Building bridges: ‘Electronic media can play vital role in promoting peace’

Anchorpersons explore media’s role in conflict transformation.

Media can play a vital role in conflict resolution, fighting hate and promoting peace and tolerance through balanced, ethical reporting.

This was the unanimous opinion of TV anchorpersons and talk-show hosts on the first day of a consultative workshop on peace-building on Monday. Around 27 TV anchorpersons hailing from 25 districts are participating in a two-day national consultative workshop on “Media for Peace” said a press release issued by the institute.

Held on the workshop’s first day, a panel discussion, “Can Television Play a Role in Transforming Conflict and Building Peace?” saw senior TV anchorpersons holding a dialogue with participating journalists on media’s coverage of violence and conflict.

Moderated by PTV News Current Affairs Director Dr Moeed Pirzada, panellists discussed the role television plays as a mass medium in mitigating conflicts and promoting peace.

They highlighted current media practices in coverage of conflicts at international, regional and national levels and debated whether media should take the responsibility of creating spaces for peace building. During the discussion, the panelists also talked about self-censorship and accountability in the media.

During the two-day workshop built around ‘Common Ground’ approaches, anchors from major national and regional television channels from Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Azad Jammu and Kashmir will explore the role of media in conflict transformation and peace-building. The workshop is being held as part of the “Pakistan Peace Initiative”.

The event was jointly organised by Sustainable Development Policy Institute  and Search for Common Ground, supported by the Danish International Development Agency (Danida),

Founded in 1982, SFCG is an international non-profit organisation working around the world to transform the way the world deals with conflict–away from adversarial approaches and towards collaborative problem -solving.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 9^th, 2012.