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Mar 27 2009, 5:32 AM EDT (current) chachabooth 19 words added, 4 words deleted
Mar 5 2009, 3:32 AM EST JeremyMuthoka 326 words added

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As a result of their ability to reach and influence large numbers of people, the media carry immense power in shaping the course of a conflict. Although many examples of the media’s negative contribution to the escalation of conflicts exist, fair and accurate journalism and media content that builds confidence and counteracts misperceptions may have a potential in both conflict prevention and transformation. NGOs can contribute to this potential by cooperating with the media and promoting pluralism in the communication environment and ethical standards in journalism[1].

1. Press statements and releases: The news release tells the reporters: the who, what, when, where and why of a news story. News release generally follow a standard format designed to give the reporter all the information needed quickly: Organisation’s name, contacts, release data, headline, and body and end conclusion. News release can be mailed, faxed or emailed to reporters.

2. Letter to the editor: this is the simplest way to communicate an opinion to the public. It is normally printed in newspapers or magazines. The letter but be short enough for publishing otherwise it will be discarded. Short, pithy pieces are best.

3. Opinion Piece (op-ed): Opinion pieces run on newspapers’ opinion-editorial pages. They are typically local and timely and are written by members of the community rather than by Journalists. They present a point of view with much greater detail and persuasion than a short letter allows.

4. Media conferences: Media conferences are held to announce a major story- such as a release of a major story, a new policy as well as taking new initiative.

5. Interviews: Media Interviews are organised to have a guest speaker on shows. They can be both in Television as well as in the Radios. Local talk shows can air peace building interviews and ways and means of conflict transformation as a process.

[1]Melone, S.S., Terzis, G., Beleli, O. (2002), Using the media for conflict transformation. The common ground 2002,experience, Inin: Berghof Handbook for Conflict Transformation in( http://www.berghof-handbook.net/articles/melone_hb.pdf)