Media for Democracy and Peace

(Fall 2007)

In this issue, Anandan Kavoori challenges contemporary formulations of international communication studies and highlights the ways in which media forms correspond to the logics of globalization. Kavoori wants to move from a relatively deterministic model of international communication to one that he describes as “creative and correlational”. Feargal Cochrane’s focal point is the critical roles that Diaspora play in ongoing peace processes in their countries of origin. Cochrane argues that while “Diasporas may exist physically outside the conflict zone they have historical, cultural, economic and emotional ties to the direct actors in the conflict.” With a focus on the Irish Diaspora – and specifically the Irish-American Diaspora – Cochrane explores this more flexible and inclusive frame of “civil society activism” in order to better appraise the Diaspora’s potential for constructively participating in peace building efforts in regions that are transitioning from violence to cooperation and peace. Carolyn Byerly engages media reporting of the US war in Iraq to explore the possibility for more democratic, critical, and peace-oriented news production in the mainstream media outlets in the United States. Byerly suggests a framework for practitioners, scholars, researchers and activists who are pushing the boundaries of corporate media both from within the dominant news frame and through alternative media forms including increased use of the internet by previously marginalized and silenced communities. Tal Samuel-Azran challenges the received view that “counter-flowing images” in the Western media of Al-Jazeera news, “has brought Western viewers a more global perspective of news-events, thus promoting a ‘global
culture’”. Instead, Samuel-Azran argues for a more complex model where the flow of events is seen as “domesticated” through local agendas. The article cautions against any premature celebration of a developing ‘global culture’ and discusses the potential consequences of this for cross-cultural global news reporting. Yasser Abu Elmakarem Abdelrahim takes up Al-Jazeera, this time in order to discuss the issue of neo-objectivity in news reporting. The article examines Al Jazeera’s engagement with the concept of objectivity in the light of actual news production practice. Abdelrahim argues that Al-Jazeera has transformed the structure and practices of Arab news production – not least because of its success at transcending a censorship regime that had previously stifled the Arab media. Dan Caspi examines the role of the Israeli media in the production and reproduction of democracy. The central question is whether “democracy in a media ecology” is “capable of producing competent leadership and sound government” and whether “demediocracy” can ultimately “cope efficiently with its rival regimes – dictatorships and totalitarian states” As Caspi argues, “the answers to these and similar questions have far-reaching implications regarding the survival of modern democracies in the media age and Israeli democracy in particular.” Eric Freedman and Ann-Marie Murphy revisit and reconsider an historic milestone in U.S. press freedom in the light of the ongoing ‘war on terrorism’ as they “incorporate documentary and interview sources to examine a landmark Cold War-era prior restraint case, as well as its possible implications for contemporary U.S. journalism.” For Freedman and Murphy, the value of reexamining the prior restraint case against The Progressive Magazine is clear: “Now, amid the atmosphere of a ‘war against terrorism’, there are concerns that the government may again go to court to block publications or broadcasts in the name of “national security.” Against a backdrop of questions concerning media and the possibility of democratic communication, Susan Dente Ross evaluates a recent issue of the journal “conflict & communication online” – an issue whose pivotal point is concerned with the possibility of developing a peace-oriented journalism that would challenge what Johan Galtung has called “war” or “violence” oriented journalism. Ross brings the debate to a wider audience of scholars and practitioners in the hope of encouraging both more thoughtful engagement with the media and increased scholarly/professional attention to the role that the media might play in contributing to the climate necessary for conflict resolution and peace. 

  Aim and Scope

The Mediterranean Edition publishes scholarship with a focus on communication and media studies from critical and cultural perspectives, media and peace communication, and studies in the role of communication and the media in the resolution of conflict and the promotion of peace. The journal especially welcomes articles from feminist theoretical perspectives, political economy of communication, studies in communication policy and regulation, studies in communication and peace, peace journalism, conflict studies, film studies, democratic media studies, audience studies, studies in media and ethnicity, and discourse studies. The Mediterranean Edition accepts manuscripts for consideration throughout the year and publishes in both Spring and Fall.

  Abstracting and Indexing Services

The Mediterranean Edition is abstracted and indexed in the following: Communication Abstracts, Sociological Abstracts, MLA International Bibliography, NewJour, DOAJ