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Exploring Forms and Impacts of Conflict Coverage

The emphasis of the research projects shall be on the classic narrative of conflict coverage (War Journalism) and on the alternative approach offered by Galtung’s model of Peace Journalism. While the former represents the traditional and dominant approach to reporting about conflicts the latter turns communication into an open dialogue uncovering “truth” on all sides in order “to allow opportunities for society at large to consider and value non-violent responses to conflict” (Lynch 2005). Additionally, the emergence of new social media may or may not provide new opportunities for Peace Journalism. Yet, it seems to be unclear if these two concepts could work in tandem to make society consider peaceful conflict resolution and/or transformation. The purpose of the following projects is to identify the state of the art of War/Peace Journalism and to systematically examine the impact of print and online journalism on society in conflict and non-conflict environments.

The research projects shall address issues such as the emphasising of images in journalism, the objectivity (impartiality) of reporting, the re-framing of national images through the media, and comparisons of media coverage (global, national, local coverage). By using quantitative and qualitative methods this research aims to critically examine media activities, to assess how public and private media affect conflict and peace processes and to what extent War/Peace Journalism and new social media have contributed to strengthen peace and democracy.