Media in Conflict situations
Xavier Giró - Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona)
Outline
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The communicative strategy of actors in a Conflict
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Criticism to the Media coverage
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Why media do not perform a better work
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The effective logic of Media‘s work
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Challenges for a critic journalism
Actor‘s (Communicative) Strategy
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Two battlefields:
– The military field :
The rearguard
 The front
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– The information field:
The front
 The rearguard
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Communikative Strategy
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At the Front:
– To misinform, mislead the enemy:
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“To lie is a necessity; telling the truth, a
treason”
– i.e. Golf War (1991), before the offensive of the
“Allied forces”.
Communikative Strategy
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At the rearguard:
– Legitimation of the choice of War.
International Law / International Public
Opinion
 Their own public opinion / die voters
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– Ex. M. Thatcher:
Thatcher, Margaret:
My years in Downing Street.
(about the Malvinas War)
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“... We decide to allow war journalists in
our Warships . ... The result were very vivid
reports about the events. But there was
always the risk to broadcast information
which could be useful for the opponent. I
was shocked by the tendency of some
commentaries to appear neutral, and I also
found awful when reporters spoke about
‘the British’ and ‘the Argentineans’.”
Thatcher, Margaret:
My years in Downing Street.
(about the Malvinas/ Falklands War)
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“... We decide to allow war journalists in
our Warships . ... The result were very vivid
reports about the events. But there was
always the risk to broadcast information
which could be useful for the opponent. I
was shocked by the tendency of some
commentaries to appear neutral, and I also
found awful when reporters spoke about
‘the British’ and ‘the Argentineans’.”
Ideological box
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To maximize your own victories, successes,
qualities, virtues, and those of your allies.
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To minimize the victories, successes, qualities, and
virtues of the enemy and those of his/her allies.
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To maximize the defeats, failures, and mistakes of
the enemy, and those of his/her allies.
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To minimize your defeats, failures, and mistakes,
and those of your allies.
The ideological square in the case
of the media
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Broadcasting information from military sources / actors
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Accepting the constraints put by the military authorities.
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Through the choice of the collected material.
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Through the priority given to different parts of the information.
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Through the choice of people to be interviewed.
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With the decision to broadcast or not what a certain Actor has said.
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Beyond the explicit content of information, with the IMPLICIT
CONTENT.
Criticisms at the media
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The broadcasting of lies and
exaggerations
Silences
Superficiality
Out of context
Simplification
Simplification
• Alger: Islamic Fundamentalism
• Israel – Palestine: excessive
personalization
• Putting all actors in the same category
• Demonising one actor, a part or an ethnic
group.
Demonising an ethnic group
“Serbs block all the help for the starving Bosnian cities"
(ABC,15.1.93).
“Serbs don’t listen to the Nato threat to bomb them" (El País,
11.7.95).
“Serbs spread death in Zagreb" (El Periódico, 3.5.94).
“Serbs maintain, they will lift the Blockade of humanitarian
Convoys to Sarajevo" (Avui, 9.7.75)
„Serbs mine the Nato-headquarters in Zepa und threaten to
blow it up if Nato attacks them" (El Mundo, 18.7.95)
Criticisms at the media
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The broadcasting of lies and exaggerations
Silences
Superficiality
Out of context
Simplification
Repetition of direct violence / not
looking for ‘Why’
Assumption of the language of
dominants.
USA says to the Spanish Foreign Affairs
Ministry they dislike the visit to Cuba of
the King in1998
USA doesn‘t put any objection to
visit of the King to Cuba
Criticisms at the media
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The broadcasting of lies and exaggerations
Silences
Superficiality
Out of context
Simplification
Repetition of direct violence / not looking
for ‘Why’
Assumption of the language of dominants.
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The South, nearly always negative.
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A plane crashes in Nigeria against 10 buildings
and causes more than 125 dead
A ship sinks with hundreds of
passengers in Bangladesh
Pacemakers from dead will
be reused in Argentina
Imminent freeing of a Cuban
dissident
396 Maoists Rebels
dead in Nepal
Several girls die in an
accident in Iran
Criticisms at the media
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The broadcasting of lies and exaggerations
Silences
Superficiality
Out of context
Simplification
Repetition of direct violence / not looking for ‘Why’
Assumption of the language of dominants.
The South, nearly always negative.
The naturalization of Catastrophes and the
war.
Interpreting foreign conflicts in the key of
internal conflicts
Not always
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Denunciation of military language:
– „Collateral Damage”, „preventive Attacks”,
„surgery operation“, controlled Pools, etc.
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They distinguish aggressors from victims.
They take stand in favour of the weak.
Etc.
i.e.: Against the Bush administration and
the war Iraq.
Bush‘s inventions
In his eagerness to justify the war
against Iraq, the president made up
reports and data.
Why don‘t media work
better?
The first answers
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Time
Room, space
Education
Media pursue: Economic Profit
and Influence.
Aims: Profit and Influence (or
the other way around)
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Competition:
– The market, die Audience, the share, etc.
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Competitiveness
– profitable, reduce costs
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But they need to work with reality, and
be credible.
Cracks or chinks and
elasticity
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Competition
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Competitiveness
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Credibility regarding Reality
Cracks or chinks and
elasticity
 Competition
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(Market, Audience)
The fight against the other Media and
their political allies.
Scoops
Own Profile
all Segments of the Audience are
important
Cracks or chinks and
elasticity
 Competition
 Competitiveness (economic)
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insufficient payroll, exploitation of
journalists
Holes and ads, Refrigerator.
Different margins of manoeuvre.
Cracks or chinks and
elasticity
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Competition
Competitiveness
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Speak about the reality:
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Credibility
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–
–
Critic attitude towards those in power.
Social pressure: Activists, professional organizations,
council of information,
– Code of Ethics (sometimes a double edged sword)
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Alternative Media
WAR/VIOLENCE JOURNALISM
PEACE/CONFLICT JOURNALISM
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explore conflict formation,
x parties, y goals, z issues
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general “win, win”
orientation
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giving voice to all parties;
empathy, understanding
see conflict/war as
problem, focus on conflict
creativity
humanisation of all sides;
more so the worse the
weapons
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Focus on conflict arena,
2 parties, 1 goal (win), war
general zero-sum orientation
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“us-them” journalism,
propaganda, voice, for “us”
see “them” as the problem,
focus on who prevails in
war
dehumanisation of “them”;
more so the worse the
weapon
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proactive: prevention before
any violence/war occurs.
focus on invisible effects of
violence (trauma and glory,
damage to
structure/culture)
expose untruths on all
sides / uncover all coverups
Focus on suffering all over
Focus on people peacemakers.
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reactive: waiting for
violence before reporting
focus only on visible effect
of violence (killed,
wounded and material
damage)
Expose “their” untruths /
help “our” cover-ups/lies
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Focus on “our” suffering
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focus on elite peace-makers
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Peace = non-violence
+ creativity
Highlight peace
initiatives, also to
prevent more war
Focus on structure,
culture, the peaceful
society
Aftermath: resolution,
reconstruction,
reconciliation
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Peace = victory +
ceasefire.
Conceal peaceinitiative, before victory
is at hand
Focus on treaty, institution,
the controlled society
Leaving for another war, return
if the old flares up again
The Challenge
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To understand the logic of the media
Take advantage of the Cracks or the
Chinks
Build and strengthen alternative media
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Spasiba / Thanks