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Reality and peace |
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By Frank Kürschner-Pelkmann, Freelance journalist, based in Germany
 A distorted picture of reality is very often a decisive factor on the road from peace to conflict and war. For that reason propaganda has very often been used to distort the worldview of people in order to prepare the next war. The distinction between “us” and “them” is used as a foundation stone for a black and white description of life in a community, in a country or between countries.
Thousands of journalists have been misused to spread such false descriptions of the world – others were only too willing to play a role in this process of warfare with words. The role of Radio Mille Collines in Rwanda before the outbreak of the wave of massacres in 1994 in spreading hatred and propagating genocide is a sad example of this type of irresponsible journalism. It is easy to say that journalists and media should enable people to see our present world realistically. But it demands that journalists are able to analyze complex social processes and to communicate the results in a way that is neither over-simplified nor so complicated that the audience will not grasp what is going on in their local community and in the world. Yet a responsible and brave journalism is indispensable for peace in a community and for peaceful relations of nations. Communication contributes to peace if it struggles day after day for the adequate way to enable people to know and to understand what is going on in the local micro-cosmos and in the world at large. Courageous and competent journalists committed to search for the truth and to share it with their audience are a formidable peace force. But that explains as well why so many journalists are killed in fulfilling their tasks of sharing with readers, listeners and viewers what is really going on in their town or country. Such journalists are dangerous for the status quo and for those who enjoy the fruits of this status quo. Of course, a lot depends on how reality is presented and interpreted in media. A sensationalist coverage of events, even if all the facts in a given article are correct, can increase tensions and conflicts. This is especially true after tragic events like a massacre that could easily cause counter massacres committed by members of the ethnic or national group to whom the victims belonged. Some governments tend to censor the coverage of violent conflicts in the name of national security and national unity. But with the access to international media even in remote areas such events cannot be hidden and rumors can contribute much more to new violence than a sensitive coverage of what really happened. In the long run the most important task of journalists in the process of avoiding violent conflicts and creating peace may be a thorough analysis of the actual social and economic situation of a community and a country and the naming of those politicians, companies etc. who bear responsibility for problems and crises. There is more than enough evidence that incompetent and irresponsible governments and companies which exploit the natural riches of a country by bribing politicians or even paying militant groups who control an area where gold or diamonds are found have created economic and social situations that lead directly to violence and war. Journalism for peace is very often a journalism that unmasks the causes of poverty and marginalization. But to unmask the incompetence of a government and to prove that it is corrupt demands a lot of courage and very often the readiness to suffer for the exposure of what is really happening. These journalists are often the successors of the Old Testament prophets who took all risks to say that injustice is injustice and exploitation is exploitation. These journalist desperately need solidarity in their own country and internationally. To provide this solidarity is an important contribution towards the creation of a more peaceful world.
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