Changing Dynamics of Conflict Management and the Role of Media

The media is more than just a primetime circus in India Today (Pun Unintended). Given the outreach of the media and the significant rise in citizen journalism through social media platforms it can be said without dubitation that the media plays a purposive and pragmatic role if not positive in conflict scenarios. It is the media that can prevent information attack by ethical reporting. But the changing dynamics of broadcast and print media and digitisation have pushed ethical journalism over the edge. Sensationalism has replaced factual reporting. In spite of its limitations, the media can play a purposive, pragmatic and positive role in de escalation of conflict by giving a voice to the warring factions.

In common parlance the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) programme of correspondence instructions in peacekeeping operations defines conflict as 'pursuit of incompatible goals by individuals or groups'. In other words conflict situations arise when individuals or groups pursue positions, interests, needs, or values that may lead to actions that come up against the interests, needs and values of others when they also want to satisfy their goals. Conflict resolution is a set of techniques for resolving conflicts with the assistance of a third party. Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) is a concept that encompasses a variety of mechanisms by which conflicts are resolved. In other words, ADR offers alternatives to litigation which has often times been associated with delays, exorbitant fees, and discontentment. (Amoh).

When it comes to Conflict Management, Mediation plays a very crucial role. The advocates of mediation adopt ADR techniques including, Negotiation, reconciliation and personal intervention in possible scenarios through delegation to resolve conflicts.

Dascal Marcelo opines that “the use of violence and the use of argumentation belong to a set of “communicative acts” structured by a double conceptual/rhetorical grid of metonymic and metaphorical relations. While the metaphorical relations conceptualize argument as analogous to war, the metonymical relations conceptualize argument as continuous with war. Metaphor permits to identify the warlike aspects of argument, both in intellectual operations such as criticism and in emotive operations such as propaganda (as in Popper’s quote).  But it keeps these operations strictly apart from physical violence, to which they bear only a relation of similitude. Metonymy, on the other hand, conceptualizes the operations involved in argument as being themselves part and parcel of the power game. As such, they function either as a continuation of war in another register (as in Foucault’s quote) or as nothing more than violence’s temporary replacements (as in the belief that as long as the contenders negotiate they at least don’t wage war).”

Creating dialogues in conflict scenarios is a crucial cog of Conflict Management. The media today is a powerful tool which can change the dynamics of any conflict with information dissemination and mediation. Experts and eminent personalities are called on national television to suggest alternatives to existing conflict and remedial measures to mitigate the conflict. The media can provide a platform to the warring factions to reach a level of adjustment compromise. The media is a very crucial link between the government and its people. It acts as a watchdog almost playing the role of the opposition party in India. Every governmental policy is under media scrutiny, and under public eye.

Conflict management is the way forward if we want a stable geopolitical world order. Violence and Bloodshed has never resulted in anything constructive. The world witnessed two great wars; a period of cold war ensued, followed by the disintegration of USSR and emergence of the United States of America (USA)  as the only superpower on the international stage. But a lot has changed since then. The increasing interference of China in South Asia, the rise of India as a dominant power in South Asia have brought about a dynamic shift in the balance of power structure in international politics, resulting in increasing multipolarity. The rise and phenomenal growth of the mass media and the digitisation process has also contributed to this changing dynamics of balance of power. By highlighting issues of geopolitical importance, the media has become the centre of study especially in conflict and peace studies. A study of Mediation techniques would remain incomplete without the dissection of the role of mass media in creating dialogues. Newspapers, broadcast media, digital platforms, radio, mobile phones, social media platforms all play a crucial role in conflict management.

However it must be kept in mind that propaganda stories tend to distort the conflict management process. There is a very thin line between truth and lies and given the commercialisation of media houses ethical journalism goes for a toss and sometimes instead of de –escalation media plays and active role in escalating conflict. A middle path must be taken.

Reference Reading

Marcelo Dascal, Argument, War and the Role of the Media in Conflict Management