Media contribution to peace building in war torn societies

Abstract

Since the end of the Cold War, several military conflicts, some of which had been going on for decades, have successfully been<br />resolved. Yet, the mere ratification of a peace treaty does not solve the problem of how to repair, materially, socially, humanly,<br />war-torn societies.<br />Without systematic efforts of peacebuilding, conflicts might endure, and there is always the danger that violence might break out<br />again.<br />The present paper focusses on the role of the media in these times of transition from war to peace. Based on empirical research<br />on the news coverage of the Gulf War and the Bosnia conflict in American and European media, the paper aims at finding out<br />whether and how the media may support the transition from war culture to peace culture. Such an attempt might involve each of<br />the following aspects: deescalation-oriented conflict coverage, strengthening of the civil society and demolition of stereotypes<br />and prejudice.<br />Special emphasis will be given to means by which a peace process itself, and even its disturbances and crises can be depicted<br />in a way that supports the reconciliation of the former war parties, and that does not fall back into the logic of polarization.