Sahel journalists discuss violent extremism and media
There are few more challenging environments for journalists than the Sahel region of northern Africa, and few subjects more difficult to cover—and more important—than the terrorist threats present in the region.
It’s against this backdrop that I’ve been meeting with about 20 journalists from the region via Zoom as part of a project titled, “Strengthening the Role of Media in Countering Violent Extremism.”
The first of the project's eight zoom sessions was held last week, and included discussions about problems with traditional media coverage of conflicts, and media and terrorism, including social media.
Yesterday, the journalists and I had a robust discussion about how terrorism is covered in their countries. One participant from Chad said that journalists want to be seen as patriotic, and therefore shouldn’t give the microphone to terrorists for comment. Several reporters talked about the difficulty in covering terrorism stories that include traveling to hard-to-reach or dangerous attack sites and getting information from non-government sources.
Our conversations will continue in the coming weeks and include discussions about storytelling and narratives, media literacy, and peace journalism. The project will culminate with a face-to-face seminar in Cote D'Ivoire in January.
“Strengthening the Role of Media in Countering Violent Extremism” is organized by Equal Access International, with financial support from the U.S. Embassy in Algeria. Journalists from Mauritania, Mali, Chad, Cote D’Ivoire, Morocco, Senegal, Burkina Faso, Algeria, and Niger are participating.
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