Assessing media in conflict
Contents |
Definition/Description
Publications of assessment studies about media and conflict
Indicators
Methods/Methodologies/Tools to use
Gives short introduction (one/two sentences) into different methodologies/methods/tools (used for, limitations etc.) – and links to a more comprehensive description
Practitioners’ tips
Recommendations of which methods proved to be efficient, too time-consuming, experiences from different cultural settings etc.
Examples
Hume, Ellen, Media Assistance: Best Practices and Priorities. Report on a USAID Workshop, PPC Evaluation Working Paper no 4 November 2003
Determining that the time had come to derive lessons from past efforts, think afresh about media assistance, and perhaps add some new models USAID’s Bureau for Policy and Program Coordination (PPC) undertook a year-long evaluation and review of USAID’s media assistance programs. The goal of the review was to develop a set of learning tools and promote a more aggressive media development agenda.
http://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PNACR754.pdf
Kirschke, L., Broadcasting genocide : censorship, propaganda & state-sponsored violence in Rwanda 1990-1994, Article 19 (1996), London
In communal conflicts and humanitarian disasters the mass media have enormous power for good or evil. The very language used can influence the perception of where responsibility for conflict lies.
http://www.article19.org/pdfs/publications/rwanda-broadcasting-genocide.pdf
McGoldrick, A., War Journalism and 'Objectivity', [Electronic Version], Conflict & Communication online (2006), Vol.5, No.2
This article opens by considering an apparent paradox. Many professional journalists, working on many media in many countries, consider themselves 'objective'. They do not, at least, set out to skew their coverage of important issues in favor of one side or the other. And yet much of their coverage of conflicts shows a discernible dominant pattern of War Journalism - biased in favor of war.
http://www.cco.regener-online.de/2006_2/pdf/mcgoldrick.pdf
Mirimanova, N., Covering Coflict: Reporting on Conflicts in the North Caucasus in the Russian Media [Electronic Version], Article19 (2008)
This report examines the coverage of instability, violence, conflict and conflict resolution in the Russian Federation (Russia). It is based on both media monitoring and research through first and secondary sources, including interviews with stakeholders in Russia. It also details Russian media policy and practice in this area, including direct and indirect pressure on the media, covering the North Caucasus media as well as restrictions on reporting in Russia generally of conflict in the North Caucasus.
http://www.article19.org/pdfs/publications/russia-conflict-report.pdf
Paluck, E. L., Kuki Evaluation 2007-2008 Final Report Executive Summary (2008)
This report evaluates the effectiveness of the Kuki Debates “The Why Debates” (Radio LaBenevolencija – Great Lakes region) in affecting opinions and behaviors of the Rwandan elites and whether participation in the debates has changed important behaviors among elites with respect to dialogue and social inclusion.
Media:Kuki Evaluation 2007-2008 Final Report.pdf
Rwanda Media Monitoring Project (RMMP), Analysis of Professionalism in Rwandan Media [Electronic Version], (2004)
Through periodic reports based on quantitative and qualitative analysis of media news items, the RMMP aims at enhancing professional standards of the Rwandan media, in providing key stakeholders with systematic data and clear picture of deficiencies and performances in the sector.
http://www.i-m-s.dk/files/publications/Rwanda%20report%202004%20MMP%20PHASE%20II%20ANGLAIS.pdf
Shinar, D., Peace process in cultural conflict: The role of the media [Electronic Version], Conflict & Communication online (2003), Vol.2, No.1
This article explores the cultural nature of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict; the "intractability" of cultural conflicts; conflict management models; the serious consequences of the wrong matching of models and conflicts; the changing role of the media in international relations; the possibility of the media contributing to peace processes; and implications of the media adoption of the conflict transformation model.
http://www.cco.regener-online.de/2003_1/pdf_2003_1/shinar.pdf
The examples of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan: Political extremisn, terrorism, and Media in Central Asia, International Media Support (2008)
This study furnishes the media, the civil society organizations, the public authorities and international organizations in the region with a point of reference in context to the rising debate about extremism, especially Islamic fundamentalism, and terrorism. It provides insight into how the mass media cover these sensitive issues and how the public authorities react to it.
http://www.i-m-s.dk/files/publications/1353%20CentralAsia%20GB.web.pdf
Thompson, A., The media and the Rwanda genocide, International Development Research Center (2007)
This report examines the current status of freedom of expression in Rwanda, concentrating particularly on media freedom. While reform has been long delayed but continually promised, cases of criminal defamation have continued to be brought against newspaper editors, and press harassment and censorship have continued unabated in various — and sometimes life-threatening — forms.
http://www.idrc.ca/openebooks/338-0/
Walega, D., Rwandan Radio: Incitement to Genocide, (2005)
This article analyzes the role of the Rwandan media in the 1994 Genocide and its responsibility for inciting killings and crimes against humanity.
http://www.davidwalega.com/pdfs/walega_rwandanradio_revised09.pdf
Williams, A. P., Media narcissism and self-reflexive reporting metacommunication in televised news broadcasts and web coverage of Operation Iraqi Freedom University of Florida (2004), Gainesville
The dissertation analyses the US media subjectivity in the situation of Iraq war and its representation of the events to public. This study employed a quantitative content analysis of televised news broadcasts and Web coverage of Operation Iraqi freedom. The overall goal was to determine the level and assessment of metacommunication in the media coverage about the 2003 war with Iraq.
http://purl.fcla.edu/fcla/etd/UFE0005601
Write fot rebuild: Great Lakes newspaper and the war, Institut Panos (2004), Paris
http://www.panosparis.org/fichierProdFR/fichierProd1363.pdf
Resources
Related web portals:
Сonflict & Сommunication online[1]
Track Two [2]
Training resources:
Discussion forums and specialised platforms:
Organisations and institutions engaged in this area:
Institut Panos Paris [3]
International Media Support [4]
Rwanda Media Monitoring Project[5]
For further study:
- Allen, T., Civil War, Ethnicity and the Media, Anthropology Today (1995), Vol. 11, No. 6, 16-18 (preview this item [6])
- Baum, M., Groeling, T., Crossing the water's edge : rhetoric, media coverage and the rally-round-the-flag phenomenon, 1979-2003, John F. Kennedy School of Government (2007), Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass
- Baum, M., Tabloid wars: the mass media, public opinion, and the use of force abroad, Peace Research Abstracts (2004), Vol. 41, No. 4
- Dunsky, M., Pens and swords : how the American mainstream media report the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Columbia University Press (2008), New York
- Frère, M-S., The Media and Conflicts in Central Africa, Institut Panos (2007)
- Madmoni-Gerber, S., Israeli media and the framing of internal conflict : the Yemenite babies affair, Palgrave Macmillan (2009), New York
- Maoz, I., & Ellis, D. G., A Communication and Cultural Codes Approach to Ethnonational Conflict, The International journal of conflict management (2003), Vol.14, No.3, pp.255
- Mirimanova, N., Pluralism in television news on state formation conflicts and pluralism of "imagined communities": institutional foundations and implications for media conflict interventions, (2006)
- Mould, D. H., Press Pools and Military-Media Relations in the Gulf War: A case study of the Battle of Khafji, Historical journal of film, radio, and television (1996), Vol.16, No.2, p.133.
- Oh, H. J., Media framing and conflict a content analysis of the South Korean hostage case [Doctoral Dissertation], University of Missouri-Columbia (2008)
- Siraj, S. A., War or Peace Journalism in Elite U.S. Newspapers: Exploring News Framing on Pakistan-India Conflict, Conference Papers -- International Communication Association (2008), pp.1-24
Author(s)
Contributions
