Peace and conflict reporting: Strategies for knowledge sharing in Africa and the Pacific

Journalists are enjoined to be truthful, fair, accurate and balanced in their reporting but whether they can do so in reporting conflict situations remains debatable. While some, in particular peace journalism advocates, argue that journalists can contribute to peaceful settlement of conflicts by the way they report on conflicts, others disagree. This study investigates Nigerian press coverage of the ongoing Niger Delta conflict, to determine the extent to which the press reflected balance in news reports, the amount of coverage given to the two sides in the conflict (the Nigerian government and the Niger Delta activists), and the range of sources used in reporting the crisis. At two levels, the study found evidence of bias. First, the press gave a greater amount of coverage to the government side than to the activists. Secondly, the press cited government sources more often than sources relating to the Niger Delta activists. The paper draws a parallel between the struggle for environmental and petroleum resources in Nigeria and similar conflicts in the Pacific, notably the 10-year-old conflict in Bougainville over resource ownership and control, and the issues that underpin the Solomon Islands ethnic conflict. It argues that experiences and lessons learnt in thosue conflicts could be mutually beneficial to journalists in Africa and the Pacific in terms of sharing knowledge and strategies for reporting conflicts