Mapping Peace Journalism: Toward a Shared Understanding of Success

Abstract

ABSTRACT Peace journalism has enjoyed increased attention in recent decades, though this interest does not necessarily correspond to less polarized conflict coverage or more peaceful societies around the world. Although these realities cannot be attributed to peace journalism alone, such disconnects invite a clearer conceptualization of peace journalism and its scholarly development. Analyzing more than 100 studies, this theoretical exploration reviews three primary domains of peace journalism research—as a concept, as a practice and, by extension, as media content and effects—to illustrate the relatively disparate goals and evaluation metrics put forward by each area. The paper offers a conceptual model that bridges levels of analysis and institutional efforts to advance a better understanding of the normative value of peace journalism.