Peace projects had been important to Park University communications and peace studies teacher Steven Youngblood for a long time. So when he and administrators at the school worked together to continue and amplify the projects they decided to launch a center at the university that would help to facilitate the work in a way that could help attract outside funding. They formed the Center for Global Peace Journalism, which was launched in 2012.
Basically, Peace Journalism is when editors and reporters make choices about what to report, and how to report it that create more opportunities for people to consider and to value non-violent responses to conflict and improve the prospects for peace. It provides a new way to trace connections between journalists and their sources, the stories they cover and the consequences of their journalism.
The Center for Global Peace Journalism at Park University in Parkville focuses on how to frame stories and carefully choose which words are used to create an atmosphere conducive to peace and supportive of peace initiatives and peacemakers, without compromising the basic principles of good journalism.
Most of the projects are funded by outside sources but the university has a small budget they employ for some of them.
Youngblood has traveled the world working with journalists and delivering lectures on the peace project. He has worked in Northern Ireland. He also recently gave a presentation at the Rotary World Forum for Peace in Ontario, California.
“Before this center was launched I was still doing projects,” Youngblood said. “I was still doing the same kind of work but it wasn't under the umbrella of an organization. I was a professor teaching overseas and talking about peace.”
While he was doing his Fulbright Scholarship in Azerbaijan in 2007 he got a call from the U.S. Embassy and they asked him to do a Peace Journalism project in neighboring Georgia.
“They asked if I would do that project and I said sure,” Youngblood said. “Georgia is beautiful and I really wanted to go, and they asked me what I knew about Peace Journalism and I told them, ‘no problem, I have it under control.’ So I hung up the phone and googled Peace Journalism. I did this Peace Journalism seminar and I was immediately hooked and realized that this was a way to combine several of my passions in a professional endeavor and that's what I've done since.”
What he talks about with journalists depends on where they are located. In Turkey he worked on a project that focused on Syrian refugees.
“There are two to three million Syrian refugees in Turkey right now and so we analyzed the reporting that they did and talked about how that reporting might be improved, and how it might give people more three-dimensional views about the refugees.”
In Northern Ireland he and fellow journalists talk about media as a tool for reconciliation. While in places like Nigeria and Cameroon where elections have been contentious and terrorism is a concern they talk about how media can operate in a way that doesn’t put fuel on the fire.
“We talk about how Peace Journalism can be used to report civic unrest which is a big issue in places like Cameroon,” Youngblood said. “Basically Peace Journalism says let's not make a bad situation worse. Let's not make angry people angrier. So we're not ignoring the news we're not sweeping it under the rug, we still reports the news. So the question is almost never do we report it, it's how do we report it, how do we frame it and what words do we use.”
The challenges vary from place to place. On the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, Youngblood said he works with journalists so they can do a better job of informing their citizens.
“Are their citizens truly informed if they are only hearing one perspective,” Youngblood said. “That's the approach that we take. I never swoop into any place and presume to know more about the situation than the natives and presume to know more about journalism there than they do. What I hope I can bring to the table are some ideas to pick and choose and use when appropriate.”
Straight out of college he was a reporter and news director at several radio stations. He was also the managing editor of a small weekly newspaper and a columnist at the Parkville Luminary.
Over the years he has learned that the word ‘peace’ ironically has an inflammatory effect in many parts of the world and that people tend to attach their own meaning to the word.
“When you come in and say that you're a peace journalist that automatically triggers skepticism,” Youngblood said. “Northern Ireland is one of those places, so I wrote a recent blog about this issue and the title of it was ‘Northern Ireland journalist do yourself a favor and don't call yourself a peace journalist.’ And what I said was I've ended up playing whack-a-mole from people who are criticizing Peace Journalism from all sides. I don't understand why it is they attach their own meaning to it. These criticisms are all off base and reflect a complete misunderstanding of the nature and goals of Peace Journalism.”
Youngblood has learned to go light on the term Peace Journalism and just talk about the principles.
“They might not like the term but when we lay out the principles they seem to like them,” Youngblood said. “Journalists should avoid inflammatory, sensationalist language that exacerbates or fuels conflict. Journalists should reject us versus them and good guy, bad guy narratives and instead build bridges between communities. The principles don't seem to be controversial but the name Peace Journalism seems to be very controversial.”
He has run into the controversy not only in Northern Ireland but also in the Indian administered region of Kashmir where he said the word peace automatically connotes support for the Indian government. There is ongoing violence in Kashmir against the Indian government because the government occupies Kashmir where residents want a separate state.
“It’s the same thing in Cameroon,” Youngblood said. There is an ongoing Insurgency against the government and when you say you're for peace that might mean you're pro-government. We have to really be careful in understanding the baggage that the term peace carries and react accordingly. The word peace seems neutral to us but I think in places where conflict is endemic the word takes on a whole new meaning.
Here in the U.S. when you hear the term peace activist you think pot smoking, tree hugging and so on - West Coast, East Coast.”
Since Peace Journalism focuses on how reporters and editors make choices that can create an atmosphere that is conducive to peace Youngblood said those choices include how the story is framed, if violence is given a disproportionate voice in the story and if it is sensationalized and inflammatory.
“Do we say 10 people were killed, or do we say 10 people were slaughtered in a bloody massacre,” Youngblood said. “Those two phrasings are diametrically opposed. Those of us who teach Peace Journalism want to spread the word that there is a better way that doesn't fuel and exacerbate conflict.”
Youngblood loves meeting people from different backgrounds around the world and said it’s a consistent learning experience. He learns a lot about the areas that he visits and a lot about himself.
“There's never a dull moment,” Youngblood said.
Steven Youngblood