Somalia: Creating Space for Fresh Approaches to Peacebuilding

impact of international media in somalia
when discussing Somalia, post 9/11, was a hindrance to both international and
local peacebuilding initiatives. For example, on average, 60 percent of the NYT
articles that mentioned al-Shabaab, also referred to terrorism or terrorists in the
same article. This seems to have followed the decision by the US government to
label al-Shabaab a terrorist organization, as opposed to shaping US policy towards
the group. By equating al-Shabaab with the terrorist group al-Qaeda, the US in
particular closed the door on engagement with those groups, and paved the way
for a military intervention that would target al-Shabaab in 2007. Interestingly,
during the periods of time when the NYT used the terrorist frame most heavily,
they were also more likely to decrease their references to the humanitarian crisis
aspect of the conflict.
In downplaying the human suffering that was occurring in Somalia, and instead
replacing it by the threat of western suffering at the hands of Somali terrorists,
the NYT supported and justified the US government’s strategies of military
intervention and non-engagement to its readers. The dearth of articles that reflect
local initiatives or human interest stories within the NYT could also be a source
of trouble for peacebuilders. A cursory look at two months (March-April 2011)
worth of articles on Somalia in the NYT brought up just one “local” story, an editorial
about a woman who had died due to lack of adequate access to contraceptives.
17 The only piece of “good” news was that Somali pirates had released a few
prisoners. 18 The failure to portray a situation where local communities are willing
and able to work for peace, as opposed to depicting Somalis as victims of war,
violence and famine, discourages international engagement with and support of
those local groups who are promoting peace at the grassroots level.
In general, the sources from allAfrica.com also focused predominantly on upper
levels of conflict, as opposed to lower level community peace initiatives and human
interest stories. However, they were more likely to feature these types of stories
than their Western counterparts. For example, within the last sixty days of Somalia
articles, there were several that celebrated the accomplishment of the Shabelle
Media Network, a local radio station in Mogadishu that has continued its independent
reporting throughout the last nine years of the conflict. 19 There were also
brief discussions within a few articles of the stability in the semi-autonomous
region of Puntland 20 and the limited gains the transitional government has made
in recent months. 21 Largely though, the focus on pessimistic aspects of the conflict
is as prevalent in the African sources as it is in the Western ones. It is thus
perhaps not surprising that with the African press failing to cover positive or local
aspects of the Somali situation, the Western press has also neglected to do so.
In terms of peace versus war journalism, the media coverage from both
sources is clearly more prone to war than peace journalism, particularly in their
recent coverage of the insurgent group al-Shabaab. Peace journalism suggests
that warring groups should not be villainized in order to allow space for conflict
transformation, especially if they are a key actor as is the case with al-Shabaab.
On average, this is not occurring within the media’s portrayal of al-Shabaab. As
mentioned above, a majority of the NYT articles that write about al-Shabaab do
17 Kristof, Nicholas, “Mothers We
Could Save”, The New York Times,
7 May 2011.
18 Ibrahim, Mohammed, “Somali
Pirates Release Some Prisoners”,
The New York Times, 16 April 2011.
19 “Parliament Congratulates
Shabelle On Its Accomplishment,”
and “Shabelle Media Network
Celebrated Its Nineth Anniversary”,
Shabelle Media Network; allAfrica.
com, 9 May 2011.
20 “Puntland President Visits
Bosaso”, Garowe Online, allAfrica.
com, 4 May 2011.
21 “The Country Urgently
Needs Help of Global Partners
to Consolidate Gains”, UN News
Service, allAfrica.com, 4 May 2011.§
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