Craig Zelizer, founder of the Peace and Human Development Network, suggests ten top sites for news about conflict and peace. See his blog post.

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Dear Colleagues

In today’s increasingly connected world there are thousands of resources available to obtain news and analysis about conflict and peace related issues. However, there are not that many sites that provide true in-depth analysis, reflection from a deep conflict or peace perspective. Within the field of conflict resolution there has also been a rapid growth in the field of peace journalism or peace media. The basic concept is that instead of media reporting passively on conflict related issues or doing a superficial analysis, or possibly serving as a tool to inflame and escalate conflict, media practitioners can play a critical role in getting at the roots of conflict, looking at underlying issues, reporting in peace initiatives, etc.

This short posting will highlight some of the key peace media and related sites that you may find useful in obtaining information. Please also feel free to share additional resources. Obviously, not all sites listed below are impartial, but they do provide useful information and perspectives.

1) International Crisis Group – The International Crisis Group is now generally recognised as the world??s leading independent, non-partisan, source of analysis and advice to governments, and intergovernmental bodies like the United Nations, European Union and World Bank, on the prevention and resolution of deadly conflict.

2) Search for Common Ground – Founded in 1982, Search for Common Ground works to transform the way the world deals with conflict – away from adversarial approaches and towards collaborative problem solving. Search is one of the pioneering organizations in developing and producing peace media around the world through their Common Ground Productions Unit which their media arm. Using television, radio and Internet programming, CGP transforms the way individuals and societies deal with conflict: away from adversarial approaches, towards cooperative solutions. Whether countering “hate radio” in Africa or hate crime in the United States, Common Ground Productions is dedicated to harnessing the power of the media for peace.

3) Transnational Foundation for Peace and Future Research, TFF News Network – Provides a list diverse sources related to peace and conflict issues around the world. Instead of focusing on one source, the network encourages users to question the opinion or coverage of a few media. As they explain, search for your own understanding. The tools are here. Globalization – and the Internet – are rapidly revolutionizing the way we understand the world. Become an eclectic news collector and fight the trend toward standardization and monopolization of our right to be well informed.

4) Global Voices – is a leading participatory media news room for voices from the developing world. Since its founding in 2005, Global Voices has grown into a vibrant global community of more than 150 active volunteer authors and translators and more than 20 freelance part- time regional and language editors. Today, Global Voices is thriving, vital component of the global media environment, helping individuals and media professionals around the world gain access to the diverse voices coming from citizen media. We base our coverage on the words, images, and videos of ordinary people across the globe who use the internet to communicate and broadcast their thoughts, analysis, and observations.

5) Peace Media Clearinghouse – A New Multimedia Resource for Peacemakers developed by the United States Institute of Peace and Georgetown University. The clearinghouse provides a central site where individuals and organizations working in the conflict management field can access materials that support conflict analysis and prevention, conflict resolution, and post-conflict reconstruction and reconciliation. At the same time, the site will encourage development of the field itself by distilling best practices for creating and using multimedia in support of conflict management activities.

6) Youtube – is the leader in online video, and the premier destination to watch and share original videos worldwide through a Web experience. YouTube allows people to easily upload and share video clips on www.YouTube.com and across the Internet through websites, mobile devices, blogs, and email.

7) Alertnet – is a humanitarian news network based around a popular website. It aims to keep relief professionals and the wider public up-to-date on humanitarian crises around the globe. AlertNet attracts upwards of ten million users a year, has a network of 400 contributing humanitarian organizations and its weekly email digest is received by more than 26,000 readers.

8 ) Transcend Media Service – Part of the Transcend Network. The site provides original reporting that seeks to go beyond the usual questions, ??How many were killed today??? and ??Who is winning??? to ask two additional ones: ??What is this conflict about??? and ??What are possible solutions???

9) Institute for War and Peace Reporting – builds democracy at the frontlines of conflict and change through the power of professional journalism. IWPR programs provide intensive hands-on training, extensive reporting and publishing, and ambitious initiatives to build the capacity of local media. Supporting peace-building, development and the rule of law, IWPR gives responsible local media a voice.

10) BBC News – Premier site of UK’s leading news agency.

11) Al Jazeera English – the 24-hour English-language news and current affairs channel, is headquartered in Doha, the capital of Qatar. The organisation is the world’s first global English language news channel to be headquartered in the Middle East. From this unique position, Al Jazeera English is destined to be the English-language channel of reference for Middle Eastern events, balancing the current typical information flow by reporting from the developing world back to the West and from the southern to the northern hemisphere.The channel aims to give voice to untold stories, promote debate, and challenge established perceptions.

12) Ode Magazine -s a print and online publication about positive news–the people and ideas that are changing our world for the better. Ode’s aim is to bring a new reality into view, to explore opportunities for positive change (including peacemakers) in our daily lives and our daily minds. You can sign up for a free daily newsletter of positive news. If you would like to subscribe to the magazine, there is a special rate for members of the Peace and Collaborative Development Network (currently only for people in the US), see http://www.odemagazine.com/pcdn

by Stacey Kutish

4/14/2009

(original release by Swarthmore College)

Swarthmore College first-year students Joshua Cockroft and Kimberly St. Julian have been awarded a Davis Project for Peace grant for their proposal to develop sanitation and hygiene practices in rural Madagascar. The $10,000 grant will enable them to travel to Madagascar this summer where they will work with a community to build pit latrines away from potable water sources, engage in a community education project about hygiene and sanitation practices, and conduct research on the culture of peace in Madagascar.

The Davis Project for Peace program, in its third year, is made possible by Kathryn Wasserman Davis, an accomplished internationalist and philanthropist. Mrs. Davis launched the program on the occasion of her 100th birthday in 2007. Designed to encourage and support motivated youth to create and implement their ideas for building peace throughout the world in the 21st century; each of the 100 projects selected received $10,000 in funding.

Joshua Cockroft ’12

Joshua Cockroft of Lafayette, Colo. plans to major in political science and minor in peace and conflict studies and environmental studies. “This experience will give great insight into my academic interests,” he says. “As part of our grant, we will study the ethnically diverse culture of Madagascar that has predominantly managed to peacefully coexist for over a thousand years without much ethnic conflict. This grant will give us the opportunity to work in a culture entirely different from our own, doing something to help where the results of our work can be seen directly.”

Kimberly St. Julian ’12

Kimberly St. Julian from Dayton, Texas, plans to major in history, with minors in political science and peace and conflict studies. “Before Swarthmore, I never had the opportunity to really delve into my interests in social work and human rights and put them into action to benefit others,” she says. “This grant will afford me with the opportunity to put my passion for helping others into action. I have never been out of the country so this will be an eye-opening experience for me in every possible way.”

During their stay in Madagascar, Cockroft and St. Julian will live in the village where they will be working. The pair intends to write about their experiences with the Malagasy people and their culture, in particular studying how a community with so much ethnic diversity has managed to live in peace.

Emily Hagar ’10 has contributed an essay to the Harvard Educational Review about her experience as a War News Radio journalist. A brief excerpt follows below. You may read an adaptation of the essay on the Swarthmore College website.

It is one o’clock in the morning, and all I want to do is go to bed. I’ve been at War News Radio since 11:30 p.m., trying to get through to Afghanistan to do an interview with Shukria Barakzai, one of the first female Afghan politicians. But it’s Eid al-Fitr, a holiday, and all the working phone lines in Afghanistan are tied up with people calling their family and friends to celebrate. I dial the number on the phone card, wait, and dial the number I have for Ms. Barakzai.

Finally, the phone rings and she picks up. “Is this still an alright time for you to do the interview?” I ask. And from the other side of the world, she says yes. For her, it’s 10:30 a.m., a normal hour to work. As we talk, she tells me about her experiences as a politician and as a woman, her concerns about Afghanistan’s elections next year, her frustration with the corruption she sees in the Afghan government, and her hopes for the future of her country. In listening to her stories, all of my own frustrations-with the late hour, with the nonfunctional phone lines, with the recording equipment-melt away, and I remember why I am still here in the recording booth at War News Radio, even at one o’clock in the morning.? … Read more

Last Friday at LPAC, the Film and Media Studies Department and War News Radio hosted Ellen Spiro and her documentary “Body of War.” “Body of War” is a documentary co-directed by Spiro and Phil Donahue that chronicles the story of Iraq-war veteran Tomas Young as he deals with his disability. After only five days in Iraq, Young suffered a shot through his collarbone and spine, leaving him paralyzed from the waist down. The film juxtaposes the story of his life as a disabled person with the series of decisions that led to the war in Iraq. … Read the full story by Isaac Han in the April 16, 2009 edition of The Phoenix.

Several events sponsored by Swarthmore’s chapter of STAND are coming up!

April 9th – Swarthmore College will host French filmmaker Fabienne Le Houerou speak about “The impact of the decision of the International Court of Justice to arrest the Sudanese president Omar Al-Bashir on the Darfurian refugees perspective” and see part of her documentary film from Darfur. Her website: http://www.imagmundi.com/indexImagmundi.php

Stay tuned for more events…

April 14th – a panel on the ICC. DRP will also be airing some of their clips and serving Ethiopian food.

April 30th- some Lost Boys from the area will be coming to speak

May 1st – we are partnering with Hillel and Ruach for Holocaust Memorial Day.