Information that is false and deliberately created to harm a person, social group, organisation or country (usually called ‘fake news’).
Production of reliable, independent and factual content for all parties; creation of a safe space for public dialogue and exchange of points of view.
Information that is based on reality, but used to inflict harm on a person, social group, organisation or country.
Media are social agents or organisations (with all their own personal and institutional interests), not just technical communication channels. If we speak of radio we think of the editorial staff, director, and the radio station owners, a legal entity, an editorial line, its charter and a set of radio productions.
Single media enterprises, TV channels, radio stations, weekly printed magazines or websites.
The institutions around the media, serving the whole sector – these include training institutes for journalists, media workers’ associations, as well as press councils, regulatory bodies, and research institutes.
The technical side of media and communication. A channel is a technical tool to get messages across from senders to receivers, like FM radio waves, satellite signals, audio and video streaming, and digital video broadcasting – terrestrial (DVB-T).
Information that is false but not created with the intention of causing harm.
The collective of online communications channels, websites and mobile phone applications, dedicated to community-based input, interaction, content-sharing and collaboration. Includes (for example) Facebook, Twitter, Weibo (in China) and VK (in Russia). Messaging apps such as WhatsApp are increasingly used as social media (tools) and for social networking (a way to engage).
Production of rational and/or emotional media content (e.g. through messages, fiction, drama, art) designed to subvert, undermine, overwhelm or replace a pre-existing discourse on a subject significant to the strategic communicator. The goal here is not only to inform but to convince.
Various forms of journalism
Peace journalism was worked out within the emergent disciplines of conflict analysis and peace studies, pioneered by Johan Galtung. It investigates the communicative possibilities for en-hancing understanding and facilitating reconciliation between former opponents and enemies (Lynch and McGoldrick 2005; Lynch and Galtung 2010; see also Cottle 2006). ‘Peace journal-ism’ is defined as being peace/conflict-oriented (making conflicts transparent, giving voice to all parties, humanisation of all sides, proactive), truth-oriented (expose untruths on all sides), people-oriented, and solution-oriented. By contrast, ‘war journalism’ is characterised as war/violence-oriented (focusing on conflict arena and two conflicting parties, bipolar framing, ‘us-them journalism’, dehumanisation of ‘them’, reactive), propaganda-oriented (expose ‘their’ un-truths and help ‘our’ cover-ups/lies through self-censorship), elite- and victory-oriented (Lynch and McGoldrick 2005: 271; Lynch and Galtung 2010; Neverla, Lohner and Banjac 2015).
Conflict-sensitive journalism tends to take an analytical approach to conflict, seeking oppor-tunities to identify parties, goals, needs and interests. It projects a multi-party conflict model rather than a Manichean ‘tug-of-war’, helping to find room for perspectives from beyond the usual official sources. It also seeks out peace initiatives as well as opportunities to report on them (Lynch 2007).
Constructive journalism is based around reporting solution-focused news, instead of revolving only around negative and conflict-based stories. The idea behind constructive journalism is to give stories more context and make the consumer of the news more intelligent by giving more background and also reporting what is going well, so that people are more able to create a realistic view of the world. Instead of only reporting the issues, with constructive journalism the journalist also addresses what the consumer can do with the information.
Development journalism is one of the most influential and also most controversial global South alternative models of journalism. It states that journalism should play a constructive role in facili-tating societal development, and stresses the possibilities of grassroots community involvement in media (Xiaoge 2009; Cottle 2006: 118; Voltmer 2013: 202).
Public journalism demands to reconceptualise journalism not as the expert transmitter of infor-mation but as an advocate for public conversation and societal deliberation, working towards engaging citizens and creating public debate (Rosen 2001; Harcup 2013; Cottle 2006: 118).
References
Arsenault, A., Himelfarb, S. and Abbott, S. (2011) Evaluating Media Interventions in Conflict Countries: Toward Developing Common Principles and a Community of Practice. Washington DC: United States Institute of Peace (www.files.ethz.ch/isn/134075/PW77.pdf)
Bartlett, J. (2018) The People Vs Tech: How the Internet Is Killing Democracy (and How We Save It). Ebury Press
Center for International Media Assistance (CIMA) (2007) Media Law Assistance: Establishing an Enabling Environment for Free and Independent Media to Flourish. Washington DC: CIMA/National Endowment for Democracy
Cottle, S. (2006) Mediatized Conflict. Developments in Media and Conflict Studies, Maidenhead: Open University Press
Harcup, T. (2013) Alternative Journalism, Alternative Voices, London: Routledge
Islam, R. (2002) ‘Into the Looking Glass: What the Media Tell and Why – An Overview’, in The World Bank, The Right to Tell: The Role of Mass Media in Economic Development, Washington DC: The World Bank
Institute
Kahneman, D. (2011) Thinking, Fast and Slow, London and New York: Penguin
Lynch, J. (2007) ‘Peace Journalism and its Discontents’ Conflict & Communication Online 6.2
Lynch, J. and Galtung, J. (2010) Reporting Conflict: New Directions in Peace Journalism. Queensland: University of Queensland Press
Lynch, J. and McGoldrick, A. (2005) ‘Peace Journalism. A Global Dialogue for Democracy and Democratic Media’, in R.A. Hackett and Y. Zhao (eds), Democratizing Global Media : One World, Many Struggles, Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Neverla, I., Lohner, J. and Banjac, S. (2015) Review: Journalistic Ethics and Practices in Conflict Societies. Leeds: University of Leeds, Media, Conflict and Democratisation (MeCoDEM)
OECD (2014) ‘Principles for Media Assistance’ in Accountability and Democratic Governance: Orientations and Principles for Development, Paris: OECD Publishing (https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264183636-12-en)
Polyák, G. and Meuter, S. (2016) ‘Successfully Implementing Media Law: Some Recommendations’. DW Akademie 14 September (https://p.dw.com/p/1K236)
Price, M.E. (2014) Free Expression, Globalism, and the New Strategic Communication. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/CBO9781139680486
Rosen, J. (2001) What are Journalists For? Rev ed., London: Yale University Press
Sambuli, N. (2018) ‘Digitalisierung: Alle ans Netz’ in Akzente: Das Magazin der GIZ, Ausgabe 1/18
UNDP/UNESCO (2019) ‘Entry Points for Media Development to Support Peaceful Just and Inclusive Societies and Agenda 2030 – A Background Discussion Note’, ‘Confronting the Crisis in Independent Media: Strategic Approaches for International Donors’, 31 January – 1 February, Paris
UNESCO (2008) Media Development Indicators: A Framework for Assessing Media Development. Intergovernmental Council of the International Programme for the Development of Communication (IPDC), 26th session (26–28 March 2008)
UNESCO (2016) UN Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity. Paris: UNESCO (https://en.unesco.org/un-plan-action-safety-journalists)
UNESCO (2018) ‘UNESCO Maputo Organized Training for Judges on Freedom of Expression and Safety of Journalists’. UNESCO website, 5 December (https://en.unesco.org/news/unesco-maputo-organized-training-judges-freedom-expression-and-safety-journalists
United Nations Human Rights Committee (2011) General comment No. 34, CCPR/C/CG/34, 102nd session, 21 July (www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrc/docs/gc34.pdf)
Voltmer, K. (2013) The Media in Transitional Democracies, Cambridge: Polity Press
Widmer, J.N. and Grossenbacher, A. (2019) ‘Information and Communication Technologies in Peacebuilding’. KOFF Essential, Swisspeace/KOFF (The Swiss Platform for Peacebuilding)
Xiaoge, X. (2009) ‘Development Journalism’, in K. Wahl-Jorgensen and T. Hanitzsch (eds), The Handbook of Journalism Studies, New York: Routledge
