Making a Difference in Settling Conflicts

Media should play a more active role in helping prevent and settle conflicts, for instance, in serving as a third party to analyze the interest of both parties, which might lead to reconciliation and resolution.

Media should play a more active role in helping prevent and settle conflicts, for instance, in serving as a third party to analyze the interest of both parties, which might lead to reconciliation and resolution.

“This does not contradict the basic rule of the media; on the contrary, it emphasizes the media’s social nature as a responsible entity of society,” Ms. Liu Cong, Deputy Controller, CCTV News, China Central Television, told participants of the Asia Media Summit, which opened in Bangkok on May 29.
Ms. Liu was among five other speakers who spoke at the Summit’s first plenary session on “Media, Development and Conflict: Can Media Make a Difference.“

In her presentation, she said parties in conflict situations accumulate negative feelings such as anger, hatred and grievance, which can lead to violence. Media can become a platform, she said, to get rid of these feelings and prevent matters from deteriorating.

She said a common practice of the media was to avoid sensational words, pictures and statements that may provoke further hostility and misunderstanding.

In supporting a more active role in conflict situations, “ media must be on guard against manipulation. The ownership, financial status and background of practitioners all influence content that may distort what media reports,” she said.