In an age marked by globalisation and technological advancement, the role of media in portraying and interpreting conflict is acknowledged to be of great importance, especially in the coverage of political conflicts.
"Peace Journalism" - as opposed to "war journalism" - is considered by many media experts and scholars as a way to develop a more "socially responsible" journalism.
This seminar will examine the concepts of peace journalism and conflict resolution as approaches towards conflict and exploration of the notions of journalistic practices such as "objectivity" in the media coverage of conflict.
It will also deal with the challenges in practising effective peace journalism. On the one hand, the digital revolution has changed the nature of information and communication. It has brought many challenges for the developed world, including the changing global identities, the need to respond to global events quickly and the need for psychological and physical training programmes for journalists.
But for developing countries, simple tasks such as having media access to the conflict, providing security to journalists in the field and arranging adequate resources for them are hard to accomplish.
Providing examples from Iraq, Pakistan and some other countries, the existing disparity of resources and training in the two parts of the worlds will be discussed. The seminar will conclude with the importance of community support making peace journalism effective.
Doctoral candidate Rukhsana Aslam is the Pacific Media Centre's 2011 Asian Journalism Fellow and a media educator from Pakistan. She is a contributor to the ground-breaking book Peace Journalism, War and Conflict Resolution. The fellowship is sponsored by the Asia New Zealand Foundation.
When: Tuesday, 7 June 2011
Time: 7.15-8.30pm
Where: WT1004 (AUT Tower Building, 2 Rutland St, 10th floor seminar room, next door to the new Pacific Media Centre office)
Map: www.pmc.aut.ac.nz/contact