Handbook: A Conflict Sensitive Approach to Reporting on Conflict and Violent Extremism

"One of the cornerstones of conflict sensitive reporting is the assumption that the more journalists know about conflict, the better equipped they will be to report constructively on disputes, confrontations, insurgencies and wars."

This handbook is designed to assist journalists in Central Asia to play a role in ameliorating the harmful effects of conflict, and to empower them to contribute to the prevention of radicalisation and extremism.

The handbook was developed as part of the "Contributing to Stability and Peace in Central Asia" project, which is being implemented by Internews, with the support of the European Union. As explained in the handbook, "It is widely recognised that a disturbing number of people from Central Asia have been recruited into the ranks of violent extremist groups operating in Syria and Iraq over the past 10 years. It’s also evident that, while these groups have suffered significant setbacks in recent years, their membership has not evaporated and they have become sophisticated users of new technology. They have been effective in leveraging social media and online discussion groups to promote their interests and to recruit new members from across large geographic areas." In response to this, the principal aim of the project is to equip media organisations to contribute towards the prevention of violent extremist growth in the region. The project uses a multi-pronged approach that involves the provision of training to journalists, bloggers, and other media professionals to equip them to report constructively on questions of radicalisation, extremism, and terror. It has also involved the facilitation of courses for communications specialists from government departments, security agencies, and religious bodies.

In the context of this project, the handbook is intended to serve the following functions:

• A resource media trainers can draw on as they present courses to journalists dealing with these subjects;
• Supplementary information for journalists who have attended these courses and to reinforce lessons that have been learned;
• An introduction to journalists who have not been able to attend these courses to many of the core principles that have been covered; and
• A means of helping communication specialists identify ways in which they can assist journalists wanting to make a constructive contribution through their reporting.

The handbook seeks to address the challenges faced by journalists due to the fact that they are part of a community caught up in conflict while at the same time also part of a profession that expects fair and evenhanded coverage of these conflicts. "When the people, places, issues, principles and beliefs journalists care about are threatened by conflict, they are often called upon to make difficult and sometimes seemingly impossible choices. Where do the journalists' loyalties lie? Do their allegiances belong to their profession or to their communities? Whose interests should the journalists be trying to serve? These choices become even harder when media houses are owned or managed by people determined to promote the interests of a particular group." This handbook aims to respond to some of these questions and to provide tools that journalists can use that will help them report constructively on conflict.

The handbook is divided up into seven parts, some of which include case studies to help illustrate the strategies and points made:

1. Conflict-Sensitive Reporting - focuses generally on conflict and on the different contributions journalists can make if they adopt a conflict-sensitive approach to reporting.
2. Enhancing Our Understanding of Radicalisation Leading to Violent Extremism and Terrorism - shows that the principles of conflict-sensitive journalism can also be applied in situations related to the harmful impact of radicalisation and extremism; explores some of the core concepts that journalists need to understand if they are to respond sensitively to these kinds of conflicts; and draws on the views of experts who have studied radicalisation, extremism, and terrorism.
3. A Conflict Sensitive Approach to Reporting on Radicalisation, Extremism and Terrorism - explores strategies journalists can employ as they seek to provide in-depth coverage of how extremist organisations are working in and impacting on their communities; focuses on how, by adopting a conflict-sensitive approach to their reporting, journalists can make a constructive contribution towards limiting the harmful effects extremism can have on their communities; and examines how many of the principles covered in Part One on conflict-sensitive journalism are applicable to contexts where extremists are operating and how, by committing to these principles, journalists may help to reduce support for violence and terrorism.
4. Reporting on Terrorism - focuses on the roles journalists can play in the event of actual terrorist actions that are part of ongoing campaigns or isolated incidents, limited to the destruction of property, and/or involving the deaths of hundreds of innocent people (e.g., various types of bombings; armed attacks on public, religious, and official spaces; and kidnapping, hijackings, and hostage-taking).
5. Violent Extremism Online [by Jem Thomas, Director of Training, Albany Associates] - looks how violent extremist groups use the internet to advance their goals and how journalists can deal with it responsibly by being objective and verifying information.
6. Looking after Yourself - offers guidance on how journalists can stay safe and take care of themselves in light of the fact that reporting on conflict, whether low-level community disputes, high-intensity wars, or bloody terrorist attacks, also impacts on journalists who are frequently exposed to life-threatening situations and who carry with them the effects, including trauma, of what they have observed and the stories they have heard.
7. Legal Aspects When Covering Terrorism, Extremism and Radicalism in Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan [by Azamat Talantbek uulu] - examines the specific laws journalists working in these countries must be conscious of when reporting on extremism and terror.