How do international organizations operate when promoting media initiatives in (post)conflict scenarios? In which way and through which means do they foster media development projects in fragile contexts of peacekeeping and peacebuilding? What are their approaches to media sector development and journalism towards the promotion of local based solutions and just-peacebuilding?
By establishing international media projects in local contexts, questions come to surface when we ask whether journalists are able to perform a pivotal role in conflict transformation, social engagement and empowerment. Could media professionals in such projects play a constructive and responsible approach while reporting in a conflicting environment where they are immersed?
The question of agency in peacebuilding remains a topic of debate as well as how and when to integrate media into the overall peacebuilding strategies that remain largely unexplored. Some studies have examined how information equilibrium contributed toward a balanced representation of views on matters related to peacebuilding. The fundamental assumption is that the plurality of views may offer space for dialogue and open communication among individuals in a given locality or community.
Peacebuilding and Journalism: Challenges and Approaches to International Media Sector Development is an in-depth discussion of the relation of journalism and peacebuilding processes and the role of international organizations when promoting media initiatives in fragile contexts.
It is a research project that works across boundaries, disciplines and the multifaceted paradigms of local peacebuilding approaches embracing the fields of media development, peace and conflict studies. It explores the use of radio as a peacebuilder and its limits of independency, objectivity and non-partisanship of the media sector in a conflicting scenario.
My study explores the processes of international media development, peacebuilding and local journalistic culture. I wish to draw an analysis between the United Nations and the role of the Non-Governmental Organization Fondation Hirondelle in implementing media development projects in (post)conflict and fragile contexts. I focus on the experience of two radio stations in the Central African Republic.
Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Jens Loenhoff, University Duisburg-Essen
Project partner: Fondation Hirondelle, Internews
Contact: fabiola.ortiz-dos-santos@uni-due.de
Teaser icon: © 2019 Nick Roach