Fall Symposium Sets CSCLM Research Agenda

		Drawn from a variety of institutions, including Harvard, Southern California, Wisconsin, Purdue and Missouri, leading experts gathered at the University of Missouri on Sept. 15-16, 2006 to discuss the relationship between media and conflict. Representing a variety of disciplines, including journalism, law, conflict resolution, communications and psychology, they asked questions such as: Under what conditions does the media escalate conflict, stabilize conflict, or push conflict to constructive or destructive outcomes? These questions will serve as guidance for the Center's new research agenda. Historically, the news media has not considered its role in the social system of conflict. Rather, traditional media theory has suggested the proper role for the media has been to simply and objectively reflect what it observes. However, this understanding is called into question by our greater understanding of the nature of conflict, its escalation, and its resolution, as well as the abundance of behavioral psychology and related research demonstrating that all humans operate with certain biases and other heuristics that affect both judgment and action. Moreover, the traditional mechanical understanding of the
Linda Putnam speaks at the symposium
About forty people attended the conference

While few would argue that the news media should not determine outcomes of conflict, the fact that the media is, inevitably, a player in the path of conflict needs to be confronted by both scholars and practitioners.

For scholars, more research is appropriate on the issue of the relationship between the media and conflict. What do we know about this relationship, and what do we still need to discover? How would we define constructive vs. destructive outcomes of conflict from the perspective of the media as a player in the system of conflict? Under what conditions is media coverage likely to lead to constructive or destructive outcomes of conflict? What is the impact of framing on the escalation, stabilization, or de-escalation of conflict? How does the media perpetuate collective memory, and how might that be done in a constructive rather than destructive way? Similarly, journalism practitioners need to be use the benefit of such research to uplift the level of media coverage of conflict, regardless of whether it is at the local, national or international level.

Our hope is that the symposium will lead to partnerships for grant proposals to initiate this research, which in turn will help improve the practice of journalists covering conflict.

For symposium brochures, readings, abstracts, and PowerPoint presentations, click here.

For symposium schedule, click here.

Participants included: