The workshop will take place at the Faculty of Social Sciences, Kardeljeva Ploščad 5
Time: 16:00 - 20:00
Participants: Marija Gajicki, Philippe Dutilleul, George Weiss

The contribution of mass media to human rights violation-oriented policies is no surprise. Once the opposition silenced, television, newspapers, radio, and cinema become ideal channels to manipulate, collectively and individually, the people. They reflect and participate in the radicalization and mobilization of a society that engages in violence.
The Nazis showed their mastery in mass communication. In the Ottoman Empire, the posters on the village walls calling for the slaughtering of Armenians proved effective means in the hands of the Young Turks. In Pol Pot Cambodia, despite the great leap backward and the refusal of technologies, a single radio station was kept, to broadcast Khmer Rouge propaganda.
The “lie machine” forged and fueled the 90’s Balkan wars through the distortion and fakery of the information, the re-structuring of the media system, the harassment of independent journalists, the capture and destruction of transmitters.
The “hate media” in Rwanda were instrumental in the 1994 genocide of Tutsis and moderate Hutus. Among them, Radio-Television Mille Collines which tracked down the victims, directed the militias and death squads to hiding places, and encouraged the killings carries a heavy responsibility.

These are extreme examples of ethnic cleansing, mass violence, and genocide. Still, in less overwhelming contexts, the progressive stigmatization of minority groups, the silencing of segments of the society, or the exacerbation of dividing issues pose the same questions:
How to counter the destructive effects of mass manipulation? How to erase the dangerous ethnic, religious, national stereotypes that media campaigns help root in the society? Can the very communication channels used to drag people on the path of violence become part of the community healing? Can they generate the debates necessary to the reconciliation of a cleaved society? How are human rights-related media implemented in countries ravaged by conflicts? Whom do they target? Whom do they confront? How do media professionals relate to the very ambivalence of their communication tools? Do they consider the idea of “positive” manipulation?

By bringing altogether professional journalists and human rights activists, the workshop “The double role of mass media” proposes a comparative study of these issues in several contexts. It seeks to investigate both common patterns and specificities of the complex role of media in our society, especially in tense, conflictual situations; show innovative projects that have been implemented by the participants; provide the students with critical tools (theory, practice, and training). Rather than pointing to one-sided manipulations, the workshop will emphasize individual means for analysis, understanding, and action in the realm of information.

The workshop will focus on: 1) Shaping of information: elaboration of images (use of archetypes and stereotypes; cultural encoding); technical means (framing, editing); captioning/commenting; 2) Forms of resistance and education through mass media; 3) Ethics in media (relation with political power; duty of impartiality and objectivity).