Peace Journalism. Impact of social media on the field of research on peace journalism (PDF)

Master's Thesis from the year 2022 in the subject Communications - Journalism, Journalism Professions, grade: 7,5, Maastricht University (FASOS), language: English, abstract: The results of the present work seek to clarify the question in what ways does the phenomenon of social media change how we have defined, explored, and implemented peace journalism thus far? For only when it is apparent how seriously this new reality affects the concept of peace journalism and its practical implementation will the need for further research also become clear.

Peace journalism plays a role and has the potential to sensibilize people to conflicts, to have a de-escalating effect and thus ultimately to promote peace. The ideas behind the concept of peace journalism gained importance primarily through the articles of Johann Galtung in the 1960s. Initially formulated as a theory, the ideas found increased application in practice in the 1990s, were implemented by journalists and is nowadays a firmly established, if not uncontroversial, subfield in journalism.

Despite its potential, peace journalism is not a miracle cure. The concept has its limits of effectiveness and applicability and misapplied, may do more harm than good. Peace journalism has an impact on the readership and is no less popular than so-called war journalism, but it reaches people especially if they are not hardliners who have already established a war frame of the situation. Peace journalism will therefor never be able to transform an entire society but can make a start with certain people at certain times, from where the idea can spread and possibly become established and have long-term effects.

However, it is noticeable that the idea of peace journalism as currently formulated is becoming increasingly irrelevant in practice due to the changing media landscape, namely the technologies of social media. Research that aims to advance peace journalism must therefore first and foremost examine social media, their modes of action, their functions, their respective audiences, their potential and their dangers.