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| Photo: Dnevni list |
KONJIC, 6 April 2016 – More than 50 media professionals, law
enforcement agencies’ spokespersons and prosecutor’s offices’ public relations
personnel from BiH convened in Konjic today in a conference on the role of
media in countering violent extremism to discuss the challenges they face in
reporting on violent extremism and terrorism. The conference was organized by
the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina, in co-operation with the BiH
Security Ministry.
“The media has a vital role in helping combat violent
extremism,” said the Head of the OSCE Mission to BiH Jonathan Moore. “This
applies to both offline and online work. We are grateful to journalists for
using their influence to mitigate extremist propaganda and for avoiding
sensationalism.”
The use of language is very important. “At the BBC we have
editorial guidelines on reporting on violence, extremism or acts of terror. We
try to avoid the word terrorist, although we quote other people who refer to
terrorism,” says Nick Thorpe, BBC Central Europe correspondent. “The guidelines
include withdrawing if our presence might be inflaming the situation. Never
giving a platform to perpetrators. Finding a balance between the demand for
information and accurately informing the public without either sensationalizing
or sanitizing the situation.”
Columnist for Aljazeera Balkans Muhamed Jusić says the media
can inadvertently aid in spreading the fear of terrorism among millions of
people. “We should not fall in this trap if we want to play our part. We are
here to inform and educate the public, not scare them and create panic.”
The conference was organized as part of the OSCE Mission’s
project on supporting the dialogue for preventing violent extremism in BiH.
This project contributes to the Organization’s wider campaign “OSCE United in
Countering Violent Extremism” (#UnitedCVE), which highlights the OSCE’s
comprehensive approach to preventing violent extremism and radicalization that
lead to terrorism.
Source: OSCE
