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The first Deutsche Welle Global Media Forum
Journalists' Role in Peacebuilding
What
is the role of media in peacebuilding and conflict prevention? The first Deutsche
Welle Global Media Forum seeks to create an international dialogue on these issues
during a conference this week in Bonn, Germany
By STEFAN DEGE
Deutsche
Welle
 The
genocide in Sudan, civil war in Zimbabwe, human rights abuses in Burma or Tibet
are examples of violence and repressions brought to our attention thanks to the
efforts of a free media. Engaged and courageous journalists expose and denounce
these types of injustice. Every day, around the world, they are forming the knowledge
of our globe.
What exactly can and should media do? What dangers come with
peacebuilding and conflict prevention? These and other questions were discussed
at the first Deutsche Welle Global Media Forum, which started Monday, June 2.
Getting to the heart of the story
Profound sadness and wild determination
are mixed in the face of a possibly 12-year-old girl. Next to her braided hair
a Kalashnikov sat ready. The journalist Peter Mantello risked his life to fotograph
this child soldier in Burma. The military regime in the Asian country does not
look kindly on such photos being published and after the recent deadly cyclone
restricted press efforts to report from the devestated zone.
Mantello's
photos are now on display in Bonn, part of a photo exhibit "Forced to be
Cruel." For more than two days about 800 journalists, politicians, academics
and cultural figures from around the world will discuss media issues.
The
theme "Peacebuilding and Conflict Prevention" could not have been more
timely as two Deutsche Welle journalists were recently killed in Afghanistan.
But the conference in Bonn is about dialogue, not navel gazing.
"The
role of journalism and the media must be discussed and defined. That goes equally
for peacebuilding and crisis prevention, governance and human rights, civil society
and transmission of values, education and development," said Deutsche Welle's
Director General Erik Bettermann.
No democracy without free press
What
is Europe doing about the crises in the world? This question is at the center
of congressional debates. For some time, crisis prevention has been one of the
four basic components of the EU's foreign policy.
The European Union has
undertaken plenty of peace missions. It had soldiers take part in United Nations
peacekeeping missions to Helmets safeguarded elections in Congo. EU police monitored
the border between Egypt and the Gaza Strip. Eu forces were involved in helping
build security and legal institutions in the Balkans, Afghanistan and in former
communist countries.
But there is still a lot which needs to be done, said
Georg Boomgarden, State Secretary for the German Foreign Office.
"Journalism
is holy"
Iranian Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi spoke during
the conference's opening day. "When violence is detected, the human conscience
is also awakened," Ebadi said. "There you can find an answer. Journalistic
work is both a dangerous and a holy job."
Deutsche Welle broadcasts
from central Europe around the world via radio, television and Internet. Even
so, two-thirds of people live in countries where free press and media freedom
remain foreign words. Deutsche Welle journalists help to build free media outlets-
such as after the fall of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan.
The Deutsche
Welle Global Media Forum will take place regularly in Bonn. The main agenda items
will change, but the event will always address ways to cope with challenges which
are largely influenced by the global media.
(Published:
10.06.2008.)
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