Friedensjournalismus

Peace journalism is a relatively new research area in psychology, whose object is to explain the propaganda bias of conventional war reporting and to investigate the socio-psychological conditions of reporting that keeps conflicts open for peaceful dispute resolution. Building on the theory of news factors on the one hand, and on results of social psychology (group processes, social influence, enemy images, conflict research, attitude change), propaganda research and models of constructive conflict management on the other hand, the concept of peace journalism has developed from a counter-model to war propaganda into a model of constructive conflict coverage. The latter counteracts the escalation-prone distortion of conflict perception and already starts with reporting on slightly to moderately escalated conflicts, fills blind spots of conflict perception, supports the settlement of conflict through negotiation, critically accompanies the negotiation process, and seeks to establish reasonable common ground between negotiators and the public. A multitude of studies on war and post-war reporting as well as reporting on reconciliation processes on the one hand, as well as on political conflicts of interest, which are an indispensable part of a democratic society, confirm the escalation-oriented bias of conventional conflict coverage. However, it also shows that peace journalism is feasible if it is wanted. The fact that journalism belongs to two “contradicting communities - the professional and the national” often turns the pendulum (not only in times of war and crisis) towards escalation-oriented reporting. Whether this happens depends on how journalists understand their solidarity with their own society and whether they accept the responsibility to give peace a chance. In order to be able to contribute to the de-escalation of conflicts, it is also not enough to be aware that journalism makes a contribution to the social construction of reality; one also has to be aware that it is only a contribution. If peace journalism wants to give peace a chance, it has to be clear about whom to address and how to address them.