Institute for War and Peace Reporting Training Materials

The Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR) goal is to strengthen local journalism in areas of conflict. By training reporters, facilitating dialogue and providing reliable information, it supports peace, democracy and development in societies undergoing crisis and change. Known for its award-winning website, [url=http://www.iwpr.net]http://www.iwpr.net,[/url] and electronic publications in nine languages, IWPR’s activities are based on an integrated program of support through the entire journalistic process: basic training; story development and writing; editing, publication and local syndication; local debate and evaluation. Much of their training material is available online.

One immediately useful item for conflict studies faculty is a war reporting case study. Conflict Reporting Case Study: Nigeria, November 2002. In late November 2002, the northern Nigerian city of Kaduna erupted in violence, leaving well over two hundred people dead and thousands injured or forced to flee their homes. Long-running tensions between two communities in Nigeria were apparently aggravated by an international event, the Miss World contest that some Nigerians found distasteful, and then inflamed by an article in the local press. The whole troubled story makes a good case study for anyone interested in local reporting and the role of the media during conflict or in situations of ethnic and religious tension. It opens up many issues for class debate, one of which is the balance between freedom of expression and a journalist’s professional responsibility to the society he or she serves.