Rethinking Conflict Journalism in Berlin

Conflicts form an inherent part of our lives and it would seem almost unimaginable to read the newspaper or watch the evening news without witnessing at least some form of it from the comfort of our home. However, what happens on the producing side of the story, given that we are mostly passive receivers of news stories?  Why do journalists even travel to war zones to begin with and how do they choose their news angles? Furthermore, what kinds of risk management mechanisms can freelancers rely on and what role does social-media play in all of this?

Questions like those above were recently tackled during a week-long training conference for young media makers in Berlin, called RethinkingJournalism. The thirty participants came from eight European countries (Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Germany, Latvia), the Middle East (Lebanon) and North Africa (Algeria, Egypt, Tunisia) and were also joined by two trainers as well as an organizing team, which I was lucky enough to be a part of.

During the first days, we searched for the answers to these questions through a variety of theoretical concepts. One of the first things that the group learned was the basis of conflict analysis through the metaphors, namely, icebergs, onions and trees. While for some, such knowledge may have seemed rather redundant, for others being able to understand what the needs of the parties involved in conflict is proved to be absolutely essential for their production of future quality news pieces. The different angles of understanding a journalist’s position, and whether one should act as an observer or activist  was also discussed at the first panel discussion, during which we were joined by Simone Schlindwein, a war correspondent from the Great Lakes region.

Peace journalism was also a significant part of the training. This approach to conflict reporting is defined by being conflict/people/truth as well as solution-oriented. It stands as a direct contrast to war journalism and was developed by the father of modern peace research, Johan Galtung.

Another panel discussion revolved around the working conditions in war zones and the dangers that journalists, especially freelancers, face and how they can best be avoided. Christoph Dreyer from Reporters without Borders highlighted the importance of staying in touch with friends while in a conflict zone and the necessity of protection equipment. The most important lesson however was that it is not only your right but also your obligation to say ‘no’ to a potentially dangerous situation.

The workshop later moved towards media-producing and participants were joined by Jaafar Abdul Karim, moderator of “Shabab Talk” at the German TV channel Deutsche Welle. One very poignant question he had for all participants was, “How would you organize a talk show on the Arab-Israeli conflict for young audience largely uninterested in politics?” While discussing whom to invite and why, as well as what format to choose (among a myriad of other concerns), the participants relied heavily on the knowledge gained in the previous days and warned against the dangers of using a single-story as well as victory-oriented rather than solution-oriented approach to moderating such show. The question of ethics was then further elaborated on by Pulitzer Prize winner Roy Gutman who joined the conference by Skype and talked about his experience of reporting from the Balkans.

The final days of the workshop were rather hectic as the participants worked on their media pieces for Orange Magazine. Some participants examined the troubles that Yezidis in Berlin faced while others turned towards the rise of pro-Russian extremism in Latvia.

All in all, participating in the Rethinking Journalism was an extremely worthwhile experience. If you are interested in the stories produced, you can find them here: http://www.orangemagazine.eu/editions/rethinking-journalism-2014/.

Moreover, if you want to take part in future workshops or are simply interested in journalism be sure to look at the European Youth Press (http://www.youthpress.org/).You can also follow MENAC on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/menacommitteeor on Twitter at https://twitter.com/menacommittee.

Pictures’ sources: www.menacblog.wordpress.comand www.facebook.com/menacommittee

Radka Pudilova
School of Public Policy
Czech Republic