PAPER The Drum Beat - 21 - COLOMBIA - Medios para la Paz

• contribute to the construction of a culture for peace thru a responsible and ethical exercise of journalism
• reflect on the role of journalists and the trascendental social effects of the 'métier', in the context of the armed conflict dynamics and the search for peace.
• promote the 'disarmament'of the language used by journalists in their treatment of the themes related to peace and violence, and recover its role as an instrument for understanding and reconciliation.
• promote the production of balanced and precise information that can contribute to a greater awareness, in journalists and society, of the causes and consequences of the war
• support the work of journalists with professional tools that allow for a better documentation, contextualization, and analysis of the country's complex reality
• enable a collective construction of communication alternatives to improve the information quality of the profession.

Workshops:

Sensibilización (sensibilisation): Workshops on the profession's sensibility to the armed conflict and the social responsability of media and information . Directed to all media (radio, printed press and television) and developed to be discussed in their editorial room, as well as to teachers and students of journalism schools.

Production workshops that promote the construction of narrative tools in the different journalistic languages (radio, printed press and tv),targeted to an adequate handling of information and better quality in the information regarding war and peace

Best practice workshops: sharing of innovative and succesful experiences on journalist ethics and information excellence

Personal Development workshops: spaces for personal development and formation, from a human dimension.

Tertulias ( discussion groups - suggests the use of conversation in groups)

An open invitation for conversations with experts on different themes, with an emphasis on journalism and peace. The idea is for journalists to expand their basic sources of information, so that there is an improvement in the way they handle context, interpretation and relationships.

Encounters with Directors and Owners of the media:

Medios para la Paz is fully aware of the importance of dealing with the directors and owners of the media, as they hold the maximum responsibility in the information chain and the policies handled by the news room. The encounters seek a deeper insight into the role of the media in the construction of peace. The first gathering was organised with the Director of Le Monde Diplomatique and the director of Radio France International.

Press Club

These are "off -the -record" meetings between journalists and actors of the armed conflict, protagonists of the peace process or of peace initiatives or specialists on themes that are directly related to war , peace or national current affairs. The idea is to give journalists first-hand access to information that allows them to balance their publications and broadcasts. Another goal of the meetings is also to react to the 'chiva' (exclusivity) syndrome that is so common in Colombia, where media go for an exclusive daily headline with very narrow analysis, if any. This is the result of ruthless competition for the ratings. This has become an accute problem with the coverage of the on- going peace process. There have been three sessions of the Press Club with the ELN guerrilla leaders, the FARC guerrilla negotiators and the International Red Cross Committee.

Documentation Centre
A collection of the best quality information and products on peace and media (research, information, reports, videos, tapes, etc), through subscriptions , interchange, and compilation of relevant national information which is disperse.

'Cibertertulia' - (Cyberconversation)
Journalists' Network and Web Page-Using electronic mail and other conventional tools, the network has an active membership of 130 journalists. It is facilitating the communication amongst journalists, who either do not have an efficient organisation that keeps them updated on the issues of peace building and the armed conflict, or because they are in the field, on their own, covering the armed conflict ( often called the 'Lone Ranger' journalist). Cibertertulia is broadening the debate by sharing the results and summaries of the activities of the corporation amongst interested peers, for those that do not have access to Medios para la Paz's activities.

Publications
Specialized publications that offer state of the art information, and tools for reflection and analysis. These include:

Mural Newspaper "The Antivirus": This is a valuable source of information, in the form of a poster that is produced so it can be placed strategically in the newsrooms. It includes summaries, notes and analysis of treatment of news and information on armed conflict as its central core. Also included: legal instruments, information on conflict resolution in other countries, as well as tools to for the "disarmament " of language. There will be 500 mural newspapers printed and they will be sent free of charge to the news room as well as the directors and owners of all the media organisations and companies in the country.

Manual of Terms "To Disarm the words" ( Manual de Términos: Para Desarmar la Palabra"): Recently published, it is a practical guide that contains the most commonly used terms by the media covering the armed conflict. Medios para la Paz' production of this very comprehensive "glossary" of terms, slang even, attempts to point out the mis-use of language used today and offer a professional tool that allows a precise use of the terminology of the armed conflict.