For People, For Policy: Journalists’ Perceptions of Peace Journalism in East Africa

Abstract

Compared to studies on peace-journalism content, little research examines journalists’ perceptions of peace journalism despite theoretical suggestions that individuals influence content production. To address this relative disparity, this study examines the social conditions shaping journalists’ perceptions of peace journalism using a hierarchy-of-influences perspective and data from 20 in-depth interviews with East African journalists, conducted between September 2020 and February 2021. Findings suggest that journalists generally understand peace journalism in one of two ways, each with distinct intended audiences, aims, and reporting interventions. Moreover, when examined alongside respondents’ professional situations, these perceptions tend to be stratified by varying degrees of professional precarity.