CIME chairs Oxford Univ. panel at Deutsche Welle

CIME Director Melisande Middleton chaired the Oxford University panel at the 2009 Deutsche Welle Global Media Forum.

CIME Director Melisande Middleton chaired the Oxford University panel at the Deutsche Welle Global Media Forum on "Conflict Prevention in the Multimedia Age", which took place June 3-5 2009 in Bonn, Germany. Speakers included Dr. Nicole Stremlau (Oxford University), Daniel Bekele (Oxford University/Ethiopia), Emmanuel Saffa Abdulai (Society for Democratic Initiatives, Sierra Leone) and Yusuf Gabobe (Haatuf Media Group Somaliland). The panel discussed the ethics and challenges of post-conflict elections reporting.

Conversations overflowed into the afternoon and evening, as participants debated the feasibility of truly objective reporting.

CIME Director Middleton with Dr. Nicole Stremlau of Oxford.

Middleton proposed the alternative aim of media pluralism as a priority at the basis of a multi-party elections framework, given the complications of adhering to the ideal of perfect objectivity in politically polarized societies, such as those in post-conflict regions that are still dominated by ethnic divisions. As a journalist, explicitly stating bias while informing the audience of one's opponent's views could be a viable first step towards improving standards of impartiality. Objectivity can still constitute the ultimate ideal or telos, while pluralism and impartiality are among the many feasible means to gradually attain it.