Media Ecology and Peace Journalism in the Middle East

• In Event: Media Ecology Association Panel: Media Ecological Interventions in Communication Research

Abstract

Advancements in both communication and the Internet have allowed media to spread positive and negative aspects of social situations throughout the world. Medium and message are involved in these events through the framework they have built and are taken as true by those who are being informed. Somehow the medium becomes the message and hence the media ecology is present. Along these lines, communication of war can be oriented in two directions. Johann Galtung (1998) holds that there are two ways of covering a conflict: war journalism oriented toward violence and the peace journalism oriented toward a peaceful transformation of the conflict. This model finds theoretical ground based upon framing theory and the proposals of media ecology. Peace journalism implies giving voice to every partner involved; it explores the background of a conflict, offers creative ideas about its resolution, and avoids emotive and labeling language. The present investigation analyzes the coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in newspapers from Spain (El Mundo and El Pais) and Mexico (Universal and Excelsior) from January to March 2015, and under the light of peace journalism. The result – after analyzing 690 pieces – aims towards a focus on war journalism.

Authors

• Laura Trujillo, Universidad Panamericana

• María-Teresa Nicolas-Gavilan, U Panamericana