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An Operational Framework

This chapter identifies opportunities to strengthen the media as an element of peacebuilding. It is intended for donors, agencies and nongovernmental organisations, media practitioners, governments and others, and conflict managers or peacekeepers. The fact is that media has become so pervasive and influential that anyone currently working in the field of conflict reduction must consider both edges of the sword. A project that launches without examining the media environment is more liable to fail. Similarly, any effort to resolve or prevent deadly conflict that ignores the media as an opportunity in itself is incomplete. This chapter offers a guide or framework for understanding how media-related interventions can be used in a variety of conflict conditions. The framework can support planning, implementing or evaluating media initiatives to avoid risk and misapplication of resources.

The framework provides some common indicators or consequences for the media in environments of pre-, overt and post-conflict. It presents a typology of interventions potentially appropriate to the media conditions that exist in those stages of conflict, or in others. It provides indicators for assessing those interventions. And the framework draws operational lessons from media-related programming and includes a matrix of exceptional examples of media peacebuilding initiatives.

The context
The material presented here can aid thinking about, and understanding of, media-related opportunities for peacebuilding. However, even the most rigorous framework is not a template for media initiatives. Every case of media intervention is different. No media practice, nor any intervention strategy, is limited to a particular stage of conflict. The uniqueness of every situation and the need for flexibility and innovation that respects local interests and skills cannot be over-emphasized. Without committed local interests, peacebuilding interventions are likely to fail.

And it must be recognized that the media's influence alone is insufficient to produce the changes necessary for a society's reconciliation, stability and security. Media initiatives must work closely with other actors and initiatives, must be timed appropriately, and must demonstrate patience and longevity. But equally, other initiatives such as emergency relief, democratic development, health and education can recognize that media initiatives focused on conflict reduction inevitably benefit them too. The potential for synergy is high.

This framework is based upon a review of published sources, discussions with practitioners in media and in peacebuilding, and interviews with, and contributions from, those working directly in the field. It should be viewed as a work in progress - a learning tool that can be adapted as experiences and new ideas are brought forward.

Background
The significance of the media is obvious: it is often among the first elements of a society to be disrupted in an overt conflict. Even beforehand, parties seek control of the media in order to influence news and opinions in their own interests. The resultant harm has been repeatedly documented. The mass media played a central role in pre-war Nazi moulding of German popular opinion against Jewish people. More recently in the former Yugoslavia, Serbian media revived newsreels of decades-old conflict and atrocities as part of a campaign of propaganda and hate mongering disguised as news, to motivate popular sentiment against Albanians and others.

Less well documented is the reverse of media harm. A reliable, diverse and independent news media has an almost innate potential for contributing to conflict resolution. It functions as a channel of communication that counteracts misperceptions. It frames and analyses the conflict, identifies the interests, defuses mistrust, provides safe emotional outlets, and more. As Robert Karl Manoff of New York University's Center for War, Peace and the News Media points out, these are precisely some of the elements that are involved in a conflict-resolution process.

Some agencies and nongovernmental organisations interested in peacebuilding have devoted efforts to encouraging a reliable, diverse and free news media where possible in conflict-stressed environments. The most prevalent interventions have focused on basic training for journalists, the provision of technology and establishing basic legal protections for journalists.

Recently, new initiatives have focused on the media as a means to communicate information specifically intended to foster public sentiment favouring peaceful resolution of conflict. The focus is on the effect of the media in its widest possibilities rather than the mere presence of professional news media outlets. The media thus becomes a facilitator of positive social change rather than a professional, disinterested observer/reporter. Under no circumstances, however, is the promotion of biased information or viewpoints masquerading as journalism a valid approach.

The examples of media and peacebuilding are growing but there is little documentation and analysis. And the field is highly dynamic. The potential for synergy between the communication skills of journalism and the proactive people-centred approach of conflict resolution is particularly exciting. This framework aims to strengthen peacebuilders' capacity to more quickly grasp the existing possibilities, and to encourage exploration of entirely new ones.

What is the media?
Media here refers to the several mediums or channels used in an organised fashion to communicate to groups of people. Newspapers, radio and television are well-known examples. The Internet and World Wide Web are more recent additions. However, for the purposes of peacebuilding, media encompasses more than just the news and information business so typical of those channels. Entertainment programmes from music to soap operas are part of the media. So are other channels including street theatre, posters, traditional story-telling, and even comic books, to name only some.

The news media, or journalism, remains in the forefront of peacebuilding initiatives because at its best, it is the safeguard of democratic governance. At its best means accurate and balanced reporting which fairly represents a diversity of views sufficient for the public to make well-informed choices. A reliable and diverse media that can express itself freely provides early warning of potential outbreaks of conflict. It serves as a watchdog over leaders and officials and holds them accountable. It monitors human rights. Its presence is essential to the functioning of other civil society actors. In less optimal environments, the media can still foster stability by providing essential information about humanitarian initiatives.

This framework explores in detail many of the specific indicators by which media freedom, diversity and reliability can be measured, and offers strategies for responding. However, the key conditions essential for a functioning free media can be boiled down to these: a state's commitment to Article 19 (the right to freedom of expression) of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; a constitutional and legal infrastructure to protect free expression and privacy rights; and, independent regulators of media rights and public responsibilities.

What is peacebuilding?
Peacebuilding means intensifying efforts to establish lasting peace and to resolve conflicts peacefully in societies marked by conflict. As the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade and the Canadian Peacebuilding Coordinating Committee have noted, in their insightful descriptions of peacebuilding, the focus is on the political and socio-economic context of the conflict rather than the military or humanitarian aspects. The overarching goal of peacebuilding is to enhance the indigenous capacity of a society to manage conflict without violence, as a means to achieve human security. Always, however, external support for peacebuilding is an adjunct to local peacebuilding efforts and not a substitute for them.

Cost considerations
Media-oriented peacebuilding interventions are cost-effective, compared to the cost of conflict. Current technology can put an entire digital broadcasting studio in a suitcase. The cost of one laser-guided bomb can equal an entire year of sophisticated media programming to encourage conflict resolution in a war-torn society. However, media interventions require intensive advance research, sensitisation to local conditions and partners, and patience, which entails time and expense. And experience has shown that media projects must strive for longevity leading to sustainability to have lasting effect. Among the channels of communication, radio has the widest reach. Television can be expensive but has a powerful effect upon those who can receive it. The cost of other channels, such as newspapers, street theatre or posters, varies widely. Their impact may be a reflection of their innovative nature rather than their cost.

A caution
The absence of a struggling media in a country does not always mean there is an immediate opportunity for a media-related initiative. Great caution and realism must be applied to fully determine the controlling authorities' tolerance for an intervention dedicated to nonviolent conflict resolution. Any state that suppresses a free media puts its commitment to justice, human rights and the rule of law very much in doubt. Prolonged diplomacy, confidence building and trade-offs may be necessary to gain and maintain approval for any media-related peacebuilding initiative in such an environment.

Analysing the conflict environment
Every conflict and peacebuilding situation is different and thus requires a specific examination, especially today when most conflicts are internal, not international. Most conflict has complicated roots and there is rarely a single determinant. Ethnicity, religion, economic or resource scarcity, for example, may be at play. A decision to consider media-related initiatives needs to be informed by a prior country and regional conflict analysis. The analysis of conflict will inevitably produce indications of impacts upon media. For example, a pre-conflict climate of intolerance, human rights abuses and biased state authority may be reflected in severe stereotyping of gender or ethnicity in reporting, and in a self-censoring media.

However, the media is more than a passive indicator of conflict conditions, and the analytical process should also seek opportunities for contributing to the media's potential for positive influence in any conflict resolution process.

Table 1 offers a number of indicators that reflect some consequences of internal conflict upon the local or indigenous media in pre-, overt and post-conflict environments. The table reflects general experience, keeping in mind that all conflicts have unique characteristics. Some conflicts do not fit any one stage neatly. For example, long-term, low-intensity conflicts involving multiple actors can exhibit elements of all three stages of conflict. Some warning signs overlap these stages, as do the impacts on media. Other conflicts, although internal by nature, have international implications. These situations invite outside actors into the political arena followed by interested involvement by international media.

Table 1 Stages of conflict and media impacts

Looking at Media Interventions
The traditional focus of media-related initiatives has been on conventional journalism that supports the emergence of good governance and democratic development, particularly in post-conflict environments. The focus is logical, since traditional journalism's calling is to present facts and viewpoints that enable citizens to make sense of their world and exercise choices in their best interests.

The newer category of media-related peacebuilding goes beyond the traditional disengaged journalistic role. It is designed to have an intended outcome: a reduction of conflict among citizens. Rather than merely informing, material is selected for its potential in transforming conflict, by shifting attitudes of the parties involved in conflict, by providing essential information. This approach also extends from traditional journalism media into avenues such as popular music, soap operas and call-in shows, community radio and video projects, and street theatre, wall posters, or concerts. It can be highly effective, particularly in conflict-ridden areas where audiences are desperately receptive to information presented in an entertaining form.

Between these two categories lies a stage of media fusion. Journalists, mainly from the global northwest, have argued the ostensibly impartial role they play is incompatible with reporting which openly seeks conflict resolution or involves personal intervention. This position has discouraged synergistic relationships among media practitioners and peacebuilders. However, especially in many modern conflict environments, it is increasingly obvious that the professional norms of journalism do not trump fundamental moral obligations.

It is also clear that all journalists unconsciously reflect personal and cultural values in selecting their content (or framing their stories, as it is called). What is needed is recognition of the value of framing stories for the benefit of conflict resolution. With this recognition emerges a journalism that is sensitised to conflict resolution techniques, and seeks to maximize understanding of the underlying causes and possible solutions. In some conflict environments, journalists see their role as more complex than simply carriers of information, and they actively seek to facilitate the most important peacebuilding dialogues needed in their communities.

A typology of media initiatives
Just as specific impacts of conflict upon media are rarely unique to one stage of conflict, media interventions also are not limited to any one stage of conflict. Different media interventions can overlap, operate side-by-side, or be combined depending upon circumstances. Nonetheless, to establish a common language for determining and comparing intervention opportunities, some patterns can be identified and described.

Five types of media intervention are described here. Examples of specific peacebuilding initiatives falling within the five categories are given later in this framework (Table Two).

Type One. One common intervention involves initiatives to overcome journalism severely constrained by its lack of professionalism, diversity, freedom and technology. This rudimentary journalism training addresses unskilled, inaccurate, conflict-obsessed, or highly partisan media. Often this media is, or was, controlled by the state or special interests and it reflects narrow views or propaganda. A legal framework regulating and protecting the media is likely lacking. The foremost tool for peacebuilding here is training media in the basics skills of journalism, such as impartiality, accuracy and balance. Raising awareness of democratic practices, especially election coverage, is essential. Technology training and equipment is also supplied; and also included is the promotion of journalistic codes and a basic legal infrastructure that protects journalists from intimidation.

Type Two. A second type of media intervention provides more responsible journalism development beyond basic skills. Tools include developing investigative, explanatory and specialist reporting, and well-informed analytical reporting. Initiatives include promoting and providing models for a full media infrastructure that includes impartial regulators, media performance requirements, access to information, press councils, and promulgation of standards to define libel and slander as elements of media accountability. Developing diverse, competitive and sustainable media outlets, especially through management training, is another tool. The intention is to create a media that serves society as a conflict resolution process and upholds democratic governance.

Type Three. An emerging genre of media intervention is located between traditional journalism and more pro-active uses of media. Journalists are encouraged to consciously examine their role to recognize conflict resolution as part of that role. In this transitional journalism development, journalists and media managers redefine whom and what is newsworthy, to better inform and encourage reconciliation. Sensitised media professionals may see their role as more than observers and carriers of information and may seek to facilitate critical dialogues within the community. Some professionals and theorists aptly call this type of intervention peace journalism, reflecting the dual nature of their work as journalists with conflict resolution as one of their recognized values. Other sources of journalism media such as underground radio stations may be involved, often in hostile environments.

Type Four. Distinct from conventional journalism is pro-active media-based intervention, usually designed for a highly specific audience and purpose. It is often the product of an outside intervener such as a peacekeeping force or a nongovernmental organisation and is often deployed in a conflict or post-conflict environment. It can be media intended to counter hate propaganda, or programming to provide immediately practical information such as election and voting practices, refugee reunification, education or health advice.

Type Five. Intended outcome programming is specifically intent upon transforming attitudes, promoting reconciliation and reducing conflict. It is not conventional journalism. It is usually conducted by nongovernmental organisations. The content is determined by its appropriateness to fostering peace. The programming and delivery mechanisms can be innovative adaptations of a popular culture such as radio and television soap operas and dramas, street theatre, wall posters, and more. The initiative and programming may be closely allied with other actors and projects. Media workers may play a role themselves as conciliators in the field.

Key considerations
Stages of conflict are often fluid with overlapping characteristics and inconsistent types of media practices, which challenge easy prescription of the appropriate media-based peacebuilding initiative. Responding to the prevailing conflict stage and media environment will require careful assessment of the conflict and any proposed intervention. Specific stages of conflict may be open to, or require more than, one type of media intervention.

The two boxes in this chapter each offer some specific questions to be asked in conducting these assessments. Underlying those questions are some general considerations that must be kept in mind:

• Will the initiative affect individual or collective abilities to identify and respond to conflict resolution opportunities?


• Will the project help or hinder relationships between the state and civil society?


• Will it include members of the communities affected by the conflict?


• How will the beneficial results be made sustainable?

The engagement of the people most affected, which in a media initiative includes both media practitioners and audiences, must be established. Their input, often overlooked or minimized, is crucial. Intended outcome media can be particularly successful at attracting audiences but sustained success requires audience feedback and interaction that, in turn, shapes the message.

The progress and outcome of media initiatives will likely require great adaptability, and an acceptance of incremental rates of change. It may be difficult to apply conventional measurements of an initiative's success as it directly relates to reducing and preventing violent conflict. In such a new and expanding field, conventional measurability should be kept in perspective and not stifle innovation or unique, local approaches.

Table 2 presents a typology describing media-related initiatives and indicators. It does not exclude the overlapping of indicators and strategies from one type to another. It should not be applied restrictively. For example, a Type Five intended outcome media project can possibly be applied in an environment lacking several of the Type Five indictors such as audience rating capabilities, or even the basic conditions of Type One rudimentary journalism.

Table 2 Interventions and indicators

Table 3 presents examples of practical media-oriented peacebuilding initiatives arranged by types of media initiative and by stages of conflict. Descriptions of each project are given below. These examples partially reflect the considerable diversity of innovative approaches and individual programmes which were identified in the course of preparing this framework. More are emerging every day.

1. The Philippine Centre for Investigative Journalism (www.pcij.org) is an independent, not-for-profit media agency which produces and provides, at cost, in-depth investigative reports to the local and national media, and provides fellowships to reporters, which would otherwise not be available due to financial or political constraints. Accuracy and balance are primary concerns, to reduce opportunities for suppression.

2,6. IREX's Promedia Program (www.promedia.org) combines training, technical assistance, equipment grants and other aid to independent media in ten Central and Eastern European states to help them improve their performance against state-sponsored media. The focus is on business performance, media law, professional standards and institutional support.

3. Open Society Institute Network Media Program (www.osi.hu/nmp) is a not-for-profit consultant, resource, liaison and partner for Soros-sponsored media programmes and other media initiatives in Central and Eastern Europe. The primary focus is assisting the establishment of environments for development of free, independent accountable media, including media legislation, media freedom monitoring, and professionalism of journalists and managers.

4, 15, 29. Internews Central Asia (www.internews.org) works with local nongovernmental organisations in an environment of prolonged low-intensity conflict in the Ferghana Valley of Tajikistan to provide a media spectrum-wide programme which includes basic journalism training, advocacy for a supportive media infrastructure, conflict-sensitised journalism, and intended outcome youth-oriented radio programming.

5. IMPACS Cambodia Journalists' Training Project (www.impacs.org) since 1998 has strengthened democracy in Cambodia by assisting in the development of more independent, open and accountable radio journalism in the highly subjective and fractious media environment there. The training programme focuses on radio, which is the only countrywide news medium but has no tradition of trained practitioners.

7. A Bosnia-Herzegovina assistance programme launched in 1996 by international organisations to rapidly create a diverse independent media industry, to counter state propaganda and to educate, enhance democracy and empower audiences. It produced an artificial donor-dependent industry of poor journalistic skills that was uncompetitive with popular ethnocentric government outlets. Unrealistic timelines, a lack of localized "ownership" of the initiatives, and unattractive programming produced modest or minimal contributions to democratisation.

8. Reseau Liberte (reseauliberte@videotron.ca) is a Canadian programme which provides media training from basic reporting to investigative and documentary work, through advancing levels of sophistication for repeat trainees. It has delivered programmes in Kosovo, Vietnam and African countries.

9. Department of Media Affairs, OSCE Mission in Kosovo (www.osce.org/kosovo/media/index.htm). An international organisation assisting in the creation of conditions for free media in Kosovo and Bosnia. It temporarily regulates and licenses local media and with local advisors is developing laws and standards for the media. It also provides training, technical assistance and inter-agency coordination.

10. Media Action International's (www.mediaction.org) Journalists in Conflict Program sensitises and trains journalists working in conflict areas to humanitarian values, peacebuilding and conflict resolution perspectives.

11. Conflict and Peace Journalism Forum (www.conflictandpeace.org) focuses on the role of the news media, both in conflict and in the active construction of peace, with an emphasis on sensitising journalists to a more accurate way of framing stories.

12. The Centre for Conflict Resolution (www.cecore.org) in Uganda holds workshops for media outlets and members to examine their roles in peacebuilding and to develop conflict resolution skills, including sensitising reporters to African traditional mechanisms of dealing with peace and reconciliation. A media and peacebuilding skills training manual is under development.

13. Studio Ijambo (www.sfcg.org) was created by Search for Common Ground to specifically counter a recurrence in Burundi of genocidal hate radio in Rwanda. The production studio uses teams of Hutu and Tutsi journalists to produce multiple language programmes fostering conciliation through public affairs and entertainment programming for local stations' use.

14. South Asian Editors' Forum (www.peaceinitiatives.org) has since 1998 strengthened communication and raised confidence among formerly hostile senior media managers of the highly influential indigenous local-language press in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka, though meetings, journalist exchanges, and joint publications to reshape public opinion towards compatible relations.

15. The Alliance for Peace Communications (cfmr@surfshop.net.ph) was created by a diversity of Philippine interests in 1998-1999, including former insurgents, all concerned with media preoccupation with peace breakdowns despite an emerging climate of peace. Regional seminars and exchanges involving journalists identified their information gaps, the excessive conflict coverage, and the need for context and reconciliation coverage.

16. The Peace Journalism Training project in Indonesia (nick.mawdsley@britcoun.or.id) helped local journalists address media responsibility in the 1999-2001 post media-suppression and democratic transition period, using techniques pioneered by Conflict and Peace Journalism Forums such as dealing frankly with the sources of tension, correcting misconceptions and sensitising reporters to conflict resolution practices.

17. Radio Blue Sky was established for the United Nations in Kosovo by Fondation Hirondelle (www.hirondelle.org) in 1999 as an emergency source of information programmes to specifically open dialogue and democratic debate in Albanian, Serb, and Turkish communities. In July 2000, it achieved localized sustainability as the second network of public service broadcaster RTK.

18. Reporting for Peace is operated by Internews (www.internews.org) in conflict-stressed regions of Indonesia to train local radio-print journalists to recognize their ability to encourage the peace process by including a focus on tolerance, defused conflict, reconciliation, and balanced reporting.

19. Nashe Maalo, by Search for Common Ground, (www.sfcg.org/ activities.cfm?locus=CGP) is a groundbreaking children's television series aimed at reducing potential conflict among the highly segmented communities and ethnocentric media in multi-cultural Macedonia. The entertaining series overcomes stereotypes and alters perceptions by offering children insights into other cultures and modelling positive strategies for coping with conflict. The series, launched in 1999 and aired across the country, has had measurable positive effect.

20. Operation Spear was launched by Media Action International (www.mediaction.org) to quickly produce previously unavailable humanitarian information programmes for refugees on state radio in Albania, Kosovo and Macedonia, concurrent with NATO Alliance action in the region. Freeplay (clockwork) radios were distributed to refugee camps.

21. Talking Drum Studio Liberia (www.sfcg.org) produces programmes for local radio and newspaper outlets with the primary goal of reducing political and ethnic violence by stressing peace, reconciliation and democratisation. Since 1997, it has gained a 90 per cent name and 75 per cent content recognition among Liberians for its interesting news and entertainment programming, such as radio dramas illustrating social problems with a view to finding solutions, and child-produced programmes aimed at former child combatants. A similar studio in Sierra Leone was launched in 2001.

22. Radio Agatashya was first established by Swiss journalists from Reporters Sans Frontieres (www.rsf.fr), later operated by Fondation Hirondelle, to counter the genocidal incitements of Radio Mille Collines in Rwanda in 1994. For several months after the genocide, it broadcast humanitarian information and programming into Rwanda from neighbouring Zaire designed to counter prejudices created by the hate radio. Before its demise due to funding and local conflict difficulties, it had become widely appreciated by residents as a reassuring source of unbiased information.

23. The international humanitarian organisation War Child (www.warchild.org), supported by the music industry and focusing on children, established a Pavarotti Music Centre, which uses music therapy to establish communication between former child combatants and enemies in Bosnia. The organisation has also used modern technology to establish links and interactivity between Western children and those in conflict-affected countries.

24. BBC World Service's (www.bbc.co.uk) radio drama entitled 'New Home, New Life' has been beamed into Afghanistan since 1996. Crafted by Afghan writers, producers and actors, the productions impart information on humanitarian and reconciliation themes through storylines dealing with issues such as clean births, safe motherhood, children in conflict, mine awareness, and conflict resolution. It is estimated over half the country listens to the short-wave broadcasts.

25. UNTAC Radio was a United Nations intervention to inform the people of Cambodia about the United Nations Transitional Authority and the introduction of free elections. It expanded from modest broadcasting of basic primers on the democratic process in 1992 to country-wide educational, news, entertainment and public affairs radio programming promoting reconciliation. The highly popular service went off the air, without a successor, upon installation of a democratic government in late 1993.

26. Internews (www.internews.org) has provided regular English-language print news coverage of the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda since 1997, and more recently similar proceedings in the Balkans. The coverage is intended to keep human rights on the global agenda, and to foster reconciliation among victims, by recognizing their suffering and demonstrating that justice will prevail.

27. The Media Peace Centre, (www.mediapeacecentre.org) established in 1992 as the media arm of the multi-party body administering South Africa's Peace Accord, produces media that facilitates reconciliation, justice and peace-building. It has pioneered initiatives using journalists grounded in conflict resolution skills, and projects using media, including a national radio station, video dialogues, and a 39-part three-year television/radio series on Africa's challenges, to generate dialogue among conflicting parties.

Lessons learned

1. For donors

2. For implementers

3. General lessons

Media initiatives

Questions that will help determine the context of a media peacebuilding intervention.

1. What is the current situation: conflict, pre- or post-conflict? (A conflict situation will require more Type Four or Five interventions; pre- and post-conflict interventions will require more long-term development programme designs from Types One to Three.)
Explanation: A conflict situation, or the immediate aftermath of a conflict, will usually not be conducive to long-term development projects. Immediate objectives - like elections or humanitarian assistance - usually have greater priority and oftentimes are more easily complemented by Types Four and Five media interventions. However, much depends on partner organisations. Regions hosting a larger international presence can enjoy a number of different projects implemented simultaneously. It is possible for a country to host Types One through Five media interventions at the same time.

2. What are the policies of the international community? Peacekeeping mission? Does the issue only fall within regional geopolitical interests? Are regional peacekeepers deployed (sanctioned or not sanctioned by UN)? Has a full site country and region conflict assessment been done? Are they or are they not accompanied by official civilian missions? What diplomatic corps resides in the country? Have the international media mobilized public support for assistance?
Explanation: It is imperative to determine how many other, and which, organisations are active in the region and whether or not your country maintains diplomatic representation in the region. The lack of one usually signals an increased level of risk in implementing any peacebuilding intervention. Activities of other organisations will also clarify what partnerships can be developed, what activities are already being conducted, and the level of international interest in the region. This will enhance understanding of the resources available for interventions.

Questions to ask in determining the type of media initiative.

3. What is the content of the media? (You may find that the dominant authorities allow only a single perception to be broadcast; or that the content of broadcasts or publications vary depending upon on the locale or warlords within a single region; or that a variety of opinions are made available to the public. You may also find that all news is presented through the lens of national interests, which by ignoring or suppressing specific identities incites further divisions in that particular society.) How does the media define its coverage?
Explanation: Analysis of the content will allow initiative developers to understand where the issues lie. Further analysis will reveal if content is a result of restrictive legislation, the economic situation, lack of experience and education (wartime brain-drain often results in untrained professionals learning on-the-job), lack of willingness to support peace efforts, direct or indirect pressures from outside authorities, misperceptions about reporting; or, a combination of some or all of the above.

4. What is the role of the national media in this particular situation? Does it affect civil society by disseminating politicised or biased information? Or, are journalists being detained under criminal charges, punished or sued by authorities for their reporting? Explanation: Identification of the role of media will help determine the level of democratisation and the level of empowerment of civil society in that particular region. Extremely biased dissemination of information can sometimes signal the existence of a highly centralized government (or authority) seeking to impose rule from the top rather than foster a participatory society at the grassroots level. Types One to Three interventions in these cases are difficult and oftentimes Type Four and Five have been applied in these situations (classic examples were the cold war Voice of America and Radio Free Europe interventions). The detention, punishment of, or civil lawsuits against, journalists can sometimes reflect a weak authoritarian government.

5. Is the media able to access information from both government and outside (including international) sources? Is free access to information hindered by local authorities? Are journalists restrained by severe economic factors (in some cases economic constraints may also stem from politicised causes)?
Explanation: The (non) access to information and reasons for it can help identify what specific intervention needs to be organized. For example, Types One and Two interventions would be necessary in cases where economic conditions keep journalists from accessing training opportunities, keep practitioners from accessing internet, etc. In some cases, Types Four and Five interventions may be applicable (like interventionist entertainment or news programming) where civil society does not receive objective news or where negative emotions are heightened by broadcasts controlled by ruling authorities.

6. What type of support exists for a media initiative? (Is there local and/or international support)? Are you familiar with the goals and expectations of supporters? Is the local legislative framework conducive to free media development? Does the local economy support the existence of free media? Will the government be a supporter or act as an obstacle to your initiatives?
Explanation: Training, technical equipment and any capacity-building and peace journalism programmes require long-term commitment from local partners. In selecting partners for such projects, ensure your goals complement those of your partners/supporters through research and discussion in order to avoid difficulties later on. Local legislation is usually the most revealing about the state of the media. Also, the extent of a media regulatory framework provides essential background and a possible starting point for analysis of potential initiatives. The presence of an independent broadcast regulator which allocates licenses is one such aspect of a framework. Lastly, local economic conditions will reflect the ability of media to survive commercially (for the purpose of developing a sustainable initiative) and thus provide diversity of opinion or remain independent of the state in areas where the state does not wish to support public broadcasting.

7. Among national project supporters, which ones would be the most likely to share a strong interest in conflict resolution? What is the relationship between media outlets in this particular region?
Explanation: Sometimes willingness to cooperate can be based on mutual professional interests, e.g. reporting capacity/information sharing, or a mutual interest in conflict resolution. The nature of the willingness will help determine the type of initiative to design.

8. What type of media is the most widely used in the region/country? Electronic (radio or television) or print (newspapers)? What is the estimated target population? What are the reasons for the prevalence/preference of one media over the other (economic, illiteracy, etc.)?
Explanation: Any effective popular intervention will need to utilize the most widespread form of media.

9. What are possible effects of initiating a media intervention? What are the possible repercussions for not proceeding with a media intervention?
Explanation: Overlooking media as part of an overall peacebuilding initiative can be damaging to those efforts. Dissemination of information to the public is a powerful negative tool when controlled by warlords and others disinterested in maintaining peace. Alternatively, civil society cannot function without public information and dialogue: reconciliation, refugee return, recovery, reconstruction and democratisation are severely hampered without the help of a healthy media. It is, however, imperative to assess the level of threat to the safety of individuals involved and determine intervention accordingly.

10. What is the level of technical infrastructure in place to support broadcast and print media? Are there printing presses operable? Are there available supplies of newsprint? Are there transmitters? What is the availability of other logistical and technical requirements?
Explanation: Knowing the limits of technical capacity and costs of equipment will be instrumental in determining what type of programming is possible, e.g., the need to import paper for printing or the existence of few or weak transmitters for radio or television broadcasting.

11. What is the history of media interventions? Who has led these? Have they been successful?
Explanation: Before determining the type of intervention to be made, it is imperative to learn the history of previous interventions and programmes. Their outcomes will identify what works and what does not (lessons learned) and what is the current context.

Initiatives

Key questions for all project and program formulation initiatives.

This chapter is written by Ross Howard, research coordinator for IMPACS' Media and Peacebuilding Framework project.

Note
1 The media and peacebuilding operational framework project is the result of a longer-term policy project that began at IMPACS in 1998. Its origins are in a paper, authored by Robin Hay, and in the reports of three roundtable dialogues that IMPACS hosted between 1998 and 2001 with media and peacebuilding practitioners from around the world.
IMPACS would like to acknowledge the work of Ross Howard in pulling together the ideas contained in dozens of documents and the insights of several key leaders in the field into one document. IMPACS sees this framework as a work-in-progress and would welcome any suggestions or guidance for improving it.
IMPACS would like to extend its thanks to the Canadian International Development Agency Peacebuilding Unit, and in particular, to Susan Brown for her support in the development of this Operational Framework. It would also like to acknowledge the Peacebuilding and Human Security Division of the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (Canada) for their support in co-hosting our media and peacebuilding roundtable discussions. IMPACS recognizes the work of the participants of the May 2000 roundtable who conceived and developed the typology of media and peacebuilding activities set out and elaborated upon in this framework. Thank you to the IMPACS board of directors for reviewing earlier drafts of this framework and to IMPACS staff members Mirga Saltmiras, Andrea Uzans, and Rosemary Poole for their support in seeing this project to completion.

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