Countering and preventing violent extremism involves various fields, including information and communication. In the UK, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office funds and supports communication campaigns related to the countering and prevention of violent extremism, which is a major part of the country’s Overseas Development Aid.
However, many of these communications campaigns are criticised as being ineffective, and – in some cases – acting as an obstruction for legitimate issues of justice. A review of the information and communication initiatives put into effect by countering and preventing violent extremism (C/PVE) found that there is no evidence of them having any effect, and that ‘alternative approaches’ based on media development are backed up by a ‘stronger and more established research base’ that is gathered from across the fields of peace building, development and social cohesion.
Media development focuses on capacity building for individuals or institutions that work in the fields of diversity, freedom of expression, pluralism, and transparency in the media landscape. Independent media plays an important role in media development, as it is able to build trust throughout at-risk communities and can more easily enable justice issues to be voiced, reducing the need for violent action against injustices.
Whilst the role of independent media has become more vital, there has been a global collapse in the industry that has been exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic. For further information about media development, please refer to the embedded PDF.
The Role of Peace Journalism
In 2002, Professor Majid Tehranian – the then Director of the Toda Institute for Peace and Future Research – suggested that peace journalism would be the key to ‘negotiating global media ethics’ and a new UN funding agency – a specialised Media Development Bank – to tackle such responsibilities.
In the years since Professor Tehranian’s proposal, peace journalism has become the organising principle for innovative scholarship and initiatives in media development aid, such as journalist training courses. Peace journalism, a practice that has been led by Professor Jake Lynch for many years, has been found to create a valuable and significant change in audience responses.
Peace journalism provides a public forum for important justice issues, and independent media that follows the principles of peace journalism is able to build trust in communities, as well as protect them from the claims of violence and fighting.
Information and communication that prompts the audience to value and consider non-violent responses to conflict can have a powerful effect, and this is an area that aid and development organisations should invest in more heavily for peace to thrive.