presentation for hamburg uni
TRANSCRIPT
RIAZUL ISLAMINTERNATIONAL MEDIA STUDIES
BONN-RHEIN-SIEG UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES/DW AKADEMIE
Media Coverage of Syria Conflict Elite VS People
Orientation
Peace Journalism
Originated from peace studiesFirst coined during 1960s Proponent Johan Galtung from NorwayProminent researchers: Wilhelm Kempf, Jake
Lynch, Nadine Bilke, Rune OttosenAdvocates media to adopt people oriented
reporting instead of elite oriented reportingCritical to military solution of any conflict
Peace Journalism VS War Journalism
Peace Journalism War JournalismPeace oriented‘win, win’ orientationHumanization of all sides
Truth orientedExpose untruths on all sides
Solution orientedPeace= non-violence + creativityHighlight peace initiatives, also to prevent more war
People oriented
Violence orientedZero-sum orientationDehumanization of ‘them’
Propaganda orientedExpose ‘their’ untruths
Victory orientedPeace= victory+ ceasefireConceal peace initiatives, before victory is at hand
Elite oriented
People VS Elite Oriented Coverage
People Oriented Elite OrientedFocus on violence/sufferings of all sides
Give name to all evil-doers
Focus on people peace-makers
Giving voice to the voiceless
Focus on ‘their’ violence and suffering on ‘us’Give name of ‘their’ evil-doers
Focus on elite peace-makers
Being elite mouthpiece
Syria Conflict and Media Coverage
1300 Dead in chemical gas attack, among them many children
Blame game between Assad and rebels
USA, France and Britain Threatened of military strike
Another Iraq was looming
Germany was against military actionhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilanR5_YeEo
Three Newspapers from Germany, UK and USA
western powers as active agent in top headlines Elite vs Non-elite voice
Big powers Assad Govt. Rebels/People
Total Reports
FAZ
Independent
IHT
8
5
12
0
1
0
1
1
2
61
41
61
Time frame: 18 days from 22th August till 11th September of 2013.
Anti War Campaign
Number of Reports
Total Number of Reports
Percentage
FAZ
Independent
IHT
4
7
6
61
41
61
6.55%
1707%
9.83%
Povoking words in headlines
Non provoking words in headlines
FAZ
Independent
IHT
13
19
15
21.31%
31.15%
36.58%
FAZ
Independent
IHT
18
8
11
29.51%
13.11%
26.83%
FAZ Independent IHT0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
Non-provoking wordsProvoking words
Conclusion
The media coverage was, to a large extent, elite oriented.
Media coverage failed to bring peace or alternative discourse.
Media tend to use provocative words in conflict reporting rather than neutral or peace oriented words.
Media changed their standing in consistent with the change of political situation.
Reference
Galtung, Johan. "Peace Journalism: What, Why, Who, How, When, Where?" Kempft, Wilhelm. The Peace Journalism Controversy. Irena regener, 2008. Berlin.
Human rights Watch video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilanR5_YeEo, accessed on 17.04.2015
Kempf, Wilhelm. "Conflict Prevention and the Media." Kempf, Wilhelm. Readings in Peace Journalism. Berlin: Irena regener, 2010.
Lynch, Jake and Annabel McGoldrick. Peace Journalism. London: Hawthorn Press, 2005.
Lynch, Jake (2014): The Global Standard for Reporting Conflict. Routledge
Thank You