Media as an Asset and Obstacle to Peace Activists - Essay Example

The Media Machine Activism can be defined as an action taken so as to bring change which could be environmental, political, social or economic in nature. Activism is often associated with dissent or protest though it can also be done in a number of different ways. Alternative ways include letter writing to concerned persons or authorities, boycotts, hunger strikes and even the use of guerrilla tactics to make a point. Peace activists are political activists who advocate for peaceful resolutions to political disputes and are considered to be in the peace movement according to Chatfield and Kleidman (1992). The peace movement, being a social movement, is aimed at achieving or maintaining world peace by ending situations that bring conflicts in the human society. In this respect, they work towards ending wars and minimizing the use of violence to resolve disputes. This is accomplished by use of alternatives such as diplomacy, non-violent resistance, pacifism, peaceful demonstrations, supporting political candidates who denounce violence, moral purchasing, and lobbying for certain legislations to be enacted to promote peace. The media, both electronic and print, has been a great asset to peace activists who use it to pass their points across to the general public (Chatfield and Kleidman, 1992). On the other hand, it has also acted as an obstacle to peaceful missions around the world. This paper seeks to analyze how much of an asset and obstacle the media has been to peace activists. Media as an Asset and Obstacle to Peace Activists The reason WPP (Women Peacemakers Program) and other organizations are putting so much effort to get mainstream media’s attention is because the media’s attention towards peace has been wanting (Woman Peacemakers Program, 2004). In many cases, the media applies only limited effort towards training specialists to cover peace related activities. Compared to sports, humour, business news and fashion which never seem to have shortage of specialist journalists, security and peace issues have very few specialist journalists. Most media companies avoid the trouble of having their journalists specialize only in peace issues. Peace activities to them do not sell and hence are likely to be shunned in most times. The situation is made worse by the meagre financial incentives accorded to peace journalists. Specialists in this area who stick to journalism are in fact viewed as minority. During the cold war period subjects like NATO and Communism came to public focus (Chatfield, 1973). Peace activists at this time, unfortunately, were subject to stereotypical and negative attitudes from the media and even the general public according to Roger (1991). They were viewed as emotional, ill informed, and naïve political extremists. They were hence taken to be virtually treasonous, and yet this was one of the times when peace activists needed most the media to air their messages of peace. Another notable case in point is the media coverage of the bombing of Libya by the United States of America in 1986 (Lawrence, 1984). The media relied heavily on western political and military sources for information that they in turn passed to the general public. On the other hand proponents of peaceful conflict resolution were given a deaf ear by the same media. The activists were viewed as action objects that did not deserve to be quoted, let alone heard. The Sixteen Days of Peace now marked as a UN International Day since 1991is a period dedicated to remembering the Mirabel sisters who were peace activists and notable symbols of resistance against the dictatorship that existed then. The three Mirabel sisters were brutally murdered in the Dominican Republic in 1960 and in their honour peace activists celebrate 16 days annually. The Vancouver Walk for Peace that is organized by peace activists is an event that receives wide coverage by the media in Canada (Wyler, 2006). Many of the Canadian local journalists have acted as cheerleaders for the event over the years identifying with the theme and goals of participants of the walk. The print media headlines have always reflected issues related with the march, celebrating and painting the event as a civic festival. In September 2002, hundreds of peace activists demonstrated on the streets of London, to protest against the military action in Iraq. This is arguably the biggest demonstration for peace ever witnessed in a generation. It is noted that neither the New York Times nor Washington Times saw it worthy to run a detailed article concerning the protests, but instead barely mentioned the demonstrations while covering other subject stories (FAIR, 2003). Interestingly both newspapers had showed a huge interest in another march that occurred in London that was about a certain ban on hunting foxes. Both newspapers widely covered the demonstration at their front pages. The New York Times even ran an A4 Reuters piece on September 23rd, 2002 with a follow up exploration of politics to do with hunting. Even though the estimates of the number of anti-military action demonstrators as estimated by the event organizers was about 400,000, a columnist from the London Observer dismissed the numbers insisting that the police over-exaggerated the figures (FAIR, 2003). The columnist hence showed how little he thought of the peace demonstration. In December 2008, Israeli Air Force launched a massive air strike targeting more than 100 targets believed to belong to the Hamas - a terrorist group operating within the Gaza Strip. This operation was christened ‘Operation Cast Lead.’ The media’s coverage of the military operation focused towards sensational war elements. The war sparked protests in many countries all over the world. Once again mainstream media covered the protests action of burning flags but did little to show why the demonstrations were taking place. The media reported that peace activists were wrongly condemning Israel and even accused them of supporting Hamas, and yet the message the protestors were trying to pass across was that a peaceful alternative ought to be used to solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. There are instances where the coverage of the media on peace and antiwar activists has born fruits (Tiffany, 2009). The Vietnam War is such an example. The events saw many peace activists come up to openly criticize the war (Scott, 2003). This was the first ever war that was assessed very easily by the American people through the media. The media coverage of the war together with the many demonstrations by activists against the war shook the confidence of the general public in the war triggering more demonstrations that finally succeeded to make America pull out of the Vietnam War (Zaroulis and Sullivan, 1984). The protests were so intense that media had no choice but to broadcast uncensored and unedited coverage of the war from Vietnam to the American public as this was in their interest. With all these, there was still some misrepresentation of the peace protestors during the war. At first in 1965, the media focus on the war was on military tactics with little coverage of those who were bitterly opposed to the war (André, 1996). After 1965, the public’s dissent of the war grew and the media covered this but conveniently ignored the actual views of the peace activists and those who resisted the war (Sam and Lofland, 1990). Conclusion It is an undisputable that peace activists need the media a lot to get their views heard. To receive adequate and effective coverage, peace activists have little choice but to make sure the message they are trying to send across is not only clear but also attractive to the media. Today, there are more peace activists all over the world than ever before, and yet the media coverage they receive is quite limited. The few times that peace activists get media coverage, in most cases it is more on the negative side rather that positive and at times could be a total misrepresentative of the actual views that they are trying to pass across. It can therefore be accurately and convincingly argued that media coverage is more of an obstacle than an asset to peace activists. But all is not lost as this situation can be turned around once activists get to understand ways of getting the attention of the media. Past peace and media research findings confirm that when in airing peace activism, only whatever seems newsworthy to media houses is what is covered in most cases. Many times conflicts, objectivity, simplicity and drama are always deemed newsworthy. Organization, professionalism and networking on the part of the peace activists could greatly increase the chances of having an in-depth coverage of their activities. The activists could also find it of great importance to assign public relations teams to represent them and be their spokespersons. This will ensure that accurate information about their agenda and activities is passed to the public. These efforts may not always be rewarding as at times media coverage is there but the objectives of the activists are wrongly brought out. To counter this, some peace activists chose alternative methods to get their messages heard. Some of these ways include use of advertisements and internet. Media coverage and peace activism has, for a long time, generated controversy (Elsie, 1992). Unless media houses change their coverage and attitudes towards activists, peace activism will continue to struggle. Peace activists may adopt many changes to attract the media but without some reconciliation, compromise and optimism from the media, these efforts may end up in vain; with the media causing more harm than good. References André D. (1996) Gustave Moynier and the peace societies. International Review of the Red Cross. No 314, p. 532-550 Caroline M. (1987) Troublesome People: The Warriors of Pacifism. Bethesda, MD: Adler & Adler. Chatfield C. (1973) Peace Movements in America. Schocken Books. New York. Chatfield C. with Kleidman R. (1992) The American Peace Movement: Ideals and Activism. Twayne Publishers. New York. FAIR (2003) Is Media Bias Filtering Out Good News from Iraq? Retrieved 27th November, 2009 http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=1840 Elsie L. (1992) Peace People: A History of Peace Activities in New Zealand. Hazard Press Christchurch, NZ. Lawrence S. W. (1984) Rebels against War: The American Peace Movement, 1933-1983. Temple University Press. Philadelphia. Roger C. (1991) Peace III, A Just and Lasting Peace: The U.S. Peace Movement from the Cold War to Desert Storm. The Noble Press. Chicago. Sam M. and Lofland J. (1990) Peace Action in the Eighties: Social Science Perspectives. Rutgers University Press. New Brunswick. Scott H. B. (2003)Radical Pacifism: The War Resisters League and Gandhian Nonviolence in America, 1915-45 Syracuse Univ. Press. Tiffany M. (2009) What Does It Take For Peace Efforts To Be Heard?. Retrieved 27th November, 2009 http://www.com.washington.edu/commIR/vol3/editionTwo/featureMartin.html Woman Peacemakers Program (2004) Woman Peacemakers & Media. Retrieved 27th November, 2009 http://www.ifor.org/WPP/networking_woman.htm Wyler R. (2006) Vancouver Loves Peace. Retrieved 27th November, 2009 http://www.commonground.ca/iss/0605178/cg178_peace.shtml Zaroulis N. and Sullivan G. (1984) Who Spoke Up? American Protest against the War in Vietnam, 1963-1975. Holt, Rinehart and Winston. New York. Read More