Saturday, December 15, 2007 Rama: Peace journalism By Karlon N. Rama Stage Five
OFFICE orders had me catching a flight to Manila Monday morning for a round table discussion organized by the Asian Institute of Journalism and Communication (AIJC) and sponsored by the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process the following day.
The forum was attended by people from such groups as the Philippine Press Institute, Probe Foundation, the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas (KBP) national directorate, the academe, and government media. It aimed to develop guidelines for a new AIJC program – the Peace Journalism Fellows.
In attendance were Ed Abad and ABS-CBN’s Leo Lastimosa, the outgoing and incoming presidents of the KBP Cebu Chapter respectively.
German journalist Antonia Koop, International Coordinator of the Peace and Conflict Journalism Network (Pecojon), whom I met in a Conflict-Sensitive Reporting seminar last October, gave a lecture.
Now I can’t tell you what Peace Journalism is.
But give me a chance and I will tell you what its not: it is not an advocacy program that aims to drumbeat the government’s peace program with groups like the NPA, the NDF, the ABB, and any of those other acronyms hugging the headlines.
It does not involve stories that ask gun owners to bring their firearms to the foundry for melting into manhole covers following the inane idea that ridding society of arms will result in peace, tranquility and brotherly love.
It is not “peace news” or, worse, peace propaganda.
Very simply, it is good reporting on an event involving conflict.
It isn’t the kind of journalism that sets out to reduce the conflict in a situation.
Instead, it is the kind of journalism that seeks to present accurate and impartial news on the understanding that the presentation of a conflict in the news will have a major impact on how the conflict will develop and unfold.
It acknowledges that by shaping public opinion through information or disinformation, the media itself becomes a key player in each conflict.
While the philosophy and basic framework was introduced by Johan Galtung as early back as the ‘ 70s, Peace Journalism is a relatively new concept in the industry. Quite literally, it was borne in the battlefield – culled from hard-earned lessons by journalists who covered the Middle East.
Peace journalism or conflict-sensitive reporting is not synonymous to war coverage. Although because of the nature of war, a large part of the coverage involves military operations.
The AIJC, together with its partner entities, want to promote Peace Journalism or Conflict-Sensitive Reporting through its Peace Journalism Fellows program.
While the details aren’t yet set in fine print, the agency wants to get media organizations and other related institutions to pursue stories where the concepts may be applied.
Financial support is offered to help defray the cost of sending reporters to the field. The media organization is expected to put up a counterpart fund though.
The AIJC, still with partner agencies like Pecojon, will also implement a series of trainings for practitioners.
SPEAK SOFTLY AND CARRY AN XD. I guess I just couldn’t resist the urge. The night before the forum, I toured the gun stores at the Makati Cinema Square looking for what was hot on display.
I was in a particular mood for parts and accessories and was also hoping to get a glimpse of a gun that got businessman Jun Liao’s attention during the recent gun show – the Springfield XD Tactical in .45 ACP.
The firearm was touted to be capable of carrying 13 rounds in its magazine but still comfortable enough to be held and shot by anyone with average-sized hands.
Many otherwise good high-capacity .45 pistols crashed and burned in the market simply because they were too bulky to be held and fired.
The people at Springfield knew this and apparently studied the problem in earnest. They realized that the problem is partially because of how bullets are stacked in a double column magazine and made the necessary modification.
The result was a thinner but longer magazine. To cope, Springfield simply made the grip on the XD a wee bit longer.
The rest remains XD standard – a nice and crisp trigger, the XD trip safety, the loaded chamber indicator and a tactical rail to strap lights on.
