African Media and Conflict
By Abiodun Onadipe and David Lord
Foreword
In peace or war, the power of the media to effect change is not in doubt. Used positively, it is a potent instrument for constructive personal and societal change. Used destructively, it can fan hatred, social division, massive abuses of human rights and human and material destruction. In extreme situations of widespread conflict, the media's potential to influence the course of events becomes even more crucial and the professional and personal lives of journalists more difficult and dangerous.
The basic assumption running through the following pages is that better informed and trained communicators can do a lot to increase the amount of factual information and analysis available to ordinary people and political and social leaders trying to understand and influence the conflicts around them, as well as to consider what their options are.
This discussion paper sets out some concepts about the actual role of the African media in responding to widespread conflict or the threat of conflict and what we believe to be a more constructive and proactive role. Its current focus is on how that may be accomplished by improving processes for understanding the complex, multi-levelled changes African societies are undergoing and drawing on the knowledge, commitment and technical and organisational skills of African media practitioners to translate that increased understanding into more constructive professional practice.
The "hard news" in this version of African Media and Conflict is the inclusion of much material from the consultations in Accra, Monrovia and Lusaka in May and June of 1998 and subsequent contributions of essays by some of the participants in the consultations.
The consultations drew on the experiences of senior journalists from 11 countries and generated a wealth of information concerning African journalists’ working conditions, knowledge of conflict and their understanding of their roles and responsibilities in conflict situations. Whether employed by state-controlled broadcasting corporations or editing weekly or daily newspapers surviving on street-corner sales, most of the journalists involved said that they believe they have a vital role to play in the prevention and resolution of conflict. For many the question was not whether they should be fulfilling that role, but rather how they could do so, given the formidable hurdles confronting them in the day-to-day struggle to cover news. Intended to be as inclusive as possible, given the constraints of time, part of the consultation process involved working journalists and academics, government officials and others connected with the media.
In general, we have stayed with the original structure of the paper. Part One looks at the media and African society, the characteristics of contemporary conflicts in general and African conflicts in particular and the different types of responses from governments, non-governmental organisations, and from the grass-roots of society. For the academically inclined the penultimate section in Part One looks at the theory of conflict resolution, followed by some concepts related to media practitioners as "conflict resolvers".
Part Two looks at the constraints on the media in Africa in terms of human and physical resources, technology, economics and politics. It then turns to the media’s role in conflict and the direct impacts of conflict on the media. Last, but not least, there is a discussion of conflict and gender issues.
Part Three provides some suggestions on strengthening the African media while it is coping with conflict. Some of the suggestions include more and better training of working journalists, improved technology, improved conflict analysis, more exchanges of media personnel and products within Africa, and better monitoring and evaluation of professional training and other professional development initiatives. Finally, there is a discussion of some options for media and conflict research.
In Part Four seven journalists who took part in the consultative process get the last word (for now) in a series of personal essays on a wide range of conflict and professional issues.
In summary, what has been attempted here is an effort to encourage discussion and comment that contributes to the development and enhancement of the African media and improves the effectiveness of African journalists, particularly those working in the numerous conflict situations on the continent.
October 1998
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