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Press Freedom Day 2009: Is promoting tolerance the media's job?

Media can deepen divides by offending or confronting another's culture or identity. Cartoons published in the Danish Press in 2005 that depicted the Prophet Mohammed, for instance, set off protests throughout the Muslim world, with critics calling the cartoons racist and blasphemous.

On the other hand, media can serve to "promote a tolerance and acceptance of difference," according to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). To do so, UNESCO says, media must "challenge prevailing attitudes and assumptions concerning the many 'others' in our world," moving "beyond scripted stereotypes [and] stripping away the ignorance that breeds mistrust and suspicion."

To highlight this goal, UNESCO has made the theme of World Press Freedom Day 2009, to be celebrated May 2 and 3, "the potential of media in fostering dialogue, mutual understanding and reconciliation."

Is the role of media really to promote tolerance, understanding, and an acceptance of diversity, as UNESCO calls for? Or is the media's role simply to report the facts, even if such facts breed mistrust or fuel divides?

شات مصرية - دردشة مصرية - شات

شات مصرية - دردشة مصرية - شات مصري

شات القاهرة ، دردشة القاهرة ، شات دردشة القاهرة ، شات دردشة جامعة القاهرة

شات الاسكندرية - دردشة الاسكندرية - شات دردشة الاسكندرية - شات دردشة جامعة الاسكندرية

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شات الاقصر - دردشة الاقصر

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شات عسل ـ دردشة عسل

شات الشلة ـ دردشة الشلة

شات فلة ـ دردشة فله

شات دردشة ـ دردشة دردشة

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شات العنابى ـ دردشة العنابى

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Today Aung San Suu Kyi has

Today Aung San Suu Kyi has faced trial for American man entering her home by swimming Inya Lake, prohibited area. So internet connection her too delayed.

DrKhinMyintOo

This is an unending argument

This is an unending argument between professional journalists and peace advocacy groups.Journalists say their duty is done when they apply fairness and balance in reporting while advocacy and other groups sometimes insist on leaving out 'things that divide us'.I have just added training in peace and conflict to my journalism qualifications and i believe that the two sides are saying the same thing in different ways.The challenge is for advocacy group to know when and how to use the media to promote tolerance, peace and other related ideals. JIDE JIMOH, LAGOS, NIGERIA. jidejimoh@yahoo.com.

Reporters have to do a job of

Reporters have to do a job of truth telling. They need to make the effort to research a story, get good sources on a story, analyze the facts and then report, to the best of their ability what lthe facts are and how they fit into a context of the story. As someone once said,:"The job of a daily journalist is to get and print the best available version of the truth on that day." Reporting is an organic process; as a reporter pursues a story new information needs to be integrated into the next day's story. Get the facts, organize them into a readable story with context, and then stick with it and update the story as needed. Truth is the ONLY must-do requirement. As President Lincoln said, "Give people the facts and they will make the right decision." That is all a reporter needs to do. Let the chips fall as they may.

Mike Beardsley

I still wonder, if we have a

I still wonder, if we have a standard definition of 'simply reporting the facts.' For a journalist, coming from the West, East, South or North from a different civilization will see and report the same facts with its own spectale of looking at things, which could be different to local and regional understanding. Instead of generalizations, i we narrow it down to the so-called 'war on terror.' Every media outlet is framing its reporting with its own set of standards - national, regional, political, business, cultural so on and so forth. This is exactly why publishing cartoons depicting Muhammad set off protests across Muslim world, whereas the rest of the world terms it a basic right to express thinking as 'freedom of speech and right.' Acceptance of diversity is one thing, and promoting tolerance is entirely another. Mainstream news media runs on drama, it cannot be exlained in two sentences as what should be the role of media.

Media should always

Media should always demonstrate fair reporting.

I believe the media should

I believe the media should promote tolerance by becoming an example of fair coverage.

I think not in a regular

I think not in a regular basis but depending upon the situation of each country or region, media should allow some space for the purpose of promoting peace, harmony and reconciliation. Professional reporting might not be guided by such "Humaterian aspects" but these principals might be useful to media people working on countries or regions with conflicts or transition. The role of media is also to promote tolerance, understanding, and an acceptance of diversity where situation worsens below humaniterian level. Harish.Kathmandu Nepal radio4peace@gmail.com In Nepal for instance, I have been doing it as "Radio For Peace", which is giving a good impact. Media should always have some room for peacebuilding.

Promoting intolerance is not

Promoting intolerance is not media's job, yet media is very effective in doing precisely that. Media not only reports facts, but analyses, comments, opines... After all, cartoons are not "facts", are they? Even the media outlets that puts news first, tend to puts propaganda second. Journalists, editors, media owners are all influenced by their own political and religious beliefs and commercial self interests. Hence the presentation of isolated facts that "breed mistrust or fuel divides". Many media houses have their expert "war journalists". How many have "peace journalists"? Balanced, unbiased journalism is an ideal. In practice, it is tilted. UNESCO and other organisations have an uphill task to correct the imbalance.

In a way I would say yes,

In a way I would say yes, because to maintain peace and tranquility in respective societies is one of the media's prime roles. For, we have already seen how difficult it's to operate in a harsh environment like Somalia, Srilanka and elsewhere where there insecurity prevails. You risk losing your life.

But how do you go about meeting those obligations? As I have said above, you need to study the environment under which you operate and then establish close relationship with those in the hiearchy so that you get full cooperation from them. However, while embarking on that you have got to ensure that it doesn't reach a point where the rulers might use you to make their ends meet.

We are bound to achieve that because journalism is a two way traffic meaning you report on an issue and at the same time you expect to get some feedback from those whom you are serving. The responses will provide the way forward towards achieving a societal development through peaceful means.

RAYNER NGONJI, DAR ES SALAAM, TANZANIA

Press cannot directly promote

Press cannot directly promote good morals, tolerance etc. But as a part of the universal human family its the general idea that Press or otherwise every right thinking institution would do that. There are news providers which were created to promote one single kind of ideology. But the ultimate job of the Press is to give equal space as far as possible to all shades of opinions, ideologies, analysis' and events regardless of whether the actors/promotees of such are from the established power or from the marginalised masses. Ideally the press should be neutral which is not possible at all. The best formula could be the age-old one: Facts and figures in Page 1 and other news pages and opinions and leaders in the op-ed and other opinion promoting pages. Readers can choose their shade..

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