“To a person with a hammer, the world is a nail” – (Mark Twain)
(Original)

Michael Vercauteren
(Age 22, Belgium)
Erasmushogeschool Brussel

The point here is that we must never have pre-ordained solutions from the outsidewhich make the situation fit the solution, and this is especially relevant to those inthe media. The media, in the framing and reporting of conflict, must be acutelysensitive to the smorgasbord of issues and inter-linkages that inform and shape thedynamics of that conflict.

At the outset, we must recognise that the media play a central role in the promotionof peace. The media can emphasise the benefits that peace can bring, they can raisethe legitimacy of groups or leaders working for peace, and they can help transformimages of the enemy. However, the media can also serve as destructive agents in apeace process, and can choose to negatively report on the risks and dangers associated with compromise, raise the legitimacy of those opposed to concessions,and reinforce negative stereotypes of the enemy. These two roles are not mutuallyexclusive, or inseparable and much of the mainstream media shifts continuously between these two positions.

Ideally, the news media should serve as a forum in which proponents and opponentsare encouraged to express their views in an open and reasoned fashion. While suchan ideal is rarely achieved, it is important nevertheless to identify those structuresand processes that prevent constructive criticism and healthy debate on the peaceprocess. How can the media maintain the balance between transparency of the peace process and the need for confidentiality? Can the media meet the imperatives of market forces, sensationalism and commercialisation, and at the same time create a forum forserious and responsible public debate?

There are no concrete answers to these questions, and the media will always be characterised by a combination of all these factors. In all this, what must not be forgotten is that the media is a very important actor in the peace process. The media is a pivotal catalyst in the success of the peace process, within an enabling political atmosphere. Animating its involvement should be a realisation that citizens depend on the media for information on the peace process.

The problem facing many journalists is how to protect their ‘independence’ when the world around them asks them to follow strategies and ethics which bind them to a certain ideology and path. No path or method is value neutral. And yet, the imperatives of journalism – accuracy, fairness, impartiality and reliability – bolstered by the freedom of expression, speech and information and open government provide the backbone of democratic pluralism. However, the multiplicity of voices in the media should not become a cacophony of half-truths, and must avoid the ills of rabid ethnocentrism and tabloid sensationalism.

To do this, there could be several practical steps media organisations can take:

· Promote ethnic and gender balance in the newsroom.

· Regular updating and internal review of editing and style handbooks.

· In-house workshops and training on conflict sensitive journalism.

· Greater co-operation between personnel and correspondents.

· Recognition by media organisations of the need for voluntary self-regulationand maintenance of professional standards, codes of ethics and conduct.

A peace process is usually long and complex, and the direction it takes is often opento interpretation. Journalistic norms and routines, which dictate the selection ofsources and construction of story lines, can have a significant effect on whichinterpretation appears to make the most sense. News reports provide citizens withimportant clues about the political climate surrounding the peace process. Is theprocess moving forward or back? Does the overall level of violence appear to berising or declining? The relationship between the stakeholders to the conflict, the political framework of the peace process, media reporting and the public is a symbiotic one – each moulding the other, in a continuum that contains within it the key to conflict transformation as well as the seeds of conflict formation.