Curbing Incitement – Strategies and Lessons Learned
Presentation overview
1. Media in conflict through history1. Media in conflict through history
2. Media: possibilities and limitations2. Media: possibilities and limitations
3. Peacebuilding media3. Peacebuilding media
4. Case Studies 4. Case Studies
Vietnam era
Inter-ethnic conflicts
IRAQ I & II
Media work in concord with social institutions/policy
WWI
WWII
Spanish American war
Providing PicturesDirect effects
Propaganda
“Watchdog” media
Propaganda revisited
Media embedding
Media in violent conflict
AudienceAudience
Selectively chooses media based on their demographics and needs
Inclined to listen to information corresponding to their beliefs
Audiences are impacted by other people – opinion leaders
Increased need for information – makes audience more susceptible to the media impact
Acquired information does not automatically change behavior
EnvironmentEnvironment MessagesMessages
Media effects during conflict
a) messages in support of own cause and b) messages against opponent’s cause
Considerable message effects – not as direct as “hypodermic needle”
Messages increase cognitive knowledge, influence attitudes, shape perceptions of reality, provide models for behavior
Media message set agenda: conflict messages – conflict agenda
Uncertainty, insecurity, time of stress – media consumption increases
Homogenous media environment silences minority opinion
Environment with homogenous media content cultivates beliefs more consistently
Conflict environment increases dependency and the impact of media
“RTLM did not independently cause the violence, but rather served as one of many instruments which this [MRND and government] elite used to facilitate the killing once it was
underway. RTLM engaged in incitement to genocide during this period, however, there is no compelling evidence to
suggest that its broadcasts caused a significant number of random individuals to partake in the killing.” Kirschke
Limitations: What media cannot do
During violence media is a casualty of conflict like other social institution and processes More likely to perpetuate conflict than peace The evidence for media impact countering
dominant policy (conflict) is dubious Forces fueling the conflict better organized and
utilize media for their goals Unlikely to deliver significant change unless a
wider policy accompanies it in the same direction
Peacebuilding mediaPeacebuilding media
Peace/Conflict Sensitive Journalism
and information programming
Social marketing
in support of peacePeacebuilding Entertainment
Regulation of media
inciting conflict
Peacebuilding mediaPeacebuilding media
Peace/Conflict Sensitive Journalism
and information programming
Social marketing
in support of peacePeacebuilding Entertainment
Regulation of media
inciting conflict
Hard media interventionHard media intervention
Soft media interventionSoft media intervention
Regulation of Conflict media: Regulation of Conflict media: Case StudiesCase Studies
Regulative Guidelines & Monitoring: Regulative Guidelines & Monitoring:
Avoiding inflammatory language – “which encourages discrimination, prejudice, or hatred, or which encourages violence, or contributes to the
creation of a climate in violence can occur”
Avoiding inflammatory language – “which encourages discrimination, prejudice, or hatred, or which encourages violence, or contributes to the
creation of a climate in violence can occur”
CambodiaCambodia Bosnia & Kosovo Bosnia & Kosovo IraqIraq
Regulation of Conflict media: Regulation of Conflict media: Case StudiesCase Studies
Suppressing hate speech:Suppressing hate speech:
Rwanda Rwanda ColumbiaColumbia Kosovo Kosovo
Restrictive Restrictive Prescriptive Prescriptive Sanctioning Sanctioning
Regulation of Conflict media: Regulation of Conflict media: Case StudiesCase Studies
Regulation by proxy:Regulation by proxy:
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
USAUSAUSAUSA
Regulation of Conflict media: Regulation of Conflict media: Case StudiesCase Studies
Enforcing the regulation:Enforcing the regulation:
Kosovo: Closing Dita newspaperKosovo: Closing Dita newspaper
Bosnia: Capturing the transmitter Bosnia: Capturing the transmitter
Iraq: Closing Al-Hawza newspaper Iraq: Closing Al-Hawza newspaper
Lessons Learned
• Violent conflict more conducive to hate speech & propaganda than peacebuilding messages
• Peacebuilding media - multilayered approach:
- information, entertainment, marketing …
• Curbing hate speech: regulation, monitoring & enforcement
Example: Conflict sensitive JournalismTraditional reporting• Skopje, UPI — Peace talks aimed at ending the conflict in Macedonia lay in ruins
last night after the massacre of eight policemen by Albanian rebels who mutilated the bodies. The atrocity took place at the mountain village of Vecje, where a police patrol was attacked with machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades, said a spokesman. Six other men were wounded and three vehicles destroyed. The bodies were cut with knives after they died, he said, and one man’s head had been smashed in. The attack was believed to be the work of the National Liberal Army terrorists from the hills near Tetevo. Ali Ahmeti, a political leader of the NLA, said that his men may have fired “in self-defence.”…
Conflict sensitive reporting• Skopje, UPI — There was condemnation across the political spectrum in
Macedonia after a police patrol suffered the loss of eight men. Both the main parties representing the country’s minority Albanians distanced themselves from the killings, believed to be the work of the self-styled National Liberation Army. Ali Ahmeti, a political leader of the NLA, denied that his men had attacked the patrol, saying they may have fired “in self-defence”. But the Macedonian government said it had done nothing to provoke the machine-gun fire and rocket-propelled grenades which destroyed three trucks. A spokesman added that the bodies appeared to have been cut with knives and one man’s skull caved in …
Example: peacebuilding entertainment
• Layalina video
Example: Social Marketing for Peace