Media: The Ultimate Power Tool

Blogging for the Huffington Post, Elise Crane talks about the power of media for peacebuilding. This article is the first in a series on peace media. Crane highlight SFCG efforts while also looking toward the use of new media to build bridges and transform conflict:

“Contemporary peace media is perhaps best represented by Search for Common Ground (SFCG), which among its other activities has demonstrated the power of community radio programming to bridge group divisions. SFCG’s seventeen projects span four continents and its website (http://www.sfcg.org/resources/resources_home.html) offers extensive practical resources for peace media in the field. The common thread throughout SFCG’s programming is its emphasis on providing balanced information “as a way of building (or re-building) a sense of common identity” by highlighting common “problems and challenges.” The universality–and lack of a literacy threshold–of radio has made it a particularly successful medium in Africa, which is home to the majority of SFCG’s programming. Such programs as Burundi’s Studio Ijambo seek to unite previously warring parties by identifying common ground on multiple levels.”

Read the rest of the article here.