What is Peace Journalism?
Peace Journalism is a style of journalism that teaches
journalists to be responsible for the way they report.
Peace Journalism asks that stories be fair, accurate,
peace-orientated, and neutral.
Unlike traditional 'war/violent' journalism, PJ teaches
media to help the world instead of causing more problems.
Seeking this route media can provide coverage that
highlights peace instead of conflict.
All voices are heard in this type of journalism.
Focus isn't on violence or choosing of sides.
Those who practice PJ are driven to provide media that
doesn't fuel fires that are already burning.
Peace journalists want to help find a way for peace.
(Next Slide) Why Cyprus?
Cyprus has been divided
since 1974 between The Republic of Cyprus and The Turkish Republic of North
Cyprus. The separation places stresses
on them economically and emotionally.
The island would like to operate as a whole. Although the border crossing opened in 2003
and peace negotiations have resumed in Cyprus, the problem in Cyprus continues
to threaten the island. There are
reminders everywhere of what happened; in Famagusta, Varosha, the most
exclusive of resorts in its time, now stands a vacant ghost city. Closed off with fences and signs warning to
keep out, it reiterates the need for the island to tear down the walls that
isolate, both outside the buildings and in the hearts of the people. The UN is there maintaining peace; there have
many attempts at peace proposals between the two sides but because things are
so complicated, there has yet to be a resolution.
There is a belief that
Peace Journalism may help the two sides come together by combating the narratives,
the way that the two sides see each other, and help them to work together.
North and south Cypriot
journalists working together can have a detrimental influence on the conflict;
therefore, choosing to practice Peace journalism can help both sides find a
solution. The teaching of Peace Journalism to both sides of the island is
inherent for unity. If journalists of
Cyprus practice with the ideals of peace journalism the media they create would
be fair, balanced, true, anti-narrative, peace and solution oriented, with
focus to give a voice to the voiceless and goals for both sides instead of
one. The significance of peace
journalism taking hold in Cyprus could break the current negative cultural
beliefs, laying a foundation for resolution.
No plan is too small to start the growth of peace journalism.
Peace talks have recently
resumed, and there is hope for peace, now more than ever.
(Next Slide) PJ In Cyprus
Arrangements were made in
two locations for PJ to be taught by Prof. Youngblood, who is the director of
The Global Center for Peace Journalism here at Park University.
The 2014 Spring Peace
Journalism Cyprus mission opened with Steven Youngblood’s teachings on Monday,
March 10th, at EMU. The lecture on
Monday included some challenging input from in the communications
department. Peace Journalism teacher and
PhD student Ayca Atay, will use the Peace Journalism seminar to enhance her
teaching at EMU. “I think it was a good
seminar which renewed my knowledge on peace journalism. Currently, I am
teaching peace journalism on the undergraduate level in Turkish. I am going to
translate and use Dr. Youngblood’s content analysis rubric in my class. The student class started on day 2 of the
Cyprus Project at EMU with an energy eager to learn. The students learned the foundations of Peace
Journalism at a grassroots level, not through a textbook, not from a flyer, but
from Steve Youngblood’s hands-on lecture.
The room full of thirty three inquisitive and adapt minds included
doctoral graduate student Elnaz Nasehi who remarked that, “ I didn’t have a
rich academic background in Peace Journalism and this workshop brought some new
interesting ideas to me and at the same time, raised many questions. I
appreciate Dr. Youngblood's efforts to travel around the world to spread the
idea of PJ.”
(Next Slide hit 2x) The Peace Journalism training with the Center
for Global Peace was held in Nicosia, the capital of the Republic of Cyprus
inside the Cyprus Community Media Center in the United Nations controlled
Buffer Zone on Thursday March 13, 2014 and Friday March 14, 2014. Professor Youngblood remarked on his teaching
there. “I have taught in corn fields, in
freezing cold classrooms, under trees, in sweltering meeting rooms fighting off
aggressive mosquitos, and in sterile auditoriums under the suspicious gaze of
official "handlers." However, until last Thursday and Friday, I had
never led a seminar held in no-man's land--in a place that is, literally, neither
here nor there.” The CCMC is inside the
zone that is governed by UN peacekeepers that separates the Turkish Republic of
North Cyprus and the Greek southern part of the island, The Republic of
Cyprus. He expressed his thoughts as “As
I was teaching, I could help but glance to my right and see the razor wire and
UN flag limply presiding over the base. This didn't make me nervous, since this
hasn’t been a shooting war for decades, but it was nonetheless a constant reminder
of the necessity of our peace journalism training here in Cyprus.”
(Next Slide)
The project enabled
journalists and graduate students to grasp the foundations of Peace Journalism
and also provided a breeding ground for unity. The purpose of the training was
to teach peace journalism in an area that is in reconciliation, and to spread
the seeds for a new generation. The
attendees included NGO professionals, journalists, and graduate students who
were taught to seek social responsibility in reporting, to ask themselves “Am I
going to cause a riot? Will what I write
drive a wedge between conflicted parties?”
These questions will feed the need for peace to grow in Cyprus, for
journalists to give peace a chance. (Next
Slide)
On Friday, the last day of
the training, the participants were assigned to interview refugees, migrants,
and asylum seekers, and create a story that acted as an anti-narrative. After, they also created proposals to
practice peace journalism in Cyprus with goals to raise public awareness on
commonalities between the two sides as measured by a pre and post survey,
increase interaction between the two sides as measured by attendance to events
with the creation of a Peace Journalism website for Cyprus that would include
articles on current events, educational resources, profiles on prominent
figures, photos, videos, PSAs on peace, and re-writing of mainstream media
pieces. (Next Slide)
Cem Cicek, Public Information Office, UNFIC, noted
“Though it was almost like
a refresher course for me, I can easily say that I have learnt that the
responsibility to push for more PJ-oriented terminology lies with the
journalist him/herself and to continuously attempt to change the editor's views
on the matter. The field of PJ needs to
be explored a lot further in the case of Cyprus. The training was valuable for me to see the
responsibilities of the journalist contrary to dealing with PJ as a utopia
academic venture. Going out of the
classroom to practice PJ was the most valuable for me as it allows me to form a
relation with what is written in the books and with the work of
journalism. I will definitely attempt to
look at the news piece (both in writing and in reading) from a complete angle -
especially in my own writings; I will make an effort to tell the untold narrative. As peace is possible, so is peace-journalism.
Though there is a lot to be done in Cyprus in my view, it should be everyone's
responsibility to make an attempt to present his/her story from the view point
of peace-journalism.” Plans have started
for a Greek/Turkish Cypriot journalist group to form, the APJC, and the two
sides will work together in collaboration.
This gives hope for PJ to flourish in Cyprus. (Next Slide)
Professor Youngblood was given a plaque from the President
of EMU who noted on the complications of the Cyprus Conflict…but he said, “That’s
why you are here, Peace Journalists.”
(Next Slide)
This was an amazing trip and I was able to learn many
new things and new people. I cherish the
new friends I was able to make with graduate students Elnaz, who is Iranian,
and Ayca who is Turkish. Through peace
journalism we have learned to break down barriers of difference and find connections
despite our cultural identities.
