The Executive Director of the Center for Conflict Prevention and Peacebuilding, (CECPAP), Charles Crawford is calling for the inclusion of conflict sensitive and election reporting into the curriculum of higher learning institutions teaching mass communication and Journalism in the country.
Mr. Crawford said the teaching of conflict sensitive and election reporting will help build the capacities of journalists in the two areas; emphasizing the need for schools of mass and journalism to prioritize the idea of embedding the two courses into their respective curriculums.
The CECPAP boss statement was contained in a paper delivered on behalf of Election Coordinating Committee (ECC) at a one-day lessons learned session organized by Internews-Liberia at the Corina Hotel situated in Sinkor, Monrovia.
Touching on the teaching of conflict sensitive reporting, the social justice and conflict free world advocate said “our one world is now engulfed with conflict.
There is conflict all over the place and these conflicts must be reported to the public as they happened.
But, he wondered, how can a Liberian journalist effectively report on conflict related issues when he or she does not have the fundamental training in conflict sensitive reporting?
Regarding election reporting, the CECPAP boss said giving the critical nature of election reporting during electioneering period, the teaching of election reporting in schools will help our Liberian journalists to better understand the dynamics and challenges of campaign during elections.
Mr. Crawford stressed the need for the idea of inclusion of conflict sensitive and election reporting into curriculums of institutions involved in molding the minds of journalists to be given serious consideration.
The social justice and conflict free world advocate, who is also a board member of the ECC, cited the underpayment of reporters, the lack of adequate training for journalists, the economic hardship in the country, among others as some of the challenges facing the media landscape in Liberia.
Mr. Crawford disclosed that constant training of Liberian journalists is imperative and can never be over emphasized.
He added that periodic training of reporters will make them good and professional journalists. Against this backdrop he added, management of media institutions should see how best they can provide periodic in-house training for their reporters.
Despite the challenges, Mr. Crawford admonished journalists and media to be strong and economically vibrant to resist acts of coercion, intimidation, bribery, and all forms of suppression and censorship that might come from the quarters of government.
