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Life Onboard |
LAST UPDATE
July 12, 2005
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| site design imagesparkle.com |
| October 23, 2003 |
Media Literacy and Conflict – Jasna Bastic |
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| Jasna Bastic |
Discussing the important role that media plays in all stages of conflict, educator and Peace Boat staff member, Jasna Bastic, speaks from personal experience. A journalist originally from Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina in ex-Yugoslavia, Jasna was forced to flee first to Austria and then to Switzerland when civil war broke out.
Jasna is onboard to facilitate the Peace Boat educational segment on media literacy and conflict, and showed how the break-up of Yugoslavia was inflamed by the way media manipulated nationalism, fear and paranoia to make people believe that the only option available was to pick up a gun and fight.The potential of the media to be manipulated and used as propaganda, seen again in the role radio played in the genocide in Rwanda, is a reality which can be found in many current conflicts. |
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The consolidation among international media organizations, decreasing diversity of media from the local to global level, and increasing connection to outside interests are often responsible for a growing trend towards soft censorship and manipulation.
Running parallel to this is the exaggeration and simplification of news stories, under the assumption that the audience is too "stupid" to absorb in-depth or quality content. Connected to this problem is the rule that bad news is good news, with the implication that war is the best-selling kind of news. The responsibility for this trend lies less with journalists and more with editors, who are concerned not only with journalistic integrity, but arguably more so with the financial bottom line.
Responding to the problem requires awareness, thus the title of the educational segment "Media Literacy." Becoming "media literate" includes comparing media representing various perspectives, from liberal to conservative, and understanding what constitutes a well-written or produced piece versus one containing bias or poor reporting. Direct action to contribute individually and collectively to a healthier media system could include supporting the growing media-watch movement, writing a letter to an editor or pressuring governments to restrict media consolidation and promote diversity. |
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