Conflict Resolution Project
The role of the media in conflict situations is a topic that may conjure up two negative images. The first is one of nationalistic propaganda aimed at heightening tensions among ethnic and religious groups, which serves as a catalyst for violence, as was the case in Bosnia and Rwanda. The second is of CNN-TV quickly rushing to a scene of conflict in order to provide extensive and graphic minute-by-minute reporting--only to quickly leave the scene once the bloodshed is over.
Academics and communications experts have begun to study the media's potential for ameliorating conflict and healing the social wounds of war. New York University's Center for War, Peace and the News Media and the Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution at George Mason University are two institutions now exploring this timely question. Non-governmental organizations, e.g., the Media Peace Center in South Africa and Search for Common Ground based in Washington, D.C., are using the mass media to broadcast messages of peace and reconciliation through song and other forms of entertainment in such diverse settings as South Africa, Burundi, and Macedonia as well as a round-table format which brings adversaries together to engage in seeking common ground.
These communication methodologies differ from the Voice of America's latest effort at conflict resolution reporting. On June 1, 1995, the Voice of America received a grant from the Carnegie Corporation of New York to supplement the cost of developing and producing a special series of programs which would introduce its worldwide audience to the theory, principles, and practice of conflict resolution. From the beginning of the project, VOA editors and reporters questioned the wisdom of pursuing "conflict resolution" stories. Their concerns centered on the possibility that the project might promote advocacy journalism or "good news" journalism, and as such would be in conflict with journalistic standards of impartiality and objectivity. In general, journalists tend to view themselves as extremely practical in their approach to their craft while they are at the same time fiercely and rightfully protective of their journalistic independence. As a result, they are often suspicious of "academese," of what they consider to be overly abstract approaches, and certainly of anything that smacks of advocacy, as was the case in this project. The use of the term "conflict resolution" itself appeared to have created a healthy dose of suspicion. The term, or rather the cluster of concepts behind it, seemed to be at the root of the difficulty.
VOA project coordinators responded to these legitimate journalistic concerns by de-emphasizing the term and by embracing a number of the themes that VOA journalists and conflict resolution experts created during a day-long organizing workshop; these included counting the human costs of conflict, profiling bridge-builders, rebuilding civil society, and the examination of peace processes, to name a few. Using these themes, VOA reporters quickly locked on to the concepts embodied in the conflict resolution paradigm. Many skeptical editors and reporters found it an illuminating experience to approach story assignments allowing these themes to guide their own journalistic skills. By reporting on conflict resolution and having the opportunity to write features on how people solve their problems, their interest in conflict resolution reporting grew and they developed a plethora of fresh stories.
The experience of Pamela Taylor, a reporter for VOA's Current Affairs Division, exemplifies how most reporters came to appreciate the opportunity to do this type of reporting. "It is virtually impossible," said Taylor, "to convey how invaluable this [experience] was for someone like me who has been writing about the breakup of the former Yugoslavia since war broke out in 1991. Not only did I learn more than I would ever have dreamed possible but quite a lot of myths were exploded in the process, several of which made me appreciate the value of conflict resolution reporting. Before I left [to cover the story], I expressed the thought to several colleagues... that I was afraid I would find a lot of 'conflict' but very little 'resolution.' In fact, the opposite was the case, to my surprise."
Convincing skeptical editors and reporters to be open to the conflict resolution paradigm by using a journalistic, thematic approach to reporting was another valuable lesson learned in this project. We noted that reporters shifted their reporting emphasis toward an examination of local agency and initiative in the resolution of conflicts. From the start of the project, those involved, particularly VOA's Language Services, recognized that to be effective conflict resolution reporting needed to be grounded in the coverage of grass-roots activities. As their stories became focused on personal testimonies and reports which sought to put a human face on conflict and its resolution, reporters' use of conflict resolution experts and academic commentary in their coverage of conflict situations began to disappear.
VOA audience feedback began to reinforce the reporters' instincts to emphasize how real people were solving real problems. Anecdotal reports flowed in from listeners eager to hear stories of reconciliation and of development projects occurring in different regions of their country. We found that there was a healthy interest in stories that illustrated efforts to return to normalcy and to long-term healing and reconciliation. Furthermore, we found that people in one country often would identify with those in another in similar situations. For example, VOA's coverage of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission was in high demand by VOA's French-to-Africa, Kinyarwanda/Kirundi, and English-to-Africa Language Services during the opening weeks of the International War Crimes Tribunal in Rwanda. In addition, with nearly 100 stories produced so far, ranging from reconciliation projects in Bosnia to environmental disputes in the Pacific Northwest to the stalemate between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabackh, interest in the project continues to grow.
VOA's experience with conflict resolution reporting has had a somewhat transformative effect on the organization. VOA's Carnegie grant has helped inspire and facilitate the development of two major VOA programming initiatives on conflict in Africa. With the support of a $1.2 million grant from USAID, VOA has launched a new radio show in Portuguese designed to coincide with the United Nations-supervised peacekeeping operation in Angola. VOA currently employs about a dozen freelance Angolan journalists in Luanda, the capitol, and elsewhere in the country to develop innovative programs for the new radio show. In a country where the media operates under conditions of considerable self-censorship and official restriction, this new programming is providing Angolans with a wealth of news and information unknown to them in the history of their country. After an initial start-up phase, the Angolan Project is now beginning to develop conflict resolution-type programming, drawing upon material produced under the Carnegie grant, to develop conflict resolution programs for an Angolan audience.
In mid-July 1996, with a $1 million grant from USAID, VOA launched a daily radio show in the Kinyarwanda/Kirundi language directed to Rwanda and Burundi which will contribute to the stabilization of the volatile Central Africa region. The recent successful reporting trips of VOA's French-to-Africa Language Service's Ferdinand Ferrela and English-to-Africa's William Eagle provide a foundation for reporting on Conflict Resolution topics in the region.
VOA's experience with this project is important for others who seek to create "conflict resolution" media projects. A recent report by Gordon Adam and Raj Thamotheram, "The Media's Role in Conflict," identifies three roles that the media can take in conflict; these are: 1) Media as Mediator, as demonstrated in the Pulitzer Prize winning Akron Beacon Journal's "Coming Together Project" that brought Black and White community members together to discuss race relations in the wake of the Rodney King trial; 2) Media as Social Educator, as demonstrated by the UNICEF-funded Radio Voice of Peace in Ethiopia; and 3) Media as Pro-Social Propaganda, as demonstrated by UN Peacekeeping Radio in Namibia, Cambodia, and elsewhere.
Gregory Pirio (right), Ph.D, former Chief of VOA's English-to-Africa Language Service and currently Senior Business Development Officer for the International Broadcasting Bureau of the United States Government, is Project Coordinator of VOA's Conflict Resolution Project.
All these have achieved certain degrees of success in their own right, but the limited reach across populations and ethnic groups due to perceived reporting biases, limited distribution outlets, and credibility problems can in general dampen the effectiveness of such projects. The problems that restrict these projects are not a problem for VOA; broadcasting in fifty-two languages through a worldwide network of affiliates and satellites and bound by its Charter to provide comprehensive, accurate, and objective news and information, VOA is often the only source of news in a world dominated by censorship and state-controlled media outlets. Furthermore, VOA's use of conflict resolution reporting has transcended all three of the categories that Adam and Thamotheram delineate. VOA's commitment to comprehensive and balanced reporting can have a mediating effect on a conflict by providing radio forums for newsmakers and citizens involved in conflict and in rebuilding and reconciliation before, during, and long after the peace treaties are signed.
VOA's experiment in conflict resolution reporting is the first of its kind for a major international media organization, and it has succeeded in breaking new ground in conflict reporting. As far as we know, no other international news organization has successfully blended conflict resolution themes into its feature news reporting. We hope the lessons learned from this project can help inform others interested in deploying the power of the media for constructive purposes.