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Lecture: The Media's Orientation Towards Conflict
The media shape what we see and hear about conflict. The perspectives of those who run the media shape stories that are covered. Journalists have opinions and beliefs based on their experiences. Media owners haveeconomic interests; they want to sell their stories and programs to a public who will buy their newspapers orwatch their programs. Increasing corporate control over media in some countries also plays a role in controlling the types of stories that get covered and the way stories get framed.
Media owners and professionals decide what they think the public or some target audience wants to see andhear. A common journalist principle is this: “If it bleeds, it leads.” That means violent conflict will be headline news, not news of cross-cultural dialogue and understanding. The media mostly covers conflict, notpeacebuilding. This tendency to cover conflict and violence distorts reality and leads many people to thinkthat conflict is pervasive and peace is abnormal.
Several studies confirm that the impact of the media on conflict is greater than the impact of the media on conflict prevention and peacebuilding.1 Peace journalism scholar Gadi Wolfsfeld notes there is a “fundamental contradiction between the nature of a peace process and news values, the media often play a destructive role in attempts at making peace.”2 Those who run the media tend to favor four values: immediacy, drama, simplicity and ethnocentrism. These values make it difficult to use the media for peace. The chart below, adapted from Wolfsfeld’s work, illustrates the tendency for these values to favor violence rather than peace.
The media use the four values identified in the chart to decide what to cover as news, and what makes for entertainment. While many media professionals hold these values, they are likely to be in direct relation to the values of the public at large. The media are, in fact, running a business and as such, need to create a ‘product’ that will sell to customers who share these values.
It is important for conflict prevention and peacebuilding practitioners to understand these values and the dynamics of media decision-making on covering ‘peace’ news and entertainment. However, it does notpreclude peace practitioners from utilizing the media to promote their own values. Indeed, the media can play very positive roles in conflict prevention and peacebuilding.
Source: Bratic V., Schirch, L, "Why and When to Use the Media for Conflict Prevention and Peacebuilding", Issue Paper 6 of the Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict / European Centre for Conflict Prevention, Amsterdam, 2007, p. 8.
Media owners and professionals decide what they think the public or some target audience wants to see andhear. A common journalist principle is this: “If it bleeds, it leads.” That means violent conflict will be headline news, not news of cross-cultural dialogue and understanding. The media mostly covers conflict, notpeacebuilding. This tendency to cover conflict and violence distorts reality and leads many people to thinkthat conflict is pervasive and peace is abnormal.
Several studies confirm that the impact of the media on conflict is greater than the impact of the media on conflict prevention and peacebuilding.1 Peace journalism scholar Gadi Wolfsfeld notes there is a “fundamental contradiction between the nature of a peace process and news values, the media often play a destructive role in attempts at making peace.”2 Those who run the media tend to favor four values: immediacy, drama, simplicity and ethnocentrism. These values make it difficult to use the media for peace. The chart below, adapted from Wolfsfeld’s work, illustrates the tendency for these values to favor violence rather than peace.
The media use the four values identified in the chart to decide what to cover as news, and what makes for entertainment. While many media professionals hold these values, they are likely to be in direct relation to the values of the public at large. The media are, in fact, running a business and as such, need to create a ‘product’ that will sell to customers who share these values.
It is important for conflict prevention and peacebuilding practitioners to understand these values and the dynamics of media decision-making on covering ‘peace’ news and entertainment. However, it does notpreclude peace practitioners from utilizing the media to promote their own values. Indeed, the media can play very positive roles in conflict prevention and peacebuilding.
| Media Focus | No Media Focus | |
| Immediacy | Specific actions and events | Long-term processes and policies (as in ongoing peace processes,dialogue, or mediation) |
| Drama | Violence, crisis or conflict Extremist behaviors Outrageous acts | Calm, controlled, moderate people getting along with each other (suchas those participating in a dialogue) |
| Simplicity | Clear cut opinions, images, major personalities, two-sided conflicts | Complex opinions or explanations,institutions, root causes, multi-sidedconflicts |
| Ethnocentrism | Our beliefs, myths and symbols Our suffering The brutality of some ‘Other’ | Their beliefs, myths, and symbolsTheir suffering Our brutality to ‘Them’ |
Source: Bratic V., Schirch, L, "Why and When to Use the Media for Conflict Prevention and Peacebuilding", Issue Paper 6 of the Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict / European Centre for Conflict Prevention, Amsterdam, 2007, p. 8.
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