Interest-based reporting adds context and depth to media coverage

With a solemn sense of irony, participants in a role play demonstration critiqued media’s coverage of conflict on the 7th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. “September 11th was probably the worst manifestation of conflict the world has ever seen,” said Prof. Richard C. Reuben. He reminded us how well the nation’s media covered that conflict. It went beyond merely what happened to also explain the context surrounding why it happened. This is the model media should follow every time they cover conflict.

Reuben and Prof. Michael J. Grinfeld, co-directors of the Center for the Study of Conflict, Law and the Media (CSCLM), discussed and demonstrated through a simulated conflict how interest-based reporting can lead to more constructive, contextualized and informative journalism during the University of Missouri School of Journalism’s Centennial Celebration.

Interest-based reporting emphasizes coverage of interests rather than positions. Reuben looked to the field of conflict theory and described three points that journalists could use as a foundation to improve their coverage of conflict.

First, distinguish between interests and positions. Interests explain the underlying needs and concerns that lead to our positions; why we say we want things rather than just the statements of what we want. Too often news coverage tends to just go with the positions. Second, differentiate between a conflict, the underlying clash between interests and aspirations, and a dispute, the immediate manifestations of that underlying conflict. News coverage tends to cover disputes rather than conflict. And third, distinguish between the process of the dispute, the tactics, and substance of the conflict, what the issue is really about.

In front of an audience of approximately 35 people, two volunteers agreed to play the part of editor and reporter using the following scenario:

Ten students, at the Pristine (NV) High School have organized a Gay and Lesbian Outreach Club and a new teacher that recently moved from San Francisco has agreed to act as the advisor. This has polarized the community and Lawrence Trenton, the principal has tried to mediate the dispute before the Pristine Unified School Board. Federal law requires that any school that allows nonacademic clubs, may not discriminate, and must make the premises available to all groups. The Gay and Lesbian Outreach Club has generated a great deal of controversy among parents who believe that homosexuality is evil and a sin.

An ambitious reporter for the local newspaper has found out that Trenton, the principal, is gay and even though he is married and has two children, it’s only a marriage of convenience. The reporter is trying to convince his editor to include the fact that the principal is gay in the story about the Gay and Lesbian Outreach controversy before the school board.

“Would you out the principal?” Grinfeld asked the audience. These role plays are an integral part of the Journalism and Conflict class developed as a curriculum initiative by the CSCLM. The course combines conflict theory and negotiation skills in an effort to teach student journalists not only how to evaluate and report on conflict but also to more effectively manage the negotiations that every reporting assignment requires.

Conflict is a pervasive part of our world, Reuben said, and it is one of the most important things the media does in society. The watchdog role sets the agenda in a democratic society to allow its members to make informed decisions. But he went on to explain that how the media covers conflict can escalate the issue rather than explain it.

For a variety of reasons, everything from looming deadlines to lack of resources, news coverage often emphasizes the immediate dispute rather than the underlying conflict. Reuben suggests that too often, reportage of conflict may be too simplistic, polarizing the issue to reduce it to he said/she said, when the truth often lies somewhere in the nuanced middle. Reporters focus on events of conflict rather than the underlying issues. And finally, coverage is episodic in nature rather than stepping back and analyzing the pattern. We cover “the trees rather than the forest,” he said.

Reuben outlined 5 key practices that is the foundation of interest-based reporting:

1) Focus stories on the underlying interests rather than just the positions. Report the positions, but don’t stop there, keep on going.

2) Situate the dispute within the larger context of the conflict. This adds perspective that society needs to understand and make informed choices.

3) Emphasize the conflict substance over the conflict process.

4) The media relies too heavily on government sources. When covering conflict reporters should look to the wide ranges of parties involved with wide ranges of interests and look for sources that can speak to those interests. This draws out perspectives from a wide range of stakeholders.

5) Reporters should take care in the kinds of words that are used. Make sure they are not inflammatory.

As the audience worked through the role-play scenario, going beyond the immediate dispute of the parents challenging the school board about the high school kids’ Gay and Lesbian Outreach Club to analyzing the underlying interests, examining all the stakeholders and delving into the broader conflict issue, the story ideas became more in-depth and contextual. A collateral benefit is that the process may shed light on ethical questions. For example in this role play, the fact that the Pristine high school principal was gay did not seem to be as important anymore and “outing” him may overshadow the substance of the story.