While I have yet to make it to a conference that addresses the media's role in peace (they seem to get canceled a lot), the Global Media Forum is one I'm hoping to attend. It's main objective is to examine how new media technology (hello my thesis!!) can aid in conflict prevention and peacebuilding.
In their first conference (2008) they addressed the following questions:
What is the relation between the media and violent conflict? Do the media have a responsibility to prevent the outbreak of violence? Moreover, can they contribute to peace-building activities? And if so: how?
Here's a video from last year's conference:
This years follow up conference will be held from June 3-5th in Bonn, Germany.
Taking a look through their website and their lineup of talks, it's clear that they are aware of how these new medias- Youtube, blogging, and social networking- are changing the face of not only traditional media but its outreach to newer audiences.
Out of the questions/issues that this conference aims to address these are the following that particularly interest me:
• Do the changes in technology and user profiles influence the way in which the media report on conflicts – or do they directly influence the way in which a war is fought?
• What about the impact on peace-building processes and conflict-prevention strategies?
• What are the main challenges for the international media during this technological revolution?
• How have the expectations of viewers, listeners and users changed, and what is the best way to reach them in the digital age?
• The multimedia revolution and its impact on conventional media YouTube & Co.: Generating new audiences or excluding even more people?
• Blogging for peace or hate as a way to bypass censorship?
I hope that this conference will prove to be an opportunity to learn in greater detail from those already working in this field of how both content and the way it is served can reach the largest amount of individuals and have the greatest impact possible.
1 comment:
Woah, I forgot how important people are who are letting everyone else know what is going on! I started reading some books by war journalists after I visited some unstable places, and they were too terrible. They immediately affected my relationships with family and friends. I had to stop reading them! But this video review reminds me how very important these stories (and a lot more) are for peace.
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