Peace Journalism: Reporting Conflict to Promote Peace

Mr. Showkat Ahmed Jan

Asst.Professor

Department of Journalism and Mass Communication

Peace journalism has emerged as a significant field of academic inquiry, largely due to the pioneering work of John Galtung and subsequent contributions by scholars such as Jake Lynch. This critical area of research, with its practical relevance, has been shaped by many researchers including Galtung (2003), Hanitzsch (2004), Lynch and McGoldrick (2005), Lemish (2008) and McGoldrick and Lynch (2016). Galtung, in particular, formulated peace journalism (PJ) as an alternative to war journalism, which he criticized for favoring elite narratives over victim viewpoints, framing conflicts in terms of winners and losers and advancing nationalist agendas for political purposes. The fundamental principles of peace journalism are to promote balance, fairness and accuracy in reporting conflicts (Ottosen, 2010). It extends its scope to incorporate humanist and behaviourist perspectives, aiming to grasp the societal ramifications of news coverage (Nohrstedt & Ottosen, 2015).

This approach inherently opposes conflict and violence, advocating for ethical reporting that highlights the media’s role in either perpetuating or mitigating the conflicts (McGoldrick & Lynch, 2016). Journalists committed to peace journalism are expected to offer more balanced perspectives, delve into the root causes of conflicts and avoid dehumanizing narratives about opposing parties (Lynch, 2013).

Over the years, various conceptual refinements have been proposed, from Galtung’s early advocacy in the 1970s to subsequent developments by scholars like Lynch and McGoldrick (2005) and Shaw’s exploration of “human rights journalism” (2012). However, despite its theoretical advancement, peace journalism has struggled to gain traction in practical journalistic settings (Ersoy, 2017). Yet, there remains an expectation for journalists and editors to promote nonviolent approaches to conflict resolution, framing news stories diplomatically and using language that fosters a peaceful discourse (Rodny-Gumede, 2015). By adopting peace journalism principles, news organisations can contribute to positive social change and uphold ethical standards in journalism (Lee, 2008).

In today’s media landscape, characterised by fierce competition and the dominance of online social media, conflict often serves as a lucrative news value. This highlights the significance of scrutinising modern conflict reporting methodologies through the prism of peace journalism, even decades after its inception. Empirical studies have started delving into the effectiveness of peace journalism in fostering peace ideals and diminishing discontent among audiences (Ha et al., 2021), researchers also emphasise the need for linguistic analysis to uncover nuanced meanings embedded in news discourse. By scrutinising mediated conflicts within journalistic narratives, researchers can shed light on overlooked aspects such as contextual significance, inter-discursive relations and biases, thereby enriching our understanding of conflict reporting.

References

Ersoy, M. (2017). Implementing peace journalism in the media. Peace Review, 29(4), 458–466. https://doi.org/10.1080/10402659.2017.1381514

Galtung, J. (2003). Peace journalism. Media Asia, 30(3), 177–180. https://doi.org/10.1080/01296612.2003.11726720.

Hanitzsch, T. (2004). Journalists as peacekeeping force? Peace journalism and mass communication theory. Journalism Studies, 5(4), 483–495. https://doi.org/10.1080/14616700412331296419

Ha, L., Ray, R., Chen, P., & Guo, K. (2022). U. S. Public opinion on China and the United States during the U.S.–China trade dispute: The role of audience framing and partisan media use. Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly, 99(4), 930–954. https://doi.org/10.1177/10776990211049451

Lynch, J., & McGoldrick, A. (2005). Peace journalism: A global dialog for democracy and democratic media. Democratizing global media: One world, many struggles, 269–312.

Lynch, J. (2013). Is peace journalism feasible? Pointers for research and media development. Ethical space: The International Journal of Communication Ethics, 10(2/3), 15–24.1041-1058.

Lemish, P. S. (2008). Peacebuilding contributions of Northern Ireland PRODUCERS OF CHILDREN AND YOUTH-ORIENTED MEDIA Producers Of Children And Youth‐oriented Media. Journal of Children and Media, 2(3), 282–299. https://doi.org/10.1080/17482790802327608

Lee, S. T. (2008). Peace journalism. In The handbook of mass media ethics (pp. 272–289). Routledge.

McGoldrick, A., & Lynch, J. (2016). Audience responses to peace journalism: Merging results from a four-country research study. Journalism Studies, 17(5), 628–646. https://doi.org/10.1080/1461670X.2014.992621

Nohrstedt, S. A., & Ottosen, R. (2015). Peace journalism: A proposition for conceptual and methodological improvements. Global Media and Communication, 11(3), 219–235. https://doi.org/10.1177/1742766515606289

Ottosen, R. (2010). The war in Afghanistan and peace journalism in practice. Media, War and Conflict, 3(3), 261–278. https://doi.org/10.1177/1750635210378944

Rodny-Gumede, Y. (2015). Coverage of Marikana: War and conflict and the case for Peace Journalism. Social Dynamics, 41(2), 359–374. https://doi.org/10.1080/02533952.2015.1060681

Shaw, I. S. (2012). Human rights journalism: Advances in reporting distant humanitarian interventions. Palgrave Macmillan.