Is the media telling us what to think, or what to think about? Even more likely is that the consumer is being told how to think about a story, through the way that it is framed or the selective lexicon which engages either empathy or condemnation.
Reporting conflict encompasses the dilemmas above and wears thin the notion of journalistic objectivity. At what juncture, if any, should a journalist become a utilitarian and use their skill to promote peace? Media does have the power to influence public opinion and perception therefore should writers and reporters go further than playing the role of arbiter?
Limitations exist in the structure and norm of mainstream media: Newspapers do not pretend to be history texts and the reporting of conflict is packaged in a selective historical narrative: Westernised, incomplete, and by design leading the reader to adopt this frame, restricting their own analytical capacity.
Inherent ideologyt in news values further stunts our own analysis: You cannot be a patriot if you do not support your nations’ army abroad, and it is easier to be patriotic without analysis of purpose. Mining a similar vein, what is the purpose of the journalist in the battlefield? Is it enough to wire reports of body-count and armed engagement, relaying the chronology of a conflict event by bloody event, without recourse to questioning why so much bloodshed is neccassary?
The imperative of objectivity creates a barrier between the journalist as a potential agent for peace and the traditional normative values of covering a story. If a journalist can use their access to provide a platform for marginalised voices and parties during conflict are they promoting an unbiased viewpoint?
By contemporary media standards, it would appear not: If repression is a characteristic of a conflict then the journalist is expected to report as such. By way of example, the mainstream Western media have never had any interest in reporting civilian casualties of war. Life during wartime in occupied territory is marginalised, but arguably contains more power to end conflict than any number of weapons.
The temporary, event-driven narratives of conflict journalism attempt to capture the chaotic events and significant engagments between two sides. The chosen lexicon tells us who to root for and our inherent ideology immediately places the audience in opposition to ‘insurgents’, ‘militias’ and ‘terrorists’.
Rarely is the consumer encouraged to think about why a group has taken up arms, it is implicit in the text that they are culpable. A common descriptor such as ‘Islamic fundamentalists’, for example, is a connotative term, ambiguous and broad in meaning, but its impact in print is instant ‘othering’ of the group in question.
Through this use of language conflict is endorsed and in many spectators the desire to question its validity is subdued. All that remains is an event-driven narrative and the inevitable declaration of success and victory, where politiking and spin become the new rhetoric. All eyes turn to the next war, the process of peace is overlooked, and the news cycle begins again.
Johan Galtung promotes ‘peace journalism’ as “solution oriented news and analysis”, encouraging socially conscious journalists to subvert the established model of reporting conflict. This is international journalism where impartiality can give way to necessity and utilitarianism overrides the competitive profit-driven media industry.
Like so much progressive journalism, however, it is also peripheral, although it has been embraced by some mainstream journalists. This Robert Fisk article refuses to advocate or criticise, prioritising a complete narrative rather than a Western perspective. Media does not have the power to engage diplomacy and dialogue between conflicting factions, but it does have the influence to endorse it.
A new lexicon; unheard voices; dispensed ideologies and nationalism; complete historical narratives; the intention of progression, not propagation. A new journalistic responsibility and, perhaps, a new frontier?
Target Aquired | Mission Aborted 