Reporters, editors, and news producers primarily covering the insurgency in Northeast Nigeria, recently returned to the classroom to retool their intellectual battery and catch up on trending perspectives to delivering on a routine beat.
Some 57 of these journalists comprising field reporters and gatekeepers from print, broadcast, and online media from Borno, Yobe, Taraba, Bauchi, and Adamawa states, attended a peace journalism workshop organised by the American University of Nigeria (AUN), Yola, at its ultra-modern Dr. Robert Pastor E-library & Resource Center.
Under the theme “Redefining the Role of Journalists in Peace-building,” the workshop set out to offer journalists an in-depth intellectual and professional perspective to reporting news during insurgency.
In the words of the workshop’s key facilitator, Dr. Jacob U. Jacob, “with the Boko Haram insurgency becoming more violent and intractable, the workshop’s organisers felt it was propitious to launch a comprehensive, practical retraining for local journalists on peace reporting, so that they can see themselves not only as purveyors of news but also as peacemakers.”
As a field of academic study, said Dr. Jacob, who is the acting chair of AUN’s Communications and Multimedia (CMD) programme, peace journalism has crystalised in the last 10 years. However, in practice it is yet to be well developed, particularly in Nigeria.
The workshop afforded the AUN and Adamawa Peace Initiative (API), its partner organisation in community-wide peace-building, the opportunity to introduce this concept to Nigerian journalists. The workshop was facilitated by AUN professors, Dr. Jacob and Don North. The latter is a veteran with an enriching experience in reporting conflicts from Vietnam to Latin America to Iraq.
In a keynote address, AUN’s President, Professor Margee Ensign, articulated the role of the media in a pluralistic democracy. Speaking on “The Press & Democratic Reform in a Changing World: Building Alliances for Good Governance and Accountability,” she highlighted some of the critical challenges facing Nigeria – ranging from political instability to weak institutions – and argued for a more assertive role for the media in holding governments and political leaders accountable.
The keynote address was followed by three working sessions and an interactive panel discussion led by resource persons with strong industry experience. Participating journalists in the discussion made invaluable contributions regarding factors militating against objective, accurate, and factual reporting from the front.
In the first session “Principles & Practice of Peace Journalism,” Dr. Jacob explained Peace Journalism, illustrating its step-by-step application. A report on a recent Boko Haram bomb attack in Maiduguri from the local TV Gotel was shown and compared with another report of the same event using peace journalism lenses. The second report was produced by the CMD Programme at AUN.
Participants discussed the differences between the two videos and noted components that distinguished the second report from the first.
Also in this session, participants were introduced to basic theories of conflict transformation and peace building to help them get a better grasp of conflict analyses and peace initiatives. Dr. Jacob, who has researched and published on the UN’s Public Information Operations in the Democratic Republic of Congo and in Somalia, discussed numerous basic theories that inform the best practices in conflict reporting.
During the second session on “Framing Peace: Models of Peace News Reports,” Dr. Jacob and Prof North explored the journalistic concept of framing and why it is important to create appropriate ‘pegs’ that provide peace-orientated solutions to news reports about the insurgency and violence. The workshop also compared and contrasted visual images of peace journalism with those of war or conventional journalism.
During the panel discussion on objectivity, Prof North led other journalists in a panel discussion on objectivity in Peace Journalism. Joining him were Premium Times’ Managing Editor, Mr. Mojeed Musikilu, New Telegraph’s Managing Editor and senior columnist, Mr. Suleiman Gaya, and the Deputy National President of Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Ms. Aisha Ibrahim, who stood in for NUJ President, Mr. Mohammed Garba, among others. The panel dissected the concept of objectivity in journalism. At the end of the panel discussion, there was a consensus that Peace Journalism is not an affront on objectivity; rather it increases fairness, balance, and accuracy.
In the concluding session, participants were given exercises to compare and contrast peace journalism reports with conventional journalism stories.
During the second session on “Framing Peace: Models of Peace News Reports,” Dr. Jacob and Professor North explored the concept of framing and why it is important for news handlers to create appropriate ‘pegs’ that provide peace-orientated solutions to news about the insurgency and violence. The workshop also compared and contrasted visual images of peace journalism with those of war or conventional journalism.
In the concluding session, participants were given exercises to compare and contrast peace journalism reports with conventional journalism stories.
The workshop meanwhile provided participants the opportunity to join the Peace Journalism Network, whose objective includes providing an online forum for news practitioners to share experiences, exchange notes, and develop globally acceptable best practices in peace reporting.
Journalists can also peer review each other’s work, compare notes and confirm facts before reporting. In addition to various resources, the network’s website will also contain contact information of peacemakers, community and religious leaders, as well as NGOs working on peace building and conflict transformation issues, and projects in various communities, from which reporters can confirm reports or get crucial news leads.
*Ms. Ating writes from Yola, Adamawa State