Institute urges journalists to promote peace

The Director-General of the Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution, Dr. Joseph Golwa, on Thursday called on journalists to promote peace while reporting conflict situations.

Golwa made the call in Kaduna at a workshop the IPCR organised in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme for media professionals.

The director-general said that such a practice would promote dialogue and broaden the range of opinions on resolving conflicts.

“Journalists do not often provide in-depth analysis of the context of conflicts, but rather tend to always focus on the episodic and fragmentary accounts of the most dramatic positions,” he said.

Golwa noted that with the 2011 elections around the corner, it was the responsibility of journalists and the media at large to ensure that all issues were reported objectively.

In his lecture, Prof. Umaru Pate of the University of Maiduguri, said that the media could quell or escalate conflicts, depending on the reportage of such conflicts.

He urged journalists not to underestimate the importance of credible reporting.

Earlier in his remark, Dr. Austine Onuoha of African Centre for Corporate Responsibility, emphasised the need for journalists to always consider the interest or shared goals of parties involved in conflicts.

“There are indications that the media do not usually play a constructive role in the management of conflicts and may often spread sensational stories and motivated opinions.

“This has been seen in the extent to which negative views, prejudices, biases, stereotypes and inferences become issues of news reporting,” he said.
Source:punchng