THE ROLE OF JOURNALISM IN [RE] BUILDING PEACE IN AFRICAN STATES

Author: Sergio dos Céus Nelson[1]

E-mail: sergiodoscnelson@gmail.com

 

Photo: Google

In my studies on what I consider to be the prelude to journalism, I came across Daniel Cornu (1994) who argues that “journalists are heirs to a past. They are bearers of a tradition of freedom”. Looking at journalism from this perspective means understanding the challenges that the profession continues to face in the African context, in particular, and in the world, in general.

I believe that in recent times there is no better way to define journalism than as one of the essencial oxygen for the breathing of a democracy. After all, exercising the right to information is fundamental for the realization of economic, social and political rights and for streamlining the ability of each citizen to make decisions about their lives and, in a broader context, allowing countries to better define their agendas and understand the logic of international policies, in order to be able to compete with other actors. Furthermore, in the game of seeking power, the one who quickly or better has access to [privileged] information survives or wins.

As the saying goes, unlike novelists, journalists [should not] invent the stories they tell. In this sense, the logic of seeking values ​​such as truth, impartiality, independence, rigor and impartiality should certainly represent their discipline above all, something embodied in the deontological codes that regulate their profession. Furthermore, journalists, in the process of searching for informative content, have the duty to ensure the confirmation and verification of the facts they report, describing them with due rigor, free from previously defined concepts in relation to the object studied. This is in fact the ideal version that is expected, but practice has shown us the opposite, in many cases.

Every journalist, whether print, radio or television, interested in digital, investigative or data journalism, as stated by Rosli Figaro (2014), is challenged to build credibility for their work based on civic values ​​and democracy, above all, taking into account the human right to information.

History shows us that journalism has always had political ties, and therefore cannot assume the role of neutrality, of a priestly watchdog of enlightenment. What I am trying to argue is that we must prepare professionals who are aware of the responsibility of their activity.

I tend to believe that journalism follows its own rules, but not in isolation from the other rules that dictate how nations function. In the midst of this reasoning, it is important to note that its triad (informing, educating and entertaining) makes journalism one of the best acts of citizenship and public service, hence the notable dangers faced by journalists. As an example, we can go back to 2003 when Reporters Without Borders reported that 42 journalists were killed in Asia, while 766 were imprisoned. In fact, this reality continues to persist in many countries around the world, where freedom of expression and freedom of the press continue to be an unattainable goal.

I find myself wondering what peace really is. Is it just the silencing of weapons, the maintenance of peace in the States, or even the free movement of people and goods, respect for individual freedoms and rights? I am reflecting on this because in order to understand peace journalism I would need to understand these and other dictates of the term “peace”.

Shinar (2008) argues that Journalism for Peace, in addition to giving voice to all people involved and focusing on resolving the conflict, without blaming either party, is essential to “promote and encourage the development of democratic communication structures”. Furthermore,Journalism and the concepts of war and peace are provided for in the UNESCO Declaration on Fundamental Principles Concerning the Contribution of the Mass Media to the Strengthening of Peace and International Cooperation (1978), which in its Article III states that “the media should make an important contribution to the strengthening of peace and international understanding through the dissemination of information concerning the ideals, aspirations, culture and needs of peoples. By thus carrying out these tasks, they facilitate the development by States of policies that are more appropriate to international tensions and to the peaceful and equitable settlement of international differences”.

The use of the media, and especially journalism, as a tool for peacemaking became a more present discussion in the field of information when, in 1965, Johan Galtung – a Norwegian researcher and scholar of peace issues – wrote with Mari Holmboe Ruge the article “The Structure of Foreign News”. In this logic,Galtung (1969) proposes the notion of structural violence, in which violence is not limited to physical violence, but is rooted in broader social structures, producing and maintaining inequalities, which is why I used to wonder what peace really was.

In the context of peace, in particular, the role of journalism is not only to inform, but also to be part of the process of building peace and maintaining it. To achieve this, the media must distance themselves from biased reporting, sensationalism and the “understandable” search for profit. Furthermore, in contexts of war, journalists cannot take sides and must report on reality, giving words to the parties, without making value judgments; after all, they are mediators in the conflict process.

We cannot discuss, in due depth, about peace journalism without distinguishing it from the precepts of war journalism, because, if we allow ourselves to make such an analysis, we will realize that it isWhile peace journalism is concerned with exploring the formation of conflicts, causes and consequences, giving voice to the parties, seeing conflict and wars as problems, huminization, war journalism focuses on who will win or lose the war. In this journalism, the causes and consequences of conflicts are restricted only to the place where the events occur, while it privileges the dehumanization of events, showing blood, decapitated heads, innocent faces and deaths. On the other hand, journalism of and for peace is proactive in seeking to prevent conflicts, oriented towards people, truth and solutions, while war journalism is more concerned with propaganda, oriented towards elites and believes that peace is only equal to Victory of One and the announcement of a ceasefire.

 

After all, what is the state of the media in Southern Africa?

I firmly believe that the starting point for any serious debate on media legislation is the protection of freedom of expression enshrined in the Constitution, as Hendrik Bussiek argues in his debate on “the situation of the media in Southern Africa”. Having said that, looking at journalism in the southern context means explaining that almost all countries (with the exception of Eswatini, with its authoritarian monarchy) formally subscribe to the right to freedom of the press in their constitutions, either as an integral part of the safeguard of freedom of expression (Zimbabwe) or as a specific right (Malawi and Mozambique). However, the legislation in force in all countries in the region still makes the free circulation of information impossible.

In most African countries, laws are still in force that were enacted to protect the colonial state against its subjects. I have the impression that on our continent there are still people who have a lot of power and influence who treat their fellow citizens as subjects – thus maintaining the laws that were enacted to protect the colonial master.

Reading these canons on journalism allows us to address one of the fundamental rights of citizens: the right to information. In this logic, it is essential to understand thatThe right to information is protected internationally in Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). On the African continent, it is codified in Article 9 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, Article 19 of the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance, Articles 9 and 12 (4) of the African Union Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption, Article 6 of the African Charter on the Values ​​and Principles of Public Service and Administration, among others.

In peace studies, it would be almost a sin not to mention the Norwegian researcher Johan Galtung, who founded the Peace Research Institute in 1959. His approach is based on expanding the idea of ​​peace beyond the absence of violence, considering that the implementation of this concept of peace involves the construction of a Culture of Peace. In fact, it is in this context that beliefs have been strengthened according to which media communication plays an important role in the construction of a Culture of Peace, mainly through the dissemination of information that aims to redefine violence and conflicts.

 

Conflicts in Africa

Africa currently has, according to data from Country Meters, around 1.5 billion people.

It is known that conflicts in Africa are disputes that occur between different political groups or ethnic and religious groups in African countries, conflicts between nations, motivated by sociocultural, political and economic issues. The roots of these conflicts can be identified in the process of partition of Africa, promoted during the late 19th century by European countries during the Berlin Conference, which marked the beginning of imperialism (or neocolonialism) on the African continent. "From such conflicts, we see an increase in poverty among the population, many refugees and homeless people, economic and political crises, weakening of the territorial infrastructure and causing thousands of deaths."

"Among the African countries where there are currently active conflicts, we can highlight the following:

• ·      Burkina Faso, in the Sahel region, where armed extremist groups are active;
• ·         Central African Republic, which is facing a civil war;
• ·         Mali, which has seen recent coups d'état as well as an ongoing civil war;
• ·         Ethiopia, where various political groups have led to an intensification of civil conflicts;
• ·         Nigeria, where the actions of the terrorist group Boko Haram increase social and political instability in Nigerian territory and neighboring countries."

Before we continue with our debate, it is important to highlight the fact that there are four contexts of conflict in Africa:

• ·     Approximately 40% of the countries on the African continent have experienced civil conflicts in the last 50 years. The first wave occurred shortly after independence, between the 1960s and 1970s. These conflicts were marked by disputes between armed groups, victorious in the war of liberation, in the organization of the new State — and Angola would be an example.
• 
  
• ·      The second wave of conflicts occurred during the Cold War, and was mainly characterized by the influence of the great powers, the USA and the USSR, supporting and financing rival groups and tolerating violent governments. Mobutu Seko's former Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo – DRC), Samuel Doe's Liberia and Mengistu Mariam's Ethiopia are examples of violent governments, whose legitimacy was contested internally, but supported by the powers in the context of the Cold War.

• ·     The third wave of conflicts occurred from the post-Cold War period until the mid-2000s, centered on the dispute over control of natural resources. The cases of diamonds in Liberia and Sierra Leone and mining in the DRC are illustrative.
• 
  
• ·      The fourth wave of conflicts continues to this day and is largely characterized by violence by non-state groups, often imbued with radical ideologies. The cases of Al Shabaab in Kenya, Boko Haram in Nigeria and M23 in the DRC are some of the violent non-state actors active in the region.

 

SO HOW CAN WE LOOK AT PEACE JOURNALISM IN JUSTICE AND POST-CONFLICT RECONCILIATION IN AFRICA

 

After a violent conflict with disastrous social consequences, societies are faced with the need to promote reconciliation and consolidate peace, with the central aim of preventing a resurgence of violence. A range of mechanisms have been developed to deal with human rights violations, which go far beyond national trials: from international tribunals tailored to each conflict, reconciliation commissions, programmes for reparation of victims and reintegration of combatants and perpetrators of war crimes, to local conflict resolution mechanisms.

That said, when referring to Peace Journalism in the African panorama, it is important to mention that vSeveral examples can be highlighted in the African context. For example, a Zimbabwean journalist, Patience Rusare, helped launch programs at the Rotary Peace Center at Makerere University to train reporters on how to write about conflict and cover political disputes. Through the programs, which are conducted in Zimbabwe, Nigeria, and Liberia, Rusare has explored core values ​​of truth, social justice, equity, and balanced reporting.

Because of their hard work in promoting peace and reconciliation among nations, journalists and media outlets have been subjected to increasing violence by politicians and supporters in the African context. Furthermore,In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the arrest of journalist Stanis Bujakera on trumped-up charges is given as an example of politicians' frequent attempts to intimidate the media.

 

ANGOLA

 

Domingoz da Cruz, in his article “Angola: risks of a circular society” argues that after centuries of subordination and oppression, Africans understood that it would not be enough to denounce attacks by the colonizer. I cite this thought because to understand the Angolan Media requires us to understand three distinct periods, with a strong impact on the exercise of journalistic activity:

·         1st - Colonial period

The official and conventional exercise began on September 13, 1845 with the launch of the first press organ, the Official Bulletin of Angola, a period that lasted until April 25, 1975.

·         2nd - Transition period

This transition period began on April 25, 1974 and culminated on December 10, 1975.

·         3rd - Post-Independence period

It began on November 11, 1975. This division was the target of criticism. Several scholars in the field of communication proposed a new divisional form of the periods in the history of Angolan journalism.

In this way we can divide history into three periods: before Independence, after Independence (a time marked by the one-party system led by the MPLA), and the third period that began with the Bicesse agreements in 1991, when the transition from one-party system, a single-party system, to multi-party system or Democracy was marked, marked by the 1992 elections.

However, the situation changed in 1991 with the Bicesse agreements and reached a very positive scenario until September 1992, when the first democratic elections were held. A look at the Jornal de Angola from that time could give an idea of ​​what this moment represented in terms of freedom for the Angolan press.

What can be said about Angola, then, is that the reality is still challenging for the practice of journalism and, consequently, journalism for peace and for peace, given that there are still several levels of censorship on what is written and published, and a large part of the media is still controlled by the MPLA, which has often arrested and, at worst, silenced journalists. In this context, we find channels such as “Observatorio da Imprensa”, a strong player in the dissemination of relevant information about the need to build a better Angola.

 

Before we continue with our analysis of African countries, I believe it is of great importance to mention some countries abroad, so that we can understand that these problems of journalism for peace have been faced worldwide. For example, if we go to Brazil, we will see that on August 18, 2018, a wave of violence broke out in the city of Pacaraima, in the interior of Roraima in northern Brazil, against Venezuelan immigrants who were seeking refuge in the country. The Brazilian press treated the matter as a case of xenophobia. 1,200 Venezuelans crossed the border back to Venezuela during that period.

In this context, it is important to discuss the role of the “Folha de S. Paulo” newspaper, which has continually shown a tendency to present conflicts as disputes, with sides to be chosen, and has shown its intention to view Venezuelans as “infiltrators” and therefore taken a position in relation to the Brazilian community. This certainly breaks with one of the great principles of peace journalism, which is not to take a position in relation to the actors involved in the conflicts.

 

Zambia example

 

In 1999, editor Fred M'membe and almost all of the Post's reporters were charged with espionage under the State Security Act, a crime punishable by at least 20 years in prison. The newspaper had questioned Zambia's military capability to counter an attack from Angola. The court, however, dismissed the espionage charge. Incidentally, to cite more than just bad examples from Africa: There was a similar case in the mid-1960s in Germany – 15 years after the country's democratization process. A weekly magazine questioned the capability of the country's military in the event of an attack by the communist bloc. Journalists were arrested for alleged treason – they were released only after a huge public outcry, which led to the downfall of some politicians.

These examples, combined with the Spotlight cases, which portray the crimes of the church, the reports on Snowden's work, as well as the work of journalists who won the Nobel Peace Prize in Journalism (Maria Ressa, from the Philippines, from Rappler) and Dimitry (Russo), from Novaja Gazeta, reveal that the journalistic class has always been in a constant struggle, in a constant fight for freedom of expression and of the press – which has often resulted in their persecution, beatings, arrests, deaths or even disappearance, since some journalists are not located after they disappear, which often leads to their murder.

 

 Sao Tome and Principe

There is a set of social dynamics that explain the path taken by the press in São Tomé and Príncipe over the course of 117 years of colonialism. In summarizing the dimensions that make up the legacy of the colonial press and through which it is analyzed, the following aspects stand out: 1) Journalism played roles characteristic of liberalism and authoritarianism, accompanying political regimes; 2) The press developed a predominantly political profile, with its ownership linked to social groups and having a restricted and elite audience; 3) Journalism tended towards political parallelism, with the press reflecting the ideas and opinions of political actors; 4) The processes of professionalization and professionalism were incipient and the performance of journalists was linked to their political actions; and 5) The State and the government maintained a strong intervention in the press.

As in the situations described above, Sao Tome and Principe does not deviate greatly from the logic of how the media operates in the African context. There is much to be done so that journalists can engage in the process of building and maintaining peace, a peace that can be defined in principle by the absence of conflicts – and on the other hand, by the struggle to defend the fundamental rights and freedoms of individuals. Saying this means recognizing that there are several challenges that fall to Téla Nón, Stop Press, Jornal Transparencia and the Superior Press Council, in order to continue fighting for their freedom and consequent presence in the processes of peace negotiation and its subsequent maintenance.

 

Sierra Leone

More than 500,000 people have fled Sierra Leone and more than two million have been internally displaced from Sierra Leone since the war began in 1991. While there is no single cause for the war in Sierra Leone, the conflict has been attributed in part to the leadership of Foday Sankoh, the man who eventually became the leader of the country's largest rebel group, the United Revolutionary Forces.

In 1996, 1997 and 1998, several attempts were made to restore peace in Sierra Leone, including by the United Nations Observer Mission in Sierra Leone (UNOMSIL). After the deaths of 6,000 civilians and 2,000 abducted children in 1999, the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) was established and by early 2002, the war was finally over. Because of this and other events, certainly subsequent ones, we see the preponderant role of Radio Mankeneh; and the Youth Reintegration Training and Peace Education programme which has done a very important job in re-establishing national unity, peace and thus rebuilding a country that is founded on the memories and effects of constant conflict.

 

 

Burundi

In this context we see the undeniable role of “Studio Ijambo”, created in 1995 to help reduce the negative effects of hate radio in the mid-1990s in the African Great Lakes region. The program funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) had two objectives: first, to strengthen peacebuilding efforts in Burundi and, second, to help resolve conflicts while strengthening local capacity. Until the formation of Studio Ijambo, “the Burundian press not only reflected the deep ethnic divide, but also actively promoted it (and its members attempted) to rival each other in calls for death, or in packaging and promoting their mutually macabre ideologies (generating) mutual terror and distrust based on historical fears” (Hagos 2001, ii citing Rich 1997, 63).

 

Cameroon

Cameroon has long been considered a peaceful country by both foreigners and citizens. The country has largely been unaffected by armed conflicts in neighbouring states, including conflicts in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Chad, the Central African Republic (CAR) and Nigeria. However, this situation has changed over time. From 2013 onwards, the deteriorating situation in the CAR and Nigeria began to place Cameroon in an increasingly critical situation. Citizens and refugees alike have found themselves caught between the aggression of Boko Haram attacks and military operations in the Far North. In this context, women and girls are particularly at risk of separation, forced recruitment, arbitrary detention, indoctrination, as well as sexual and economic exploitation and abuse.

Doing peace journalism in this context is above all understanding that the humanitarian crisis caused by the presence of Boko Haram, violations and discrimination against women and girls, challenges journalists to study reports and in-depth research to understand the role of civil society and other actors in the need for a paradigm shift.

 

SOMALIA

 

The Somali media sector in historical context has its origins in a turbulent and unstable political environment and Somalia's complex history that have strongly influenced the development of the media sector. Due to Somalia's strong oral culture, broadcasting, first introduced in 1945 by the British colonial administration in Hargeisa, has for decades been the most important mass medium for sharing and receiving information. Between 1960 and 1969, there were two radio stations in the country, Radio Mogadishu and Radio Hargeisa, and two newspapers. From 1969 to 1991, during the Barre regime, the country's media were under full state control. The Ministry of Information and National Guidance published the only daily newspaper, the October Star, in Somali, English, Arabic and Italian, while the Department of Broadcasting managed the radio stations. In 1991, the fall of the Barre government ended the state monopoly on the media and from then on the media sector began to develop and diversify with a considerable increase in private media, especially radio stations.

Overall, Somali journalists continue to face many dangers, ranging from intimidation and harassment, to detention, sexual assault against female reporters, and even murder. The attacks, both by the authorities and Al-Shabaab, represent a clear attempt to destabilise and intimidate the entire media sector, and the result is a growing reluctance to critically cover political events or report stories that portray the authorities in a negative light. There have, however, been some encouraging signs in recent years, including the appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate the murders of media professionals, but even with such progress, journalists continue to courageously risk their lives to bring the truth to the general public.

Important fact to highlight:

The Somali media are not seen as contributing to peacebuilding, at least not at the moment. Most journalists and media representatives have criticized the media for escalating conflict in the country, which they do by highlighting political differences and allowing airtime to those who incite conflict and controversy.

 

Libya example

The images of Muammar Gaddafi’s death, the execution of a dictator, did not give newsrooms time to “process” or reflect on the effect and true content of the information, on the power of the image. “The problem is having time to think,” argued Paulo Dentinho, the last Portuguese reporter and one of the last journalists in the world to interview Gaddafi in Libya (Diário de Notícias, 10/11/2011, p. 28) on one occasion, and who stood next to the corpse of the man the Libyans wanted to show. Even though the first reaction is not to broadcast the brutal images of extreme violence, “in the voracity in which we find ourselves, if I don’t do it,” he adds, “someone else will.” There is therefore something in this context that makes us realize that there may be a mix between the practices of peace and war journalism, largely due to the issues of operational theaters, which often give journalists little time to process the information.

 

Kenya

In October 2011, Nairobi Law Monthly, a publication that includes content on topical legal issues, published an article investigating a series of transactions undertaken by Kenya Electricity Generating Company Ltd (KenGen). In that article, Nairobi Law Monthly implicated KenGen and its CEO Edward Njoroge in corrupt dealings in the awarding of contracts to six companies to drill hydrothermal wells.

This article has ensured persecution of journalists and media outlets, as they consider that it interferes with the normal functioning of a corrupt system. Furthermore, in this logic, speaking of peace journalism means clarifying that journalism has the challenge of being part of the process of creating a fair, transparent and egalitarian society.

 

AND WHAT ABOUT MOZAMBIQUE IN THE MIDDLE OF ALL THIS?

 

Josue Bila, in his book “Human Rights in Africa: Mozambican Issues”, argues that Mozambican journalism does not seem to want to move on from the period of provincial and pre-intellectual journalism to specialized and responsible journalism. This idea can be justified by the fact that the class still does not have journalistic portfolios, generalist editorial offices with few specialists in various subjects, as well as the fact that the press continues to be poorly paid, which has greatly conditioned the production of content, influencing the quality of news itself and affecting the utopian impartiality. In fact, Bila’s idea takes us back to an anti-academic and anti-intellectual journalism.

There are several programs in the country aimed at training journalists in matters of peace, so that they can better report on conflicts and peace. Despite notable crimes against the press, it is also important to recognize great (notable) advances in our latitudes, with regard to freedom of the press and expression. For example, the Local Development for Peacebuilding (DELPAZ), implemented by the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) has been promoting journalism for peace in Mozambique.

Law No. 18 of August 1991 proclaims freedom of the press and expression, which means that in Mozambique, the plurality of media outlets, opinions and thought is a constitutionally protected right. However, there are several violations of the media's activities, including the disappearance of journalists, the planned closure of television channels, radio stations and newspapers, as well as the spacing and murder of journalists. This is a worrying situation that requires political and social intervention to change paradigms.

Despite the setbacks, we can say that there is freedom of the press and expression in Mozambique, albeit minimal or challenging, as there are several existing communication channels that are “free” to produce their material, create debates in which issues that worry citizens are defined or debated, as well as propose solutions to the crises that delay the development and construction of our nation.

If the period of theLiberal Revolution we will see that the first edition of the Official Bulletin, in 1854, is the dawn of the press in Mozambique. José Capela (1996) defined two periods to study the press in the phase prior to the independence of Mozambique: 'From the foundation to prior censorship' and 'From 1926 to 1954'. Ilídio Rocha (2000) divided the history of printed communication into eight periods between 1854 and 19743 . Hilário Matusse established four stages: the proto-nationalist; the nationalist; the national and the contemporary. Maria Cremilda Massingue (2000) defined four moments of the press: governed by the 'rules and profiles of the Metropolis'; the 'combat press'; the post-independence and the post-1990 (beginning of the democratic transition). From the perspective of political sociology, in this study the journalistic trajectory coincides with the political regime of the Constitutional Monarchy (1854-1910).

From the beginning, the press was linked to the political, economic and ideological interests of the European elites who occupied the territory. It was only at the beginning of the 20th century that a press began to focus on news and information. Likewise, the industrial and urban impetus led to the emergence of journalism that was critical of capitalist economic relations. On the eve of the transition from Monarchy to Republic, with O Africano, a press emerged that questioned relations between Europeans and Africans.

 

Challenges of journalism today

 

The credibility crisis that journalism is facing requires a review of the practices adopted in newsrooms, and news values ​​are a central issue in journalistic activity. Journalism for Peace proposes a change in perspective of professional practices, but its adoption in newsrooms faces obstacles from habitus and traditional news values, centered on criteria of violence. Or rather, journalism, especially print journalism, is currently facing an economic and credibility crisis. Newsrooms are shrinking at the same time that the public is questioning the quality of the information provided by the media.

These factors make us realize how urgent it is to renew and modify the approach of contemporary journalism from new theoretical and practical perspectives. Studies in Culture of Peace and Journalism for Peace could contribute to a more humane approach that is appropriate to the current socio-political context.

 

Solutions, challenges and criticisms of peace journalism in the African context

 

Journalists covering conflicts and crises need to be aware of both the negative consequences of their coverage and the potential it has to promote peace in communities. Among the many aspects, it is important to note that journalists should avoid transforming or distorting images, staging or altering a scene, and above all, ensure that alternative voices are included in their reporting and that all facts are verified.

Journalists must also be aware of the language they use and how it can help prevent, contain and reduce conflict. What I intend to say is that it is crucial to avoid subjective and manipulative language, and language that favors partisan interests. After all, people's well-being should be the main focus of journalists, who must not forget their three pillars previously mentioned.

For all these aspects to achieve the desired success, it is important that there is independence at the editorial level, editorial independence, in the production and coverage of war, conflict and peace matters. After all, if an editorial team favors one of the parties, it will be distorting the facts – and therefore being part of the delay in resolving the conflicts.

To conclude this brief reasoning on the ideal practices of journalism for and about peace, it is important to mentionOscar Monteiro, when he argues that a country is made up of all. I believe that by thinking this way, Monteiro includes in his reflection the media, the journalists who since the proclamation of independence in Mozambique (25/06/1975) have acted strongly for the change of paradigms.

That said, I believe that for better practice of peace journalism and for peace in the African context we need to invest seriously in training the class, continue fighting to strengthen freedom of expression and the press, build an African media free from the shackles of the Western media. After all, we cannot wait for VOA, CNN, BBC to know what is happening in Africa. On the other hand, it is important to understand that the press cannot limit itself to reproducing speeches, and must scrutinize what is said and received, in order to better inform society. Therefore, if we create a trained class, we will have professionals who will better know how to use the right language and discourse to mediate conflict scenarios, incorporating into their materials the necessary quality in journalistic practice.

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[1]Sérgio dos Céus Nelson is a researcher, graduated in Journalism from Eduardo Mondlane University and Master's student in International Relations and Development, with a specialty in Foreign Policy, at Joaquim Chissano University.