Trust in Peace Journalism

This thesis examines the issue of trust in the news media in relation to the rather newly-promoted concept and mean of conflict reporting, Peace Journalism (PJ). The guiding question of the study is how PJ standards could establish and maintain trust, particularly for newspaper readers. Trust has been acknowledged across academic fields as an important factor of social capital, and therefore a vital force for functional societies. In recent years, a decline in trust has been noticed at more than one societal level. The news media, perceived as a ‘guardian of trust’, is both affected and partly blamed for this erosion of trust. Within this context, Peace Journalism, a concept pioneered by Johan Galtung, founder of the discipline of peace and conflict studies, is being developed by scholars and journalists as a mean of reporting conflict that would ultimately contribute to installing and peace. This goal is potentially achieved by directing the stories from the focus on the violence and the tensions between two opposing sides, a characteristic of ‘mainstream’ War Journalism, towards a multiparty, solution-oriented reporting. The journalistic standards suggested by PJ raise some controversy as they are considered to neglect issues of objectivity and textual constraints of conflict reporting, while also overestimating the media’s role in insurgencies. This research aims to discuss the feasibility of PJ’s standards, by considering the relationship of trust that PJ could establish and maintain for audiences. In order to address this relationship, the study used a mixed method. Building upon a previous model used by Lee and Maslog (2005), content analysis of the WJ/PJ indicators present in newspaper articles was applied to the coverage of the Moldovan anti-communist protests in April 2009. The sample consisted of 70 newspaper articles from 7 local and international publications. The quantitative research was added critical discourse analysis, for a more thorough discussion of how WJ/PJ indicators are present in the news, features, and opinion articles. Each publication’s coverage was then discussed in terms of the multidimensional scale of trust in the news media developed and validated by Kohring and Matthes (2007). Finally, interviews were conducted with PJ promoters in order to round up the argument towards a conclusion. Results have shown that PJ’s fully rejecting established conflict reporting is not realistic. The WJ frame was found dominant within the coverage, with zero-sum reporting as the most salient indicator. PJ’s most common indicator was the avoidance of demonizing language. Factors of trust have been found to differ depending on the publication, and its audience. Established journalistic standards are to be understood and taken into account as PJ needs to be implemented gradually within media training and practice. Recommendations are made regarding a continuation of the academic debate, as well as on further relevant research, which could consider the audiences or the overall public opinion within the discussion. In time, Peace Journalism might constitute a solution to the decline in trust.