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International Online Training Program On Intractable Conflict |
Conflict Research Consortium, University of Colorado, USA |
Although the media usually claim that their purpose is to inform the public about public events, they often do so in an inflammatory way. Part of this is due to differing interests. In countries with a free press, journalists want to write pieces that get people's attention (so they can get more readers, listeners, and/or viewers). To do this, they often focus on extreme events and negative stories, because those generate more interests than do stories about cooperation or peace. Although this bias does not occur in countries where the government controls the press, in those nations, the press usually gives the government view of issues, which may be highly one-sided and inflammatory as well.
In addition, many reporters simply do not understand enough about conflict dynamics in general or the particular issues or people that they are writing about to avoid making misstatements or statements that make the situation worse, rather than better. Further, they usually work on tight deadlines, interviewing as many people as they can in a few hours or days. Then they have to write their story and move on. This does not give them time to develop the deep understanding of an issue that is necessary to analyze it accurately and clearly for the public. As a result, media coverage of a brewing conflict which is intended to clarify the problem can actually obscure and escalate it.
This becomes an even greater problem when negotiations are occurring, as people bargain very differently if they know they are being watched than they do if the negotiations are private. In private negotiations people can brainstorm, raising and exploring all sorts of new, creative ways to define the problem and generate solutions. If they are being watched by the public, however, they tend to stick much more closely to their standard positions, for fear of alarming their constituencies. Negotiators will often make speeches that are designed more to appeal to the outside audience than the people at the table. For this reason, mediators usually prefer that negotiations be kept private, although this can at times be difficult, especially in democratic societies where the press and the public expects to be allowed into most decision-making processes.
Copyright ©1998 Conflict Research Consortium -- Contact: crc@colorado.edu