA FORUM 2008
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in Kenya, political bickering and alleged state complicity in election fraud were being played live in Kenyan sitting rooms and public places. The reactions were swift and furious. The GoK reacted quickly and sharply by banning live broadcasts on December 29, 2007. The media also supported the “Chagua amani zui noma” campaign (Choose peace, avoid violence). The campaign aimed at pre-empting violence during elections. The media widely covered the high profile campaigns across the country in solidarity with Partners for Peace, a civil society group. Advertising through mainstream media played an unprecedented role in the 2007 elections in Kenya (Willis, 2008). PNU had the “Domo Domo” (literally “Mouth Mouth” referring to ODM’s empty rhetoric) advert running on all TV and radio stations while ODM’s advert depicted Kibaki as a “chameleon” who cannot be trusted. The political parties spend over Ksh 40 billion most of which went into various forms of political communication including advertising (UNDP, 2008; RECESSPA, 2008). Unfortunately, the significant sections of the media houses were co-opted into political schemes of various political parties and merely acted as propaganda mouthpieces for getting the messages of preferred candidates out and demonizing the opponents (ET, March 2008; Mbeke, 2008). Some articles published by mainstream newspaper were merely propaganda materials such as the one that criticized ODM for hiring Dick Morris, a US based political strategist, as a consultant for ODM’s Odinga (Nation Newspapers, November 17, 2007). Some media houses run adverts that were in bad taste and elicited public outcry about ethics in advertising. The mainstream media were divided over the use of adverts that ordinarily would not run because of partisanship as well as financial gain. Adverts rejected by one media house would run in another. Various bloggers such at www.jaluo.com aired numerous propaganda materials aimed at mobilizing support for Prime Minister Odinga; while anti-Odinga bloggers at www.kenyaimagine.com whipped emotions against Odinga presidency. However, other blogs such as the AllAfrica.com were more objective in their coverage of the elections in Kenya.
Owing to high voltage politics characterized by negative propaganda on the election campaign trail and media, the political tension in the country had reached fever pitch levels. The media reported rising cases of political crime, murders and violence in Kuresoi, Molo and Mt. Elgon areas. In deed, the international media, for instance the The New York Times, warned of eruption of violence in the event that the election results failed to declare an outright winner (The New York Times, December 25, 2007)). Unfortunately, the media had inadvertently laid the foundation for post-election violence by failing to hold government accountable on critical governance issues during the campaign period.
5.0 Media during the post-election violence
Critics have described the role of some Kenyan media soon after the break up of the post-election violence as scandalous (ET, March 2008). Although some journalists and media houses compromised their professional integrity and fueled the violence, some journalists though working under a climate of fear, still provided accurate, balanced and fair reports of the unfolding conflict in Kenya (Howard, 2008).
5.1 Media and hate speech
Generally, the media especially the FM radio stations encouraged hate speech that elicited ethnic hatred and animosity that burst into open post-election violence (BBCWST, 2008; Mbeke, 2008; ET, 2008). Hate speech is a form of speech that degrades others and promotes hatred and encourages violence against a group on the basis of a criteria including religion, race, color or ethnicity. While mainstream media were much more cautious, FM radio stations especially those broadcasting in ethnic languages fueled ethnic hatred and animosity through the use of hate and unsavory language. About 21 ethnic communities have radio stations broadcasting in those languages (CCK, 2008). Some ethnic radio stations broadcasting to Kalenjins in the Rift Valley used to call their Kikuyu neighbors Kenyambi (weeds), while a popular
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Kikuyu radio station often referred to Luos as fishermen (Mbeke, 2008; KNCHR, 2008). In the lead up to the December 2007 elections, some FM stations in the Rift Valley would broadcast messages bordering on incitement against the Kikuyu in the region. One presenter would be heard saying “let’s uproot Kenyambi” (weeds for Kikuyus in the Rift Valley). They described Kenyambi as a stubborn weed which does not go away easily, even under hostile conditions. Kenyambi, the presenter said, spreads slowly throughout the garden with devastating effect. The presenters said to remove it becomes a litmus test during the elections. By doing so, the presenters were merely advocating for the evictions of the Kikuyu from the Rift Valley. On the other hand, some Kikuyu stations ridiculed Luos as simple-minded fishermen that are never satisfied with anything and should be left to do “fishing” (Luos are traditionally a fishing community). Critics have argued that some FM stations deliberately encouraged ill feelings against other communities by giving inordinately a lot of time to hate mongers who talked ill about other ethnic communities perceived as political enemies. Overzealous political party propagandists and bloggers used the mobile phones and the internet to disseminate hate messages such as “the 9 reasons why I cannot vote for Raila” (BBCWST, 2008; ET, March 2008). Political parties and their sympathizers created websites specifically for political campaign propaganda. Anti-Odinga email and SMS messages labeled him as “uncircumcised Luo” and “devil worshipper” while similar sms and e-mail messages depicted President Kibaki as “a chameleon”, “corrupt” and “hyena”. These hate messages encouraged negative ethnicity and hostility between competing communities that fueled conflict. The FM stations sympathetic to ODM encouraged their audiences to actively participate in mass action called by ODM leadership. However, the literal translation of mass action in ethnic languages has different meaning and negative connotation. Most Kenyans understand mass action to mean public confrontation of the enemy. Mass action characterized the one party era in Kenya during which demonstrators fought street battles with
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the police resulting into injuries, loss of life and destruction of property. By calling for mass action, some of the media were encouraging confrontation between ODM and PNU supporters and the police on one hand. Some FM stations broadcasting in ethnic languages gave explicit suggestions to voters on how to deal with members of communities that were perceived to have stolen votes. “Ka ngato okwalo dheri to itime nade? (What do you do to a thief who has stolen your cow? Do you negotiate with him or you teach him a lesson?). Following the ban on live broadcasting from December 30th 2007, most FM radio and TV stations merely reinforced live messages broadcast by BBC, CNN and Al Jazeera that showed violence taking place in various parts of the country. The foreign media showed real time pictures of burning houses, scarred people on the move and even people hacked to death. When people saw or hear of their tribesmen being killed merely because of their ethnic identity, they did similar things to members of other communities living among them. Some media relayed such gory stories that fueled the post-election violence in unexpected places far from the epicenter of the post-election violence. In deed, such messages created animosity and fueled revenge attacks in Nairobi, Central, Rift Valley, Nyanza and Western provinces. During the conflict, ethnic-based FM radio stations especially fueled revenge attacks through sensationally and emotionally reporting the plight of internally displaced persons (IDPs) who were returning to their “ancestral homes”. Most community radio such as Ramogi FM gave a lot of time discussing the tribulations of IDPs in the hands of perceived ethnic enemies. The impact of such messages was immediate and furious. In Naivasha, Luos were burnt to death in houses and those traveling using public transport ejected from vehicles, killed and bodies used to blockage roads. On the other hand, Luos destroyed homes and forcefully evicted Kikuyus from all parts of Nyanza province. The international media especially CNN, BBC and Al Jazzera framed the post-election conflict as a tribal war between Luos and Kikuyus. While the local media did not mention communities in their reportage, the DEUTSCHE WELLE GLOBAL MEDIA FORUM 2008
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international media were explicit in mentioning names of communities engaged in various crimes during the post-election violence (BBCWST, 2008). This kind of reporting excited a lot of passion and fueled ethnic animosity between the two communities. During the conflict FM radio stations broadcasting in ethnic languages urged their tribesmen and women to support positions taken by politicians from their ethnic communities. They acted as the mouthpieces of politicians calling for mass action against the government and other communities. The PNU sympathetic media also broadcast messages calling on their supporters to resist mass action and urged the government to protect Kenyans and their property. While some ethnic stations were explicit and incited audiences to take arms and commit acts of aggression others were implicit and sent hate messages through innuendos. When the violence broke soon after the announcement of the presidential results on December 30th 2007, the community radio tended to give a lot of airtime and prominence to the violence through gore and animated descriptions of what was happening. These kinds of reporting fueled post-election violence. The bloggers, though, broadcasting to small number of voters with internet connectivity, became more active after the ban on live broadcasting. Bloggers were the first to declare that President Kibaki stole elections and inadvertently sparked off demands for mass action in Kenya. Kumekucha.blogspot.com sensationally wrote: Shocker: US Exit Poll Now Shows That Odinga Won Presidential Race Convincingly”; “Exclusive: Kirui the Whistleblower Exposes Hoe they Stole the Presidency”; and All Non-Gema Kenya Army Soldiers sent On Compulsory Leave”. The bloggers churned out very sensational messages some of which described President Kibaki as “Mwizi” for thief. The bloggers sympathetic to PNU called for the arrest of Oginga who they labeled as “murderer” and accused for the post-election violence while those sympathetic to Odinga called for the arrest of President Kibaki for treason (ET, March 2008). Some of these blogs called upon communities to go to war and defend themselves against aggressors.
5.2 Incompetent journalism
Generally, there was an absence of professional conduct in most media prior to and during the post-election violence (Howard, 2008). Most reports were initially not accurate, balanced and fair. Initially, various media got wrong the exact locations of post election violence, the number of people affected and the true picture of what was really going on the ground. Verification of facts was poor and victims of conflict were treated merely as statistics without identities (InterNews Network, 2008). Initially, the media failed to provide background information to the emerging conflict. Analysis of the conflict and the protagonists was poor and this caused a lot of anxiety and confusion among Kenyans. The media failed to identify the underlying issues and interests citing the sensitivity of the situation then. For a long time, the media failed to identify the aggressors and merely called protagonists “armed youths” (InterNews Network, 2008). Lack of training and experience in conflict reporting was to blame for the initial poor reporting of post-election violence (Howard, 2008). Many Kenyan journalists were reporting on conflict for the first time in their careers as the country had been relatively peaceful though low level tribal clashes had occurred in 1992, 1997 and 2002. In any case, most FM stations across the country employed DJs and presenters with no journalistic ability and experience. Kenyan news media have also failed to invest and develop investigative journalism practice within news rooms and were unable to address the critical issues when the conflict erupted. The media training institutions rarely have serious courses on conflict reporting and ethics that would have prepared a cadre of conflict sensitive journalists (International Media Support, 2008). The media houses were also very unprofessional in the manner they handled the release of election results. They released varying, piecemeal and speculative results that caused anxiety and confusion among already anxious voters across the country (ET, 2008; Howard, 2008). It galvanized the perception that the election was rigged. The media also fueled the post-election violence by refusing to stand up to the government and release their
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own versions of the presidential results. Prior to the elections, the media had informed the public that they were investing heavily on monitoring of elections with a view to tally and release results prior to the ECK results. The silence of the media and their claims that their data bases crashed merely galvanized the perception among ODM supporters that the elections were stolen and the media were under intense pressure to cover up. Media supportive of ODM supported ODM position that presidential results were rigged and supported mass action leading to the post-election crisis.
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ers, federalism would guarantee them access to power to correct historical wrongs committed by all powerful central governments since independence. According to PNU supporters, federalism would threaten their land ownership in the Rift Valley and other parts of the country while undermining their economic and business interests. The media laid the foundation for a high-stakes political dwell that stimulated ethnic emotions and passions. By misinterpreting and distorting the debate on federalism, which had negative historical connotations, to suit campaign agendas of ODM and PNU, the media inadvertently ignited the fires of conflict in the event of either of the protagonists losing the 2007 elections.
5.3 Dramatization of conflict
The media generally framed the 2007 elections as a war between the GEMA community (Kikuyu, Meru and Embu) and people from western parts of the country (Luos, Luhya, Kalenjins). The elections were also framed as an extension of the historical rivalry between the Kikuyus and the Luos and a personal duel between President Kibaki, a Kikuyu and Prime Minister Odinga, a Luo. Historical analogies of the political rivalries between President Kenyatta (a Kikuyu) and his former vice-president Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, a Luo and father to Prime Minister Odinga were common place in media. The media highlighted the hotly contested 2005 Referendum to dramatize the antagonism between ODM and PNU. Supported by opinion poll results that showed President Kibaki trailing Odinga by a small margin, the media dramatized the 2007 elections as a life and death contest. According to Kikuyu FM stations, defeat of President Kibaki would spell doom for the community while the defeat of Prime Minister Odinga would condemn Luos to continued untold economic misery. The media set the stage for a bruising election that led to the post-election violence. Prior to the elections, the media mishandled the Majimbo (federalism) debate, which really defined the 2007 elections. According to media supportive to ODM, federalism meant devolution of power and resources to grassroots while to media supportive to PNU, federalism meant eviction of Kikuyus from the Rift Valley and other parts of the country. According to ODM support-
5.4 Partisan news management
The media in Kenya were polarized and co-opted during elections and post-election violence. The Various media houses in Kenya were aligned with either ODM or PNU owing to the increasing polarization of the country along ethnic and political faults. Media ownership also tended to influence the direction of partisanship during the last general elections and post-election conflict. Media owners from the Kikuyu community tended to align themselves with the PNU while those from Rift Valley, Western and Nyanza tended to align themselves with the ODM. Contrary to best practices, none of the media houses explained the rationale for their endorsement of either PNU ODM. During the conflict, the SG owners fired Kwendo Opanga, former Group Managing Editor for SGB, for allegations of bias towards ODM. Such boardroom and shareholder pressures influenced editorial policies of various media during the elections and 足足post-election violence in Kenya. Unfortunately, some editors and journalists were also co-opted to work on behalf of the ODM, PNU and ODM-Kenya (ET, 2008; IMS, 2008; Howard, 2008, BBCWST, 2008). Editors and journalists worked for parties and political candidates as media consultants and strategists without publicly disclosing their self interest in political party activities. The level of co-option and conflict of interest was such that a casual reading of many editorial contents pointed out the direction of political party identification of the journalists, editors and media.
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A good example of the impact of co-option was the reporting of the burning of people in the Eldoret Church on the New Year Day. The media reporting to the Kalenjin community merely reported the facts and treated the incident just like any other news story. However, the media reporting to the Kikuyu audiences engaged in emotional and inflammatory reporting characterized by “they are killing our people” outbursts with some presenters of radio actually breaking down on air (BBCWST, 2008). Therefore, the media were guilty of framing the issues as an ethnic vendetta that promoted the “them-versus-us” that fueled ethnic hatred and revenge attacks. The government imposed a ban on live broadcasting on December 30th 2008 largely because media owners and editors failed to responsibly manage broadcasting during the initial hours of post-election violence. The news managers failed to monitor and edit live broadcasts mainly because of technological challenges. The government justified the ban on live broadcast as a temporary measure to stop FM stations, hijacked by politicians, from continuing to incite different communities to rise up against their neighbors from other communities. Therefore, polarity within the media fueled the violence. The media monitoring conducted by Strategic Public Relations and Research Limited (SPRR) documented the partisan nature of media during the elections and post-election violence. The results indicated the disproportionate coverage of various presidential candidates and parties. The political orientation of various mass media tended to influence the level of coverage given to various parties and presidential candidates. Not all presidential candidates enjoyed equal and equitable coverage by all media. In fact, some media basically gave a blackout to some presidential candidates, who whenever covered, only got a paltry of print and broadcast attention. The conduct of KBC is instructive about the level of partisanship in Kenyan media. According to SPRR media monitoring results, KBC gave President Kibaki 77 percent coverage and Prime Minister Odinga 23 percent coverage during December 2007. Owing to lack of editorial independence and weakness in the KBC Act (1998), KBC was unprepared to deal with the post-election conflict.
5.5 Media and explicit imagery of anguish
The international media played a significant role as a reference platform when the government banned live broadcasts following the eruption of post-election violence (BBCWST, 2008). CNN and Al Jazeera were very explicit in their coverage. They showed live shots of police shooting and killing ODM demonstrators in Kibera slums and Kisumu as well as hacking to death of innocent people by gangs of youth (InterNews Network, 2008). These pictures elicited sharp condemnation from the MCK, the media regulator, and the Office of Public Communication. The two organizations argued that the CNN and Al Jazeera breached international standards of ethical reporting of explicit images of anguish. Although the pictures were disturbing, they exposed the magnitude of the post-election violence in Kenya. KTN’s Innocent Mbaya and his cameraman also caught live on tape how police officer hunted down unarmed demonstrators and shot in cold blood one of the demonstrating youth in Kisumu (KTN, December 2008). Though the initial report did not identify the youth, the KTN crew followed up the story and refuted police claim that KTN was engaged in a smear campaign of the police force. Although the police condemned KTN for engaging in Rambo-like reporting, the KTN crew demonstrated to Kenyans and the world the misuse of the armed forces during the post-election violence and also the level of impunity within the police force. The bloggers were not left behind in this controversy. Afromusings and Ushahidi blogs, hosted by Kenyan bloggers, posted photos of police killing an unarmed petrol attendant, which local new editors had censored (ET, March 2008).
6.0 Media and peace-building after post-election violence
Following the initial shock of the eruption of post-election violence in Kenya, the mainstream media fraternity under the leadership of Media Owners Association (MOA) came together to support peace-building initiatives in the country. All media houses dedicated airtime
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and space to carry messages of peace and healing. They aired special messages from Partners for Peace, a civil society peace building forum, asking ODM and PNU leaders to call upon their supporters to stop the violence; and calling upon Odinga and Kibaki to negotiate a settlement. The media mobilized Kenyans to attend the special prayers for peace for the country on Sunday, 6th January, 2008 and dedicated a special day for peace programming. Saficom and Celltel, the only two mobile phone companies in Kenya, promoted peace through the SMS. For example Safaricom, which has over 7.4 million subscribers, disseminated SMS messages such as: “In the interest of peace, we appeal to Kenyans to embrace each other in the spirit of patriotism, and exercise restraint to restore calm to our nation.” Celtel, which has over 3.2 million subscribers, on the other hand, sent peace messages through SMS saying “One people one nation, choose peace”. Pamoja FM, located and broadcasting with a radius of 5 Km to the 14 villages in Kibera slums which was the epicenter of post-election violence in Nairobi, organized peace events for youths and aired peace messages urging peaceful co-existence in the area. KBC has been supporting the Tumaini na Undugu (Hope and Brotherliness) campaign, a charity supported by KBC, church organizations and private sector, that assists displaced people within the IDP camps (www. tumaininaundugu.org). Radio Umoja in partnership with the Regional Centre for Stability and Peace in Africa conducted live debates to promote peace between January and February. Radio Ramogi called for peaceful co-existence between Luos and Kikuyus in Nyanza and mobilized individuals, churches and private sector to provide relief assistance to IDPS in Nairobi, Central, Rift Valley and Nyanza. The Media Council of Kenya (MCK) put out an advert calling on Kenyans to shun violence and keep peace. They also called the journalists to adhere to ethical standards.
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The NMG’s Easy FM supported VUMA campaign (started by Kenyans in the United States) that collated and aired messages of peace and healing to Kenyans in the Diaspora under the banner of uungana pamoja (come together) and harambee (fund raising). http://archive.peacemagazine.org/v24n2p16.htm (Kenya: Healing the Nation by Katie Meyer) Martin Luther King Africa Foundation awarded in May the Active Non-Violence Award to NTV as the most consistent channel that devoted most airtime to promote non-violence during the conflict. NTV’s Current Affairs Editor Julie Gichuru got special recognition for promoting peace during and after the post-election violence. KTN has vigorously promoted peace building and recently aired Linus Kaikai’s 31-minutes-The Rift In The Valley, a hard hitting documentary that discusses the underlying causes of conflict in the Rift Valley. InterNews Network organized a series of workshops to build capacity of journalists and editors to respond to the unfolding conflict. InterNews Network, the International Media Support, Kenya Editors’ Guild, the Kenya Union of Journalists, Media Council of Kenya and The Kenya Association of Photographers, Illustrators and Designers and the Kenya Correspondents Association have held workshops to build the capacity of journalists to responsibly address peace-building concerns. The media supported the process of initiating mediation efforts between ODM and PNU by calling for urgent settlement of the crisis in their editorials and commentaries. Kofi Annan, the Chief Mediator for the Kenya National Dialogue and Reconciliation Team, for accurately and fairly reporting on the negotiations. The mainstream media provided live coverage of the signing of the power sharing pact by President Kibaki and Prime Minister Odinga. Since then, the media have monitored and highlighted the negotiations of Agenda 4 (for long term issues) and monitored the implementation of the Independent Review Commission, the Independent Inquiry into Post-Election Violence, the Comprehensive Constitutional Review and the Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission. DEUTSCHE WELLE GLOBAL MEDIA FORUM 2008
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The websites, corporate and individual bloggers, played a key role in the peace building and healing of Kenya. Websites and blogs were used to mobilize Kenyans and the international community to respond to challenges in the country.
7.0 Conclusion and way forward
Generally, the media initially did not provide comprehensive reporting on the unfolding post-election violence and also, knowingly or unknowingly, fueled it through the promotion of hate speech, partisan management of news, incompetent journalism and dramatization of conflict situations. Fortunately, media set then agenda for healing and peace immediately after the eruption of post-election violence.
The media scored lowly on the conflict sensitive reporting index. Media reliability standards – accuracy, impartiality, fairness, balance and social responsibility – were often compromised especially among the FM stations, which are the ones with widest reach within the affected regions. The conduct of media during the 2007 elections and post-election violence revealed structural and behavioral constrains within media that require attention if they are to play responsible role in addressing the challenges of the country. There is an urgent need to address the structural and behavioral vulnerabilities that undermine the positive role media could play in peace building in Kenya. The following recommendations suffice: a) Capacity building for journalists and editors on conflict sensitive journalism, media ethics and safety during conflict. b) Strengthening self-regulation mechanisms using MCK and other professional associations to promote professional conduct c) Urgently review and repeal constitutional and Âlegal provisions that hinder the work of media such as the Communication Commission of Kenya Act 1998, Official Secrets Act, Books and Newspapers Act d) Enact progressive media laws such as the broadcasting act, freedom of information act, ICT act,
media policy, hate speech and incitement act and media ownership laws among others. e) Conduct an audit of the role of each media house in order to get a clear picture of their conduct during the 2007 post-election violence. f ) Conduct a survey of the underlying vulnerabilities of media with aim of addressing g) The government must come up with clear guidelines on monitoring media content. h) The government should enact a hate speech law to prohibit politicians and media from airing hate messages. The current subversion and incitement laws are not weak and inadequate in addressing the magnitude of the problems we are facing. i) The Media Council of Kenya should enforce provisions requiring the professionalization of all media houses and news rooms across the country with specific attention to community media. The Media Council of Kenya must as a matter of urgency bring on board all community radio stations and force them to employ qualified journalists. They should harmonize journalism curriculum in Kenya and improve media training for reporters and editors. j) The MCK should move quickly to identify and discipline errant community radio stations that promoted hate speech. k) The government and civil society must strengthen media monitoring of acts of aggression and hate speech with a view to address such potential threats that would lead to further conflict in Kenya.
8.0 Bibliographical information
BBCWST. 2008. The Kenya 2007 Elections and their Aftermath: The Role of the Media and Communication. Business Daily, May 15, 2008 Chweya, Ludeki. (Ed). 2002. Electoral Politics in Kenya. Nairobi: ClariPress. Coser, Lewis. 1956. The Functions of Social Conflict. Free Press. Dietz, T., Stern, P. and Rycroft, R. W. 1989. Definitions of Conflict and Legitimization of Resources:
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The Case of Environmental Resources. Sociological Forum, Vol.4, No. 1, pp. 47-70: Springer. Dominick, Joseph R. 1994. The Dynamics of Mass Communication. Ney York: McGraw-Hill, INC. Expression Today. March 2008. European Union, Election Monitoring Mission, Geneva, January 2008 Gentleman, Jeffrey. 2007. Election Rules Complicate Kenya Race. The New York Times, December 25, 2007. Government of Kenya. 2008. Economic Survey 2008. CBS. Nairobi: Government Press. Government of Kenya. 2008. The National Accord and Reconciliation Act 2008. Nairobi. Government Press. Howard, Ross. 2008. My Tribe is Journalism. Nairobi: IMS. IMS. 2008. Kenya Media Under Pressure: The Nairobi Round Table Recommendations: Nairobi: IMS InterNews Round Tables 2008 Kenya National Commission on Human Rights. 2006. Behaving Badly: Deception, Chauvenism and Waste During the Referendum Campaigns. Nairobi. Mbeke, O. P. 2008. “Kenya Media Legal Framework” in The Kenya 2007 Elections and their Aftermath: The Role of Media and Communication. BBCWST Policy Brief Number 1. Mbeke, O. P. 2008. I Accuse the Press for Igniting Post-Election Violence: Fact or Scapegoat? Daily Nation. (Nairobi), 29 February. Mbeke, O. P. 2008. The Role of the Mass Media in the 2007 Elections and Post-Election Violence in Kenya. Unpublished Seminar Paper. RECESSPA, Nairobi. McQuail, M (2005). McQuail’s Mass Communication Theory. London: Sage Publications. RECESSPA. Proceedings Report of the Public Debate on Political Accountability and Transparency in the 2007 Elections in Kenya, Nairobi, Kenya. Rutten, M., Mazrui, A., and Grignon, F. (Ed) 2001. Out For the Count: The 1997 General Elections and Prospects for Democracy in Kenya. Kampala: Fountain Publishers. Sandage, Fryburger and Rotzoll. 2004. Advertising
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Theory and Practice, 11th Ed. Delhi: A.I.T.B.S. Publishers and Distibutors. Thompson, Allan. (Ed). 2007. The Media and The Rwanda Genocide. London: Pluto Press. Willis, Justin. “What Has He Got up His Sleeve? Advertising the Kenyan Presidential Candidates in 2007” in Journal of Eastern African Studies, Volume 2, Issue 2, 2008: London: Routledge. See United Nations Radio, UN Agencies Respond to Humanitarian Crisis in Kenya, 29 January, 2008. UN Report. March 2008. State Failed to Protect Citizens During Election Unrest. Wanyande, P., Omosa, M., and Chweya, L. 2007. Governance and Transition Politics in Kenya. Nairobi: University of Nairobi Press.
9.0 Internet resources
http://www.guardiannewsngr.com/editorial_opinion/ article02//indexn3_html?pdate=040208&ptitle=The%2 0scandal%20of%20Kenyan%20media&cpdate=050208 http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/25/world/africa/ 25kenya.html?fta=y: http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~content =a792829838~db=all~jumptype=rss http://www.telecompaper.com/news/article. aspx?cid=616877 Telecom Paper downloads.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/trust/pdf/kenya_ media_legal_framework.pdf Kenya media legal framework Oriare Mbeke http://kenvironews.wordpress.com/2008/03/20/statefailed-to-protect-citizens-during-kenya-election-unrestun-report/ http://www.bdafrica.com/index.php?option=com_cont ent&task=view&id=7616&Itemid=5847 http://www.recesspa.org/Documents/REPORT_ON_ POLITICAL%20PARTY%20FINANCING%20IN%2 0KENYA.pdf http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/25/world/africa/ 25kenya.html?fta=y http://www.internews.org/pubs/mediainconflict/ default.shtm http://www.undp.org DEUTSCHE WELLE GLOBAL MEDIA FORUM 2008
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Conference Program Monday, 2 June 2008
0 4:00 p.m. Opening of the international photo exhibition “Child Soldiers – Forced to be cruel”
10:00 a.m. Registration 11:00 a.m. Opening ceremony
Opening address: Erik Bettermann, Director General, Deutsche Welle Welcome address: Andreas Krautscheid, Minister for Federal Affairs, Europe and Media of the State of North RhineWestphalia Keynote speech: Dr. Shirin Ebadi, Lawyer and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Iran 12:00 a.m. S ession 1 Worldwide deployment – What can and must Europe do to prevent conflicts?
Keynotes: Georg Boomgaarden, State Secretary of the Federal Foreign Office David Astley, Secretary-General Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU), Kuala Lumpur Moderation: Christoph Lanz, Managing Director DW-TV, Berlin
04:30 p.m. Session 3 Crouching tiger, hidden dragon – Economic development, political stability and the role of the media in Asia
Introductory remarks: Dr. Frank Appel, Chairman of the Board, Deutsche Post World Net Panel: Dr. Indrajit Banerjee, Secretary General, AMIC/ Singapore Sucharita Eashwar, Regional Director Nasscom, Bangalore, India Prof. Dr. Drew McDaniel, Director, Southeast Asia Studies Program, College of Communication, Ohio University, USA Vincent Brossel, Reporter without Borders, Paris Moderation: Cheche Lazaro, President, Probe Productions, Inc., Philippines 06:00 p.m. Closing (1st day) 06:30 p.m. Reception
hosted by Deutsche Welle 01:00 p.m. Lunch 02:30 p.m. Session 2 Crisis prevention via media intervention
Panel: Erlends Calabuig, Vice President for Strategy, Radio France Internationale Stephen King, Director, BBC World Service Trust Jan Hoek, Director General, Radio Netherlands Worldwide Danforth W. Austin, Director, Voice of America Armen Oganesyan, Director General, Voice of Russia Aref Hijjawi, Programme Director, Al Jazeera Arabic Channel Moderation: Uta Thofern, Editor-in-Chief DW-WORLD.DE 04:00 p.m. Coffee break
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Tuesday, 3 June 2008 09:00 a.m. Registration 10:00 a.m. S ession 4 How can the truth survive? In Africa journalists are often caught between the battle lines
Panel: Claudia Anthony, UN Radio, Sierra Leone Apollonaire Malu Malu, Chairperson of the Independent Electoral Commission, Democratic Republic of the Congo Delphine Djiraibé, Lawyer, National Coordinator of the Peace and Reconciliation Committee, Chad Itai Mushekwe, former political reporter of the Zimbabwe Independent, currently Cologne, Germany Rose Kimotho, Managing Director, Kameme – 101.1 FM, Kenya Moderation: Christopher Springate, freelance journalist, reporter/ presenter, DW-TV Parallel events 10:00 a.m. Symposium (special event) Journalistic training in conflict-related situations
whole day event, hosted by DW-AKADEMIE 10:00 a.m. Workshop The German Armed Forces and their engagement in conflict prevention: The media in a mission of the armed forces?
hosted by: Academy for Information and Communication of the German Armed Forces 11:30 a.m. Coffee break 12:00 a.m. Session 5 Reading between the lies – Perception and prejudice in the Middle East
Panel: Jacky Sutton, Media Projects Manager, UNDP-Iraq, Amman Office Salameh B. Nematt, ex-bureau chief of Al Hayat, journalist
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uamar Orabi, Director General of the Palestinian M television channel Watan-TV David Witzthum, Moderator and Chief Editor, Israel Television (TV Channel 1), lecturer on history and media studies at the Hebrew and Tel Aviv Universities Victor Kocher, Editor, Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Switzerland Moderation: Melinda Crane, Host, DW-TV 01:30 p.m. Lunch 03:00 p.m. Parallel workshops:
errorists online T hosted by: Deutsche Welle Distribution, Africa/Middle East Resources, conflicts and the role of the media hosted by: Bonn International Center for Conversion (BICC) When telling the truth becomes a crime hosted by: International Institute for Journalism (IIJ) of InWEnt mediaME – Sharing tools and approaches for monitoring and evaluation in media development hosted by: Forum Media and Development (FoME) Covering hostile environments: From conflict zones to organized crime hosted by: Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) Globalisation, cultural identity and conflict: Cross-cultural communication and media’s challenge in Asia hosted by: Asian Media Information and Communication Centre (AMIC) Populism and press freedom hosted by: Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS) The path to peace – Can popular media contribute to freedom of opinion? hosted by: Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH 06:00 p.m. Closing (2nd day) 06:30 p.m. Boat trip & dinner
sponsored by DHL
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symposium Wednesday, 4 June 2008
Tuesday, 3 June 2008
09:00 a.m. Registration
10:00 a.m. Opening address:
Gerda Meuer, Director, DW-AKADEMIE 10:00 a.m. Session 6
The use of TV and radio in peacebuilding: Concrete examples (multimedia presentation) John Marks, President, and Susan Collin Marks, Senior Vice President, Search for Common Ground The AoC Rapid Response Media Mechanism (RRMM) Emmanuel Kattan, Communications Director, United Nations – Alliance of Civilizations Citizen-state relations? Expectations – trust: Introducing the public sphere concept into the state-building debate Henriette von Kaltenborn-Stachau, The World Bank, Communication for Governance and Accountability Program (CommGAP) UN experiences in the area of radio/media projects in conflict areas and sustainability Susanne Frueh, Chief, External Relations, Peacebuilding Support Office, United Nations 12:00 a.m. Closing ceremony Final statements 01:00 p.m. Lunch reception hosted by the City of Bonn
10:15 a.m. Session 1 Opportunities through education
Keynotes: Simon Derry, Regional Director for Middle East, Europe and Former Soviet Union, BBC World Service Trust Eberhard Sucker, Journalist and Trainer, DW-AKADEMIE Panel: Dr. Shah Jehan Sayed, Department of Journalism and Media, University of Peshawar, Pakistan Abubakar B. Jijiwa, Director General, Voice of Nigeria, Nigeria 10:45 a.m. Session 2 Quality journalism – Journalistic training in conflictrelated situations: challenges, trends and strategies
Keynote: Dr. Abdul Waheed Khan, UNESCO, Paris, France Panel: Prof. Dr. Drew McDaniel, Director, Southeast Asia Studies Program, College of Communication, Ohio University, USA Kayeromi D. Gomez, President, Center for International Media Ethics – CIME Inc., USA Moderation: Matthias von Hein, Editor-in-Chief, Chinese Program, DW-Radio
program
12:00 p.m. Session 3 Quality journalism – Journalistic training in conflictrelated settings: challenges, dangers and limits
Keynote: Gavin Rees, Dart Centre for Journalism and Trauma Europe Panel: Anja Wollenberg, Head of MICT Berlin, Germany Reach Sambath, Press Officer, ECCC, Phnom Penh, Cambodia Astrid Kohl, Head of InWEnt’s International Institute for Journalism Min Bahadur Shahi, President, Association of Community Radio Broadcasters, Nepal Moderation: Dr. Andrea Rübenacker, Head of Africa Division, DW-AKADEMIE 12:45 p.m. Session 4 The Bonn Network – Enabling rapid action in conflict situations
Panel: Jean Réveillon, Director General, European Broadcasting Union, Grand-Saconnex, Switzerland Dr. Bent Nørby Bonde, Director, Media Progress Erling Dessau, Special Advisor to the Humanitarian Futures Program, Kings College, London Moderation: Adelheid Feilcke-Tiemann, Head of International Affairs, Deutsche Welle
195
3:00 p.m. Session 5 Media diversity – Training for a digital world
Keynote: Dr. Javad Mottaghi, Director, Asia-Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development (AIBD), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Panel: Matthias Spielkamp, Journalist and Trainer, Berlin, Germany Chido Makunike, Journalist, African Web Entrepreneur and Online Writer, Zimbabwe/Senegal Jotman, “Best of Blogs” Premesh Chandran, CEO, Malaysiakini, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Staffan Sonning, Media Development Office, Swedish Radio Moderation: Daniel Hirschler, Journalist and Trainer, DW-AKADEMIE MC: Kateri Jochum, Journalist and Producer, Deutsche Welle 5:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. Session 6 Impact on peace and conflict: What journalists and peacebuilding practitioners need to know about it
Panel: Victoria McColm, Program Specialist “Media & Conflict Program” (Centers of Innovation), United States Institute of Peace, Washington D.C. Vladimir Bratic, Assistant Professor, Communication Studies, Hollins University, Virginia, USA
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bicc authors
bicc authors Almanstötter, Ines. Intern at BICC, MA in Ethnology (Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich), Master of Peace and Security Studies (University of Hamburg). Boemcken, Marc von. Senior Researcher at BICC, MA in Politics, Sociology and International Law (University of Lancaster). Farha, Joe. Intern at BICC, MA in Islamic and Cultural Studies (London School of Oriental and African Studies) Lebzien, Andreas. Intern at BICC, MA Candidate in Political Science (Link Öpings University, Sweden). Majcenovic, Natalie. Intern at BICC, Diploma in International Relations and Defence Studies (University of Ljubljana), Master of Peace and Security Studies (University of Hamburg).
Rush, Philip. Research Associate at BICC, MA Candidate in Political Science (Monterey Institute of International Studies). Stone, Lydia. Consultant on arms control issues, former Researcher at BICC, MA in Conflict Resolution (Bradford University). Vollmer, Ruth. Research Assistant at BICC, MA in Linguistics, Political Science and Psychology (University of Bonn). Warnecke, Andrea. Researcher at BICC, MA in History, Communication & Media Studies and English philology (Bochum University). Zwijnenburg, Wim. Intern at BICC, MA in International Development and Conflict Studies.
Radeke, Helen. Research Assistant at BICC, Diploma in Social Sciences (University of Münster and Institut d’Etudes Politique de Lille), Master of Peace and Security Studies (University of Hamburg).
list of participants Nr
Surname
Name
Institution
Country
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23
Abadi Abadi Abderrahmane Aberle Abhakara Abu Sa’da Achten Acosta Corrales Adam Adams Adisu Adriko Agaeva Aguirre Parada Ahmad Ahmed Ahmed Al Jabi Al Rikaby Al Zaidi Al-Asfar Albuquerque Alpert
Eskandar Reza Ammar Marion Kobkul Fadi Waltraud Laura Gordon Jitka Melkamu Jimmy Irina Roselia Imtiaz Ijaz Shaikh Wasim Naeim Ahmad Abdul Hamid Imad Calquer Sabine
Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle University of Bamberg Deutsche Welthungerhilfe e.V. Elegance Worldwide Co. Ltd. Palestinian News Network Radio + TV (PNN) Deutsche Welle University of Hamburg Media Support Solutions Deutsche Welle German Foundation For World Population The New Vision Deutsche Welle Lateinamerikanisch-deutscher Freundeskreis Düsseldorf Deutsche Welle Power99 The Communicators (Pvt) Ltd. SyriaNobles Radio Dijla Arab Broadcast Forum Palestinian Broadcasting Corporation (PBC) Radio Encontro Deutsche Welle
Germany Germany Germany Germany Thailand Palestine Germany Germany UK Germany Ethiopia Uganda Germany Germany Germany Pakistan Pakistan Syria Iraq Kuwait Palestine Mozambique Germany
list of participants
197
Nr
Surname
Name
Institution
Country
24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88
Altenburg Ambarov Amini Amorin Amuzu Anggraini Aning Ansary Anschlag Anthony Appel Ashtary Asmah Assies Assimenios Astley Austin Avila-Zesatti Azarnoush Azimi Azizi Azizpanah Babadjanova Backmann Bakkar Balasubramanyam Baldsiefen Banerjee Bärthlein Bathe Baumhauer Beauvisage Beck Beck Beckert Beckmann Beilfuss Bel Haj Youssef Belaazi Bello Benden Bensaâd Bergmann Berner Berns Berrenrath Bertram Besser Bettermann Beutler Binger Binkowska Biskup Bittermann Bittova Blaschke Blatzheim Blatzheim Bliznakova Blut Bo Bock Bohland Böhme Bonde
Britta Rovchan G Ali Britta Christiana Muthia Kwesi Maryam Dieter Claudia Frank Kamran Kobby Steven Stamatis David Danforth Cristina-Judith Aida Sharene Reyhaneh Soraya Gulnara Claudia Ammar Ranjitha Susanne Indrajit Thomas Dirk Guido Rolf Candace Johannes Oliver Catherine Joachim Ali Sana Eniola René Mokhtaria Klaus Petra Jessica Sylvia Martina Helmut Erik Martin Doris Anna Dietmar P. Harald Julia Maria Simone Günther Bettina Rosina Tanja Catrin Yi Qun Miriam Sabine Henrik Bent Nørby
Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia
Germany
Deutsche Welle medica mondiale University of Freiburg
Germany Germany Germany Indonesia USA Germany Germany Sierra Leone Germany Netherlands Ghana Netherlands Germany Malaysia USA Mexico Germany USA Germany Iran Usbekistan Germany UAE Germany Germany Singapore Germany Germany Germany Germany USA Germany Germany Germany Germany Tunisia Tunisia Nigeria Germany Algeria Germany Germany USA Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Kenya Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany China Germany Germany Germany Denmark
Kofi Annan Peacekeeping Training Center Deutsche Welle Funk Korrespondenz UN Radio Deutsche Post World Net Radio Zamaneh Daily Graphic Press Now Deutsche Welle Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU) Voice of America CNNExpansion Deutsche Welle FENTON communications Deutsche Welle International In-Service Training Centre for Jornalists Deutsche Welle Alarabiya.net Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle AMIC Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle argus film & video produktion Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle Radio Jawhara L’Expert Thisday Newspaper Group Aachener Zeitung Le Journal d’Oran Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle Coexistence International (Brandeis University) Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle University of Applied Sciences Augsburg Foundation for International Dialogue of the Savings Bank in Bonn Kölner Stadt Anzeiger Humboldt-Universität Berlin DHL Deutsche Welle Blatzheim Networks Telecom GmbH Blatzheim Networks Telecom GmbH Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle Southern Television Guangdong Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn WDR Deutsche Welle Media Progress
DEUTSCHE WELLE GLOBAL MEDIA FORUM 2008
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Nr
Surname
Name
Institution
Country
89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153
Boogerd, van den Bosco Mayiga Bosire Boskovitch Böttcher Böttcher Boukar Koura Boulad Kiesler Boulé Boye Boyle Bratic Brauer Brossell Buehler Buerkin Burghof Burre Busche Buth Butsadeene Butyrskyi Calabuig Calmbacher Camara Carneiro Castro Chaisataya Chamwada Chandran Chaniago Chawaf Chen Cherniavska Christen Christensen Cichoka Cirollies Clauditz Collin Marks Cook Coombes Cooper Cowan Crane Croll Culme-Seymour Culme-Seymour Custódio Czernik Czymoch Dadge Daniels De Almeida Barroso de Jong Deckert Dedic Dege Degen Delhvi Dembowski Denzer Derckum-Ghommidh Derry Desouza
Leon John Bogonko Angela Napawan Jürgen Gremah Brigitte Fabrice Daniel Sharmini Vladimir Carolin Vincent Alexander Claudia Ansgar Katja Daniel Matthias Sonchit Zakhar Erlends Susanna Edouard Julia Maria Isabel Peñalosa Ratanaporn Alex Premesh Delly Lina Shanzhe Elena Darcy Miriam Anna Ina Ursula Susan Douglas Bryan Allen Floyd Anthony Melinda Peter Michael Christin Giordano Ulrich Conny David Linda Marta Sarah Nadja Jessica Stefan Guy Schazia Sara Hans René Monika Simon Alvito
Radio Nederland Training Centre Uganda Media Development Foundation AFP
Netherlands Uganda Kenya Germany Germany Germany Niger Egypt Switzerland UK Sri Lanka USA Germany France Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Thailand Germany France Germany Germany Germany Mexico Thailand Kenya Malaysia Indonesia Syria China Germany Switzerland Germany Switzerland Germany Germany USA Germany UK UK Singapore Germany Germany Singapore Singapore Cape Verde Germany Germany Austria Philippines Germany Belgium Germany Germany Germany Belgium Germany Germany Germany Germany UK Belgium
Radio Anfani InfoSud Press Agency VT Communications Young Asia TV Hollins University Ruhr-University of Bochum Reporter without Borders KfW Entwicklungsbank Deutsche Welle Stiftung Entwicklungszusammenarbeit Baden-Württemberg (SEZ) gtz Bundesregierung für Kultur und Medien (BKM) Deutsche Welle Radio France Internationale Deutsche Welle UN Volunteers Deutsche Welle El Universal Citizen Television Malaysiakini PT Televisia Jakarta Indonesia Arabesque FM 21st Century Business Herald Fondation Hirondelle Hamburg University EBU – European Broadcasting Union Deutsche Welle Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Search for Common Ground UN Volunteers VT Communications InterMedia UK XL Magazine Deutsche Welle Bonn International Center for Conversion (BICC) DHL DHL Radio Morabeza/Praia FM
International Press Institute (IPI) Environmental Broadcast Circle (EBC) Deutsche Welle International News Safety Institute DHL Westfälische Wilhelms Universität Münster Deutsche Welle European Journalism Centre Ernst-Moritz-Arndt Gymnasium Development + Cooperation World Security Network Deutsche Welle BBC World Service Trust SIGNIS, International Catholic Association for Social Communication
list of participants
199
Nr
Surname
Name
Institution
Country
154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218
Dessau Dickmann Diebold Dietz Dirschauer Dittscheid Djiraibé Dlamini Dodi Doktor Dongozi Döring Doua Dregger Dreyer Duda-Zietek Düttmann Dvorson Eashwar Ebadi Ecker Eckoldt Edelmann Eder Edgar Eickhoff Ekkert El Kaoutit El Khazen El Hage Elbuzay Elhenawy Elías Elmer Elsig Emmes Engel Engel Engels Engmann Equinet Erb Erhardt Evenstein Farha Fariborz Faroughi Faruk Fathy S.H. Fazlagic-Sestic Fazli Fechner Feilcke-Tiemann Ferger Fernandes Ferrari Ferreira Filaj-Ballvora Findeisen Finke Firsbach Firtz Fisahn Fischer Fischer
Erling Daniele Alfred Christoph Babette Sandra Delphine Menzi Auron Markus Foster Tobias Malika Leila Maja Anna Jadwiga Tobias Alexa Sucharita Shirin David Sven Wolfgang Julia Alistair Adi Marta Khalid Mazen Nakhle Ibrahim Mohmed Ibrahim Nahla Jorge Christina Alexander Manfred Dagmar Nikolas Simon Christian Remi Sebastian Stefanie Marianna Joe Arian Jamsheed Dalhatu Natour Belma Ziulhaq Anne Adelheid Nina Carla Mirjam Jannie Vilma Karla Rainer Johannes Susanne Julia Ute Jörn
Kings College, London Bonn International Center for Conversion (BICC) Tirana Times CAMECO Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle Peace and Reconciliation Committee The Times of Swaziland Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle Zimbabwe Union of Journalists University of Dortmund Deutsche Welle OVI-Magazine Deutsche Welle WDR Radio Q Deutsche Welle Nasscom
France Germany Albania Germany Germany Germany Chad Switzerland Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Portugal Germany Germany Germany Germany India Iran Germany Germany Germany Germany Canada Germany Germany Germany Lebanon UAE Sudan Germany Argentina Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany
Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS) Academic Council on the UN System (ACUNS) Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia Deutsche Welle Radio Voice of Libanon MBC Group SRTC Radio Deutsche Welle La Nación dpa argus film & video produktion Federal Foreign Office Deutsche Welle Fernuniversität Hagen BiTS-News Deutsche Welle Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia Deutsche Welle Bonn International Center for Conversion (BICC) Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle Freedom Radio 99.5FM KANO Farah TV Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle Universität Bochum Deutsche Welle Media 24 Deutsche Welle dpa Deutsche Welle WDR Ruhr-University of Bochum medica mondiale Deutsche Welle
Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Nigeria Jordania Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany South Africa Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany
DEUTSCHE WELLE GLOBAL MEDIA FORUM 2008
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Nr
Surname
Name
Institution
Country
219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283
Flunkert Förnzler Förster Fouad Francisco Franik Franzen Frère Freund Fromman Frueh Fuchs Fuss Gachiri Galetti Galkina Ganns Garcia-Ziemsen Gartmann Gasparyan Geelani Gehringer Gehrke Gellert Gerlach Gesterkamp Ghahari Gillert Giri Gisen Gleich Glenewinkel Gnad Göbel Goian Gold Goldenberg-Huang Golinske Golla Golte-Schröder Gomez Gonzalez Gothe Götze Gouda Gramsch Granier Greber Greiner Grimm Gröniger-Bleicher Grote-Beverborg Gruber Gualtiero Guhlemann Gülsah Gulyas Guneser Guneser Haake Habann Haberstein Haese Hafez Hahn
Karen Karen Lars Ansgar Sherif Marilou Dietmar Volker Marie-Soleil Alexander Barbara Susanne Claudia Peter Albert Nino Anna Harald Ramón Fabian Hasmik Gowhar Thomas Mirjam Andrea Dörte Harald Keivandokht Sonja Evgenija Christoph Michael Klaas Martina Alexander Oleksandr Jim Rina Cäcilia Kristian Sybille Kayeromi Gabriel Doris Janosch Dina Christian Marcel Francoise Pascal Claus Annelie Tobias Barbara Zambonini Kerstin Dogan Marta Havin Senem Gianna Frank Nelli Christiane Mona Oliver
Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger UN Volunteers Reporter without Borders League of Arab States Net 25 Deutsche Welle gtz Panos Institut, Paris Deutsche Welle
Germany Germany Germany Egypt Philippines Germany Germany Belgium Germany Germany USA Germany Germany Kenya Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Ukraine USA Germany Germany Germany Germany USA Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Venezuela Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Denmark Germany Germany Switzerland Germany Germany Germany Germany
Peacebuilding Support Office, United Nations Deutsche Welle German Armed Forces NTV Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS) Deutsche Welle CIS Deutsche Welle Badische Zeitung WDR Deutsche Welle Tagesspiegel, Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle dpa Reporter without Borders Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia Peace Counts Media in Cooperation and Transition (mict) Zeitungsverleger Verband NRW Deutsche Welle University of Kiev Arab Broadcast Forum Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle Netzwerk Friedenskooperative Deutsche Welle Center for International Media Ethics – CIME Inc. Deutsche Welle Welt Sichten argus film & video produktion Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle RCTV Deutsche Welle InWEnt Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle WDR Ruhr-University of Bochum WDR Deutsche Welle Mesopotamia Broadcast A/S Roj TV Deutsche Welle University of Zurich DHL Deutsche Welle Ruhr-University of Bochum University of Dortmund
list of participants
201
Nr
Surname
Name
284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330
Hajduk Hajjawi Halilaj Hambardzumyan Hammad Hammou Hamzawy Hankošcˇáková Hans Härdtl Harmat Harnischfeger Hartley Hartstein Hartwig Hasmik Hauptmann Hayek Hein Heinke Heinrich Heinz Heinze Hellema Henriksen Herbert Hernández-Vásquez Herrmann Heyder Hijjawi Hildebrand Hilpron Hinners Hirsch Hirschler Hirschler Hodali Hoek Hoesmann Hoffmann Hoffmann Hoffmann Hoffmann Höhl Hohn-Berghorn Hoschek Hruschka
Michael Bassam Ediol Rima Areej Sharon Amr Andrea Stehling Wighard Peter-Andreas Manfred Wyndham Reinhard Bastian Gasparyan Martina Mazen Jürgen Susanne Melina Joachim Steffen Marte Per Bernd A. Rosabel Dieter Felix Aref Bettina Serge Christoph Swantje Daniel Michael Diana Jan C. Tim M. Claudia Johannes Lina Bernd Gabriele Maria Christoph Wolfgang
331 332 333 334 335 336 337 338 339 340 341 342 343 344 345 346 347 348
Htar Huckerby Huhn Humeid Humeid Hungwe Hyder Ibrahim Ibrahim Ibrahim Mohmed Ibrahim Idris Igambi Ilechukwu Inowlocki Iqyazar Iraci Isaid Islam
Htar Myint Martin Monika Ahmad Bashar Boldwill Beatrice Sevan Jihad Elbuzay Yusuf Herman Jackson Tania Razmik Jane Mustafa Riazul
Institution
Country
Int. Distrib. Agency (IDA) Ora News TV Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg AmmanNet WDR Carnegie Endowment for International Peace Ministry of Defence, Slovak Republic gtz Foundation for International Dialogue of the Savings Bank in Bonn Deutsche Welle Deutsche Post World Net Business Day Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle WDR Deutsche Welle MBC Group dpa Bonn International Center for Conversion (BICC) University of Bonn Katholische Nachrichtenagentur Deutsche Welle European Centre for Conflict Prevention Deutsche Welle US-Generalkonsulat Düsseldorf Lateinamerikanisch-deutscher Freundeskreis Düsseldorf Deutsche Welle dpa Aljazeera Deutsches Institut für Menschenrechte Nomade FM Deutsche Welle Hessischer Rundfunk Deutsche Welle Deutscher Journalisten-Verband Deutsche Welle Radio Netherlands Worldwide Federal Foreign Office Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle gtz Stadt Bonn Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS) Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) The Voice Weekly Westfälische Wilhelms Universität Münster SYNTAX Deutsche Welle Internationales Institut für Journalismus (IIJ) Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle Universal Art Prod. (UAP) SRTC Radio Deutsche Welle Royal Media Sustainable Development Initiatives Small Arms Survey Ishtar TV Independent Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle
Germany Jordan Albania Germany Jordan Germany USA Slovakia Germany Germany Germany Germany South Africa Germany Germany Germany Germany UAE Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Netherlands Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Palestine Germany Niger Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Netherlands Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Myanmar UK Germany Jordan Germany Germany Germany Germany Lebanon Sudan Germany Germany Nigeria Switzerland Iraq UK Germany Germany
DEUTSCHE WELLE GLOBAL MEDIA FORUM 2008
202
Nr
Surname
Name
Institution
Country
349 350 351 352 353 354 355 356 357 358 359 360 361 362 363 364 365 366 367 368 369 370 371 372 373 374 375 376 377 378 379 380 381 382 383 384 385 386 387 388 389 390 391 392 393 394 395 396 397 398 399 400 401 402 403 404 405 406 407 408 409 410 411 412 413
Jacob Jaeger Jaine Jane Jankowski Jannusch Janssen Jauck Jazaeri Jeppesen Jessen Jew Jibril Jijiwa Jijiwa Jochum Jooß Jose Jossart Tenz Jotman Jovanic Joyce Joan Jung-Grimm Kaberia Kahn Kain Kamme-Davies Kang Karam Karari Kashani Kattan Kavugho Karondi Keel Keivandokht Kelemen Kelmendi Kern Khan Khodabakhsh Khoscham Khoury Kieß Kilian Kimotho Kindermann King King Kiplagat Kirchhof Kirchner Kirschner Kisner Kiwango Klassen Kleymann Klint Kloss Knapp Kneller Knodel Knott-Wolf Knudsen Kochendörfer-Lucius Kocher
Olaf Gernot Caroline Tomas Jaromir Sofie Gaby Werner Shayesteh-Shirin Helle Nadia Lei Ling Babangida Salisu Aishat Abubakar Abubakar B. Kateri Siegfried Sofia Courtney
Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS) Deutsche Welle Albany Associates Radio Mundial-Mozambique Deutsche Welle Catholic Media Council Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle WDR FENTON communications Aminiya Voice of Nigeria Voice of Nigeria Deutsche Welle German Armed Forces University of Coimbra Deutsche Welle jotman.com Deutsche Welle Africa News Deutsche Welle Capitol FM Workman Publishing AKE Group, Ltd.
Germany Germany UK Mozambique Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany USA Nigeria Nigeria Nigeria Germany Germany Portugal Germany Thailand Germany Netherlands Germany Kenya USA UK Germany China Israel Germany Iran USA Congo Switzerland Germany Germany Germany Germany France Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Kenya Germany UK Belgium Kenya Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Austria Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Switzerland
Aleksandra Wangui Andrea Judith Leora Andrew Susann Bing Suheil Peter Mwaura Mohammad Reza Emmanuel Clarisse Guido Ghahari Monika Mimoza Vera Abdul Waheed Davoud Elahe George Annette Ute Maria Rose Rotger Stephen Matthew Bethuel Tobias Henner Harald Elena Wilhelm Andrew Claudia Britta Christiane Sarah Heinz Mercedes Sosa Yvonne Brigitte Henning Gudrun Victor
China Daily Radio Asshams Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg IRIB (Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting) Alliance of Civilizations | United Nations Zürcher Hochschule für Angewandte Wissenschaften Deutsche Welle gtz Deutsche Welle University of Passau UNESCO Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle
Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia Kameme – 101.1 FM Vereinigung Europäischer Journalisten BBC World Service Trust East West Institute International Resources Group Coordinating Office Nairobi InWEnt Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS) Deutsche Welle Freiburg University Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle International Press Institute (IPI) Ruhr-University of Bochum Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle Ruhr-University of Bochum Fernseh-Informationen Deutsche Welle InWEnt Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ)
list of participants
203
Nr
Surname
Name
Institution
Country
414 415 416 417 418 419 420 421 422 423 424 425 426 427 428 429 430 431 432 433 434 435 436 437 438 439 440 441 442 443 444 445 446 447 448 449 450 451 452 453 454 455 456 457 458 459 460 461 462 463 464 465 466 467 468 469 470 471 472 473 474 475 476 477 478
Koesoemawiria Kohl Köhler Kohnen Kolbaneva Koltermann Koßmann Kösters Kraus Krautscheid Kriechel Kritsch Krzeminski Kudascheff Kuhlen Kuhlmann Kunze Küppers Kuzmov Kwenda Kwesi Lazaro Lange Lansner Lanz Lawal Lebzien Legowo Lehmann Leite-Wendel Lemke Leusch Li Li Linnarz Lippold Löber Loewenberg Loghin Löll Lublinski Lucas Lugthart Luo Lusaka Lyu Macovei Mädje Maercks-Franzen Mähren Majcenovic Majer Makinde Makunike Malu Malu Mantello Marcelli Mares Awe Marks Martens Martin Martinovic Mast-Kirschning Matthes Matthews
Edith Astrid Jenny Petra Svetlana Felix Ute Thomas Diana Andreas Beate Manfred Michael Alexander Horst Michael Ralf Andrea Taras Stanley Aning Cheche Ute Thomas Christoph Ahamadu Tijani Andreas Vidi Athena Dewi Ana Priscilla Frank Patrick H. Xiaoming Jing Paul Eva Kathrin Shira Peggy Lena Jan Grahame Sarah Yu Jillian Tony Young S. Georgiana Catalina Friedhelm Ulrike Marion Natalie Richard Isikilu Ajani Chido Apollonaire Peter Stefano Mary John Tora Anne-Julie Marina Ulrike Georg Petra
Deutsche Welle Internationales Institut für Journalismus (IIJ) Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle TV Kaskad Kontext Nahost Deutsche Welle WDR Deutsche Welle Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia medica mondiale Deutsche Welle University of Applied Sciences Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle WDR DHL Deutsche Welle Thomson Foundation Inter Press News Service Bonn International Center for Conversion (BICC) Probe Productions, Inc. InWEnt Columbia University, Shala Albana, Press Now Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle Bonn International Center for Conversion (BICC) Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle Nanfang Daily Newspaper Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS) Deutsche Welle WDR gtz Outward Bound Center for Peacebuilding Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle WDR Deutsche Welle UN Volunteers UN-SPIDER Ruhr-University of Bochum
Germany Germany Germany Germany Russia Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany UK Zimbabwe Ghana Philippines Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany China Germany Germany Germany Germany USA Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Nigeria Senegal Congo Japan Italy USA USA Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany
Deutsche Journalistinnen- und Journalisten-Union Deutsche Welle Bonn International Center for Conversion (BICC) Deutsche Welle Ewekoro Local Government Africa News Network Independent Electoral Commission Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University Information Safety and Freedom Fox News Search for Common Ground WDR Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle
DEUTSCHE WELLE GLOBAL MEDIA FORUM 2008
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Nr
Surname
Name
Institution
Country
479 480 481 482 483 484 485 486 487 488 489 490 491 492 493 494 495 496 497 498 499 500 501 502 503 504 505 506 507 508 509 510 511 512 513 514 515 516 517 518 519 520 521 522 523 524 525 526 527 528 529 530 531 532 533 534 535 536 537 538 539 540 541 542 543
Mazzone McAuley McColm McDaniel McQuade Meichsner Meißler Mercadante Mercado Heredia Merz Merz Meuer Meuter Meyhoeffer Middleton Mikhail Millard Minwegen Mir Mitschke Mittler Moeller Moesch Mohamad Mohammadi Mohammed Mohr Mohrhardt-Termeche Mohyi Möller Montoiro Allue Moore Moreira Mottaghi Mousavi Muamar A.O. Mudhoon Muganda Mukasa Nsubuga Mulapa Müller Müller Müller-Hofstede Mummert Muno Muñoz Münz Musharbash Mushekwe Musila Muskheladze Mwagodi Mwakideu Mysorekar Nachtigall Nakhla Naser Naseri Nasir Natoor Negash Nematt Nesa Newel Ngamprasert
Giacomo Rouven Victoria Drew Scott Claudia Christine Pina Isabel Esther-Marie Carola Gerda Sacha Frederik Melisande Joseph Marius Norbert Hamid Michaela Philipp André Thomas Ibrahim Narges Ahmed Zainab Barbara Anne Bahram Beatrice Marcos Paulette Marcelo Javad Maryam Nakhla Loay Clay Henry Fredrick Melanie Uta Christoph Julia Martin Pedro Michael Yassin Itai Jessica Nato Isabella Alex Sheila Marei Muamar A.O. Sakher Masoumeh Muhammad Fathi Mesfin Salameh Nazmun Angelika Chusri
EBU – European Broadcasting Union
Switzerland
United States Institute of Peace Southeast Asia Studies Program, Ohio University UN Volunteers Deutsche Welle InWEnt Deutsche Welle Padem Deutsche Welle Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS) Deutsche Welle Fribourg University argus film & video produktion Center for International Media Ethics – CIME Inc.
USA USA Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Switzerland Germany USA
Ruhr-University of Bochum Foundation for International Dialogue of the Savings Bank in Bonn Geo TV Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS)
Germany Germany Pakistan Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Iran Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany USA Brazil Malaysia UK Kuwait Germany Kenya Uganda Ghana Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Kenya Germany Germany Germany Kuwait Syria Netherlands Germany Palestine Ethiopia USA Germany Germany Thailand
Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle WDR UNCCD Secretariat Eastern Mennonite University TV Globo Network Asian Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development (AIBD) Watan TV Deutsche Welle Daily Nation The New Vision Deutsche Welle Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung Deutsche Welle Deutsche Post World Net Deutsche Welle SPIEGEL ONLINE Zimbabwe Independent University of Erfurt Freie Universität Berlin Kenya Television Network Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle Watan TV Dar Al-Baath Radio Zamaneh Center for Development Research (ZEF) FARAH TV Addis Neger Newspaper The Daily Star / Weekly 2000 Deutsche Welle The Nation
list of participants
205
Nr
Surname
Name
Institution
Country
544 545 546 547 548 549 550 551 552 553 554 555 556 557 558 559 560 561 562 563 564 565 566 567 568 569 570 571 572 573 574 575 576 577 578 579 580 581 582 583 584 585 586 587 588 589 590 591 592 593 594 595 596 597 598 599 600 601 602 603 604 605 606 607 608
Niepalla Nikaeen Njoroge Nolting Nooke Norden Novillo Nowotny Nünning Nusseibeh Nutt Nuweiri Nyborg Nyei Obolenski Ochoa Odehnal Oganesyan Oganesyan Ogunsade Ohiokhara Okidi Okoye Okurut Orabi Orellana Oriare Mbeke Osang Ose Ose-Lemm Othman Otieno Ould Hamoudy Ouma Bwire Owuor Pandza Pani Pasuhuk Peeters Penshorn Permadi Peschel Petersen Petersmann Peuke Peymoodeh Philipp Pianka Pieper Platzer Podeszfa Poll Pott Pregla Protze Przybilski Pukahuta Pullano Purssey Qiu Quilling Rabbe Rabe Radeke Raffelberg
Peter Samira Susan Ralf Günter Frank Raul Burkhard Volker Lucy Kathrin Mohmoud Katja Ahmed Oleg Jorge Harald Armen Irina Katrin Patricia David Patrick David Muamer Eduardo Peter Helmut Dieter Bettina Miraji Charles Mohamed Kaber Stephen Henry Dragana Pandeli Hendra Yvo Birte Renata Sabine Sabine Sandra Katharina Afsaneh Peter Fabian Dominik Michael Leana Myriam Simone Corinna Manfred Nadine Bhilaibhan Patrizia Gaz Yingmin Ina Christiane Hans-Joachim Helen Joachim
Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle DHL Deutsche Welle Federal Foreign Office Deutsche Welle
Deutsche Welle Eastern Standard Radio Mauritania Daily Nation Nations Media Group Ruhr-University of Bochum Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle Brussels Post / Detroit Gazette University of Dortmund Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle UNRIC Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle General-Anzeiger Bonn Global View, Akad Forum Aussenpolitik University of Nottingham IDRC Deutsche Welthungerhilfe e.V. Deutsche Welle DJU Ruhr-University of Bochum Sukothai Thammathirat Open University Ruhr-University of Bochum Centurion Risk Assessment Services, Ltd. Ruhr-University of Bochum
Germany Germany Singapore Germany Germany Germany Bolivia Germany Germany Israel Germany Egypt Germany Germany Germany Mexico Germany Russia Russia Germany Nigeria Uganda Germany Uganda Palestine Chile Kenya Germany Germany Germany Germany Kenya Mauritania Uganda Kenya Germany Germany Germany Belgium Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Austria UK Switzerland Germany Germany Germany Germany Thailand Germany UK Germany
Deutsche Welle gtz Bonn International Center for Conversion (BICC) IREX
Germany Germany Germany Egypt
Funk Korrespondenz Institute of Modern Media Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich Sharm Radio & TV Hamburg University Deutsche Welle El Universal Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS) Voice of Russia Voice of Russia Deutsche Welle DAAR Communications PLC Mega FM Embassy of Nigeria Radio Veritas Watan TV Universidad de Chile School of Journalism, University of Nairobi Deutsche Welle Academy of the German Armed Forces
DEUTSCHE WELLE GLOBAL MEDIA FORUM 2008
206
Nr
Surname
Name
Institution
Country
609 610 611 612 613 614 615 616 617 618 619 620 621 622 623 624 625 626 627 628 629 630 631 632 633 634 635 636 637 638 639 640 641 642 643 644 645 646 647 648 649 650 651 652 653 654 655 656 657 658 659 660 661 662 663 664 665 666 667 668 669 670 671 672 673
Rahmanzadeh Rahn Rahnert Rajaonarison Ramirez Rao-Erdem Rascher Rasmussen Raubold Rees Reich Reid Renan Estenssoro Valdez Reske Réveillon Rieger Ristan Röben Römer Rörig Rosenberger Rosenthal Rübenacker Ruetz Ruigies Rush Sadoun Safi Sagurna Said Sakunda-Ndhlovu Saleh Salehi Salzwedel Sambath Samimy Sampaio Sanchez Sanz Sarin Sarkodie Sattar Sauer Schadomsky Schaeffer Schäfer Schäfer Schäpers Scheibe Schell-Faucon Scherer Scheunemann Schim van der Loeff Schließ Schlüter Schlüter Schmechel Schmidl Schmidt Schmidt Schmidt Schmidt Schmidt Schmidt Schmitt-Sausen
Ahad Sascha Lydia Faly Ilona Sunanda Tilman Finn Nadsupa Gavin Valentina Rupert José Jürgen Jean Thomas Daniela Bärbel Manuela Horst Dalibor Björn Andrea Eckhard Bettina Phil Britta Mohammad Haroon Georg Amina Bismarck Ibrahim Mahmood Benjamin Reach Said Musa Madalena Angela Rocio André Jacob Abdus Uwe Ludger Ute Philipp Elke Maria Alexander Stephanie Sonia Michael Bram Gero Nora Stefan Kathrin Sophia Andrea Bettina Fabian Christoph Nils Valentin Gero
University of Bonn DJV Nordrhein-Westfalen e.V. Deutsche Welle IJP Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle International Media Support
Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Denmark Thailand UK Germany UK Bolivia Germany Switzerland Germany Germany Germany
Dart Center Europe Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS) Dart Center Europe Journalist Association of La Paz Foundation for International Dialogue of the Savings Bank in Bonn EBU Deutsche Welle Goethe-Institut welt-sichten Fachhochschule Bonn-Rhein-Sieg Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle CIM / Mediamost Bonn International Center for Conversion (BICC) DHL Sanayee Development Organization – SDO UN Volunteers University of Freiburg Deutsche Welle Bonn University ECCC Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle International Organization for Migration – IOM Deutsche Welle Angel FM Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle Reporter without Borders Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS) Deutsche Welle gtz DHL Federal Foreign Office European Investmentbank Deutsche Welle University of Dortmund Federal Foreign Office Ruhr-University of Bochum UNU-EHS Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle
Deutsche Welle
Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Afghanistan Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Cambodia Germany Germany Germany Switzerland Germany Ghana Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Luxembourg Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany
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207
Nr
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Name
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674 675 676 677 678 679 680 681 682 683 684 685 686 687 688 689 690 691 692 693 694 695 696 697 698 699 700 701 702 703 704 705 706 707 708 709 710 711 712 713 714 715 716 717 718 719 720 721 722 723 724 725 726 727 728 729 730 731 732 733 734 735 736 737 738
Schmitz Schneider Schneider Schoemaker Schoessler Scholastica Scholtys Scholz Scholz Scholz Schott Schottka Schröck Schröck Schröder Schulenburg Schure Schürhoff Schwaller Schwarz Seeberger Seelig Sen Seneviratne Sertz Sesay Sestak Shahi Shala Shamy Shantiai Sharaf Shariff Shehu Shojaei Shrouf Shuka Siatkova Siebertz Siepmann Simsek Sinnhuber Sinyan Sitzenfrei Skerath Smith Smyth Solbach Solbach Sollich Sonning Soraya Soric Souaid Spielkamp Spies Spießmann Springate Stammnitz Stark Stausberg Stehling Steller Stenz Stephany
Tanja Petra Timo Emrys Martin Mazula Britta Horst Jan-Philipp Sabrina Hendrik Alexandra Sandra Christiane Ulrike Bernhard Jolien Roland Renee Thomas Eva Klaus-Dieter Philip Kalinga Norbert Bai-Bai Blanka Min Bahadur Albana Marwa Mehri Susan Ahamed Usman Mitra Naser Anila Yuliya Marco Ralf Ayhan Hella Pa Momodou Christoph Barbara David Frank Wilfried Laura Rainer Staffan Rochsana Miodrag Kassem Ibrahim Matthias Michael Daniela Christopher Frank Bernhard Hildegard Hans Tom Sirko Thomas
German Armed Forces ZOpInfo Deutsche Welle gtz Panos London The Economist Deutsche Welle Internationales Institut für Journalismus (IIJ) Deutsche Welle Deutscher Entwicklungsdienst (ded) Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle Badisches Tagblatt Deutsche Welle Bonn International Center for Conversion (BICC) Deutsche Welle Defence Journal CARE Germany-Luxembourg Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle United Nations AMIC Deutschlandfunk Independent Observer Newspaper
Germany Germany Germany UK Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany South Africa Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Singapore Germany Sierra Leone Germany Nepal Netherlands Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany
Association of Community Radio Broadcasters Nepal Press Now
Internationales Institut für Journalismus (IIJ) UN Volunteers Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle Funkkorrespondenz FR Deutsche Welle WDR Child Soldier Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS) Deutsche Welle Okapi Consulting Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle Swedish Radio Media Development Office Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle National Broadcasting Network Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle
Germany Germany South Africa USA Germany Germany Germany Sweden Germany Germany Lebanon Germany Germany
Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle
Germany Germany
DIE WELT gtz BiTS-News University of Hamburg Deutsche Welle
Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany
DEUTSCHE WELLE GLOBAL MEDIA FORUM 2008
208
Nr
Surname
Name
Institution
Country
739 740 741 742 743 744 745 746 747 748 749 750 751 752 753 754 755 756 757 758 759 760 761 762 763 764 765 766 767 768 769 770 771 772 773 774 775 776 777 778 779 780 781 782 783 784 785 786 787 788 789 790 791 792 793 794 795 796 797 798 799 800 801 802 803
Stevens Stone Stroehlein Sturm Sucker Sutton Suttor-Ba Syhanur Szarzynski Tabeling Taino Tangen Jr. Tannenbaum Tannus Tarhini Tatar Té Tecklenburg Temt Thabit Thalemann Than Thatcher Thiele Thofern Thomass Tiassou Timm Tonscheidt Trippe Trüten Tschochner Tuna Tysbik Uhe Ulimwengu Ume Vahter Valiath-Ziaie van der Veen van Well Vass Viklund-Persson Villinger Vogel Vogel Vogt Vollmar Vollmer von Boemcken von Brockhausen von Debschitz von Franqué von Hein von Kaltenborn-Stachau von Nahmen Vuori Wächter Waddell Wagdy Wagenknecht Wagner Wahlers Wangui Warkalla
Berthold Lydia Andrew Peter Eberhard Jacky Tanja Sofyan Joerg Petra Danilo Ole Andrea Bernard Dima Gyorgy Carmen Michael Christopher Hamed Andrea Beatrix Gary Andreas Uta Barbara Kossivi Katharina Hanna Sabine Christian F. Martin Michael Gülderen Olga Isabelle Jenerali Laila Tarmo Fariba Alma Heike Robert Inger Jessica Dorothea Inge Helmut Christian Marco Ruth Marc Silke Heiko Friederike Matthias Henriette Carsten Katja Günter Clint Marianne Günter Irma Gerhard Joyce Joan Lutz
Deutsche Welle Bonn International Center for Conversion (BICC) International Crisis Group FAZ Frankfurter Allgemeine Deutsche Welle UNDP Deutsche Welle ZEF-Uni Bonn UN-SPIDER Dart Center Germany Corriere Della Sera Deutsche Welle Foundation for International Dialogue of the Savings Bank in Bonn Radio Asshams Deutsche Welle General Secretariat, Council of the European Union WDR Deutsche Welle Mediator YEMEN TIMES Eui Media Ltd. German Armed Forces ZOpInfo Broadcasting Board og Governors ATV Deutsche Welle Institute for Media Studies, University of Bochum Deutsche Welle media gtz Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle
Germany Germany Belgium Germany Germany Jordan Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Israel Germany Belgium Germany Germany Austria Jemen UK Germany USA
The Economist Ruhr-University of Bochum
UK Germany Tanzania Pakistan Estonia Germany Germany Germany Slovakia Sweden
Power99 Eesti Ekspress Deutsche Welle Center for Development Research (ZEF) Deutsche Welle Ministry of Defence, Slovak Republic Swedish daily & regional newspapers
Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle Bonn International Center for Conversion (BICC) Bonn International Center for Conversion (BICC) UNRIC ZDF IDEM Deutsche Welle World Bank Group Deutsche Welle InfoSud Press Agency dpa Deutsche Welle Fuchsbriefe Berlin Kölner Illustrierte Mediagesellschaft mbH Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS) Africa News Reporter General Anzeiger Bonn
Germany Germany Germany Germany Belgium Germany Germany
Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany USA Germany Switzerland Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Kenya Germany
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209
Nr
Surname
Name
Institution
Country
804 805 806 807 808 809 810 811 812 813 814 815 816 817 818 819 820 821 822 823 824 825 826 827 828 829 830 831 832 833 834 835 836 837 838 839 840 841 842 843 844 845 846
Warnecke Wartmann Wasiri Wassink Weber Wegmeyer Weisbach Welter Wenger Werschner Weßel Westermann Wetzstein Wieland Wiesler-Schnalke Witbraad Witzthum Wodara Wojtaszek Wollenberg Wollseifer Wolters Worm Wu Wuestenhagen Yeboah-Afari Yu Zacharias Zambonini Zanders Zarini Zawadzky Zeh Zehouf Zenner Zhang Zimmermann Zint Zintgraf Zlatev Zubiri Zwijnenburg Zygmont
Andrea Ulrich Matin Ella Sebastian Bernd Kerstin Kira Christian Andreas André Nina Irmgard Melanie Daniela Christian David Kordian Martin Anja Christina Christiane Judith Feng Axel Ajoa Rui Jin Susanne Gualtiero Jürgen Maja Karl Holger Amina Michael Xiaoying Josef Martin Viola Ognian Jan Andrew Wim Dominique D.
Bonn International Center for Conversion (BICC) Deutsche Welle
Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Austria Germany Germany Germany Israel Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany China Austria Ghana China Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Bulgaria Germany Germany Switzerland
Deutscher Presserat Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS) Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle Spreerauschen Berlin/News blog on politics & media Fresenius Ruhr-University of Bochum Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms Universität Bonn University of Vienna/Department of Communication Deutsche Welle Foundation for International Dialogue of the Savings Bank in Bonn Israel Television (TV Channel 1) argus film & video produktion Deutsche Welle Media in Cooperation and Transition (mict) Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS) Deutsche Welle Foundation for International Dialogue of the Savings Bank in Bonn The Nation UN Retiree Ghanaian Times TVS Bonn International Center for Conversion (BICC) WDR Industrie- und Handelskammer Bonn UNESCO-UNEVOC Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle WDR Federal Foreign Office Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle AG Erdöl Deutsche Welle Media Development Center Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg Bonn International Center for Conversion (BICC) University of St. Gallen
DEUTSCHE WELLE GLOBAL MEDIA FORUM 2008
Applied Appliedresearch research— —Consultancy Consultancy— —Capacity-building Capacity-building
BICC BICC(Bonn (BonnInternational InternationalCenter Centerfor for Conversion) Conversion) • •is isan anindependent, independent,non-profi non-profi tt organization organizationdedicated dedicatedtotopromoting promoting peace peaceand anddevelopment development • •is isone oneofofthe thefive fiveleading leadinginstitutes institutes for forpeace peaceand andconfl confl ictictresearch researchinin Germany Germany • •provides providespolicy policyrecommendations, recommendations, training, training,and andpractical practicalproject projectwork work • •conducts conductsresearch, research,runs runsconferences, conferences, publishes publishestheir theirfindings findingsand andorganizes organizes exhibitions exhibitions • •has hasinternational internationalstaff staffand andworks works globally globally
BICC BICCAnnual AnnualReport Report Analysis, Analysis,projects projectsand andbusiness businessreport report BICC BICC• •An Ander derElisabethkirche Elisabethkirche2525 53113 53113Bonn Bonn• •+49/228/911 +49/228/91196-0 96-0 bicc@bicc.de bicc@bicc.deand andwww.bicc.de www.bicc.de
INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE 3Ð5 JUNE 2009 á BONN, GERMANY
The multimedia revolution and its impact on conventional media
YouTube & Co.: Generat-
ing new audiences or excluding even more people? Blogging for peace or hate as
A tale of two worlds: Is the Òdigital divideÓ overrated? Mobbing or civic participation: Are usersÕ contributions a blessa way to bypass censorship?
ing or a curse? IPTV and its worldwide cross-cultural impact Community media and TV in conflict resolution: A model for countries in crisis? The young generation: Is anyone watching, is anyone listening? Digital natives: Under the spell of mobile phones and social networking? ViralÉing: Is there a best practice? Computer games: Simulating peace or imitating war? Theatre of war: Embedded report-
More channels, more news: No more room for profound reporting? From joysticks to count: Ethical aspects of modern warfareÉ ing and the nature of warfare
www.dw-world.de/globalmediaforum
»Dear All – I would like to thank you dearly for your kind hospitality, warmth and professionalism during the well-organized and highly beneficial Deutsche Welle Global Media Forum held in Bonn earlier this week. It was a pleasure seeing you all … noting that the quality of keynote speakers, panellists and attendees from around the world were up to international standards, really. No wonder why Germany is synonymous to being made by/for ‘perfectionists’ … A reputation is earned and you’ve done just that.« Mazen Hayek, Group Director of Marketing, PR & Commercial
»Thank you and Deutsche Welle for a wonderful experience in Bonn this week. Good participation, great arrangements, good interest in the future activities. It was also heartening to meet some old friends.« Sucharita Eashwar, NASSCOM »Allerherzlichsten Dank für die fantastische Veranstaltung und die tolle Organisation! Wir haben uns bei Ihnen sehr wohl gefühlt und sehr viele Reaktionen und Besucher am Stand gehabt, abgesehen von den unzähligen Gesprächen und Netzwerken zwischendurch, die zu weiterem führen werden. Sehr bemerkenswert, was alles noch begleitend dazu gemacht wurde, von den Artikeln bis über Fotos.« Petra Tabeling, Dart Center für Journalismus und Trauma
»Dat was absoluut een van de beste mediaconferenties van de laatste tijd. En prima georganiseerd!« Jan Hoek, Algemeen Directeur Radio Nederland Wereldomroep »Dear all – We wish to express our true feelings of grace and pleasure to meet each one of you at the “Global Media Forum” in Bonn, held by the Deutsche Welle. First to the host, DW staff: you were excellent! We are very impressed of arranging and executing a marvelous and fruitful event. To all of you a big THANK YOU. We’ll be happy to host you in Nazareth whenever you decide to. Second to our Arab brothers, of different media foundations: we were extremely excited and very proud to meet you. We hope to maintain a professional and social contact always. Our invitation to Nazareth is also directed to you, despite the political situation which will one day maybe change INSHALLAH. Sincerely yours« Suhel Karram, CEO & Bernard Tannus, Programs director, Radio A-Shams
»Dear Deutsche Welle Secretariat, I humbly thank you, first for inviting me for the conference and too for successfully holding the conference in Bonn. To me it was a very wonderful conference, with proper arrangements starting from conference information up to the meals. I am impressed with the whole arrangements. Please keep it up.« David Okurut, Journalist, Veritas Radio, Uganda-East Africa
Economic development, political stability and the role of the media in Asia, terrorists online, radio and 足television in the Middle East, populism and press freedom in South America, covering hostile environments, journalism in conflict zones worldwide. Media, peacekeeping and conflict prevention were the underlying topics of the first Deutsche Welle Global Media Forum in Bonn, Germany from June 2-4, 2008. This publication summarizes the most important results and discussions of this international conference.
This publication has been made possible through the generous help of the Government of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The State Government of North Rhine-Westphalia