Peace Journalism projects, seminars, lectures, workshops–Steven Youngblood, 2007-2019.
2022
Countering violent extremism project—With partners Equal Access International and the US Embassy-Algiers, the center’s director conducted a training in Ivory Coast for journalists from the Sahel region of North Africa.
East West Center International Media Conference—In June, the center’s director taught and moderated several sessions for international journalists in Hawaii.
Reporting Cross Border Issues—In September, the center’s director was one of the trainers at a week long workshop for journalists from India and Pakistan held in Kathmandu, Nepal.
Remembering the Past—In October, the center’s director conducted a workshop and series of meetings with journalists from Kosovo and North Macedonia.
2021
Countering violent extremism project—With partners Equal Access International and the US Embassy-Algiers, offered 8 online peace journalism trainings for journalists from the Sahel region of North Africa. A follow up face to face seminar is scheduled for 2022.
Peace Journalism project/seminars in Nigeria and Yemen. The center’s director taught peace journalism seminars on Zoom for Nigerian journalists (150 from across the country, 3 day event, June, 2021) and journalists from Yemen (57 journalists, 2 day event, in March, 2021). Both programs were arranged by US embassies under the State Dept. speaker program.
Reporting Cross Border Issues (with Indian and Pakistani journalists). East West Center. Two presentations were given, one in Oct. 2020, and the second in January 2021. The project is ongoing. For more, see: https://www.eastwestcenter.org/professional-development/seminars-journalism-programs/reporting-cross-border-issues-mutual-concern
2020
Sudan Peace Journalism seminar. US State Dept./US Embassy Sudan. US State Dept./US Embassy Sudan. August 2020. 255 Sudanese journalists were trained—a record for a peace journalism event, as far I know. For more info, see: http://stevenyoungblood.blogspot.com/2020/08/zoom-seminar-reaches-energizes-255.html
Kansas City Media Literacy Project/State Dept. grant—The center’s director created and taught a project in the fall using a $9000 State Dept. Alumni/Partners of the Americas grant to teach media literacy to Kansas City area students from Center Middle and Center High School students from Kansas City, and college students from Johnson County Community College (Overland Park, KS) and Park University (Parkville, MO). There were two online seminars. The project culminated with a publication, The Misreport. (Link: https://issuu.com/peacejournalism/docs/the_misreport_digital-web) For more on the project, see http://stevenyoungblood.blogspot.com/2020/12/media-literacy-project-concludes.html .
Partisan Covid coverage and the peace journalism solution. Grassroots Advocacy & Media Portrayals of Race, Gender & Protests. virtual: Harvard Chapter of UNAUSA and Harvard Kennedy School Women in Power Conference. June 2020. For more, see: https://www.eastwestcenter.org/professional-development/seminars-journalism-programs/reporting-cross-border-issues-mutual-concern
Rotary World Peace Conference, January, 2020, Ontario, CA. The center’s director gave a presentation titled, “Transcending Traditional Inflammatory Reporting: The Peace Journalism Solution.”
2019
Northern Ireland Peace Journalism Project-May and October-Prof. Youngblood met with journalists and academics and gave workshops at several universities to discuss the prospects for PJ in Northern Ireland. The project is sponsored by a US Embassy-London grant.
Greater Kansas City Peacebuilding Conference-November- Prof. Youngblood presented “An Introduction to Human Rights,” and organized a session at Park University titled, “Human Rights and Journalism.”
Gandhi event-The Center organized a series of events in Kansas City featuring writer, scholar, and professor Raj Gandhi, Mahatma Gandhi’s grandson. An event was held at Park University titled, “Gandhi: The First Peace Journalist.”
World Forum for Democracy—In Strasbourg, France, Prof. Youngblood presented, “Disinformation, Democracy, and the Peace Journalism Solution.” The event was sponsored by the Council of Europe.
2018
Senior Subject Specialist in Ethiopia, January-May. Prof. Youngblood taught classes at the University of Gondar, and lectures on peace journalism throughout Ethiopia.
Peace and Electoral Journalism, Cameroon, July. Prof. Youngblood taught journalists in Bonaberi, Bafoussam, and Yaounde.
Greater Kansas City Peacebuilding Conference, October, 2018. One day of the conference was dedicated to peace journalism, and Prof. Youngblood presented “Radio and Peace in East Africa.” He was also co-organizer of the three day conference.
2017
Peace Journalism: An Introduction–Addis Ababa and Jimma, Ethiopia, July 2017. As a U.S. State Department Speaker and Specialist, Prof. Youngblood made presentations at two universities and in several public forums.
Peace and Electoral Journalism-Cameroon, July, 2017. At the invitation of the Cameroon Community Media Network, Steven Youngblood gave three peace journalism seminars and conducted in-house trainings in Buea, Bamenda, Yaounde, Limbe, Bafoussam, and Kumba.
Regional Peace Journalism Conference-Kisumu, Kenya, March 2017. Youngblood taught two sessions at the conference (Peace Journalism Fundamentals and PJ: Next Steps).
2016
Peace Journalism and Health Reporting-Freetown, Sierra Leone, November 2016. Meeting with 30 journalists, the center’s director discussed the basics of peace journalism and their own reporting on the Ebola crisis.
Peace Journalism Principles and Practices: Responsibly Reporting Conflicts, Reconciliation, and Solutions-Textbook published by Routledge/Taylor and Francis in October, 2016. (Link)
Reporting Syrian Refugees Using Peace Journalism—Germany/Austria, May/June, 2016. Youngblood lectured on peace journalism at four universities in Germany (Bundeswehr; Ludwig Maximilian) and Austria (University of Salzburg, University of Klagenfurt), and met with professional journalists in Salzburg.
Workshops: Peace and Reconciliation Journalism –Juba, South Sudan, May 2016. Working cooperatively with the media association of South Sudan, Youngblood taught two peace journalism seminars for professional radio journalists. The project was sponsored by USAID/VISTAS.
2015
Visiting Professor/Peace Journalism Short Course—University for Peace, Costa Rica, February, 2015. Youngblood taught PJ to graduate students in the media/peace concentration.
Reporting Syrian Refugees—Building Communities of Understanding—Adana, Malatya, and Istanbul, Turkey. January 2015, May 2015, and November, 2015. Youngblood conceived, coordinated, and taught peace journalism seminars for Turkish students and professional journalists about how to responsibly report about refugees. The project was sponsored by the US Consulate-Istanbul and the US State Department.
The center’s director traveled to Kashmir to work on a peace journalism project with professional journalists and with students and faculty at the Islamic University of Science and Technology in Awantipora. See the Peace Journalism Insights blog for more information.
Working on a State Dept grant, the center presented seminars in Adana, Turkey and a summit in Istanbul, Turkey designed to improve reporting about Syrian refugees in Turkey. See the Peace Journalist magazine for more details. The project will continue in Malatya, Turkey in October.
2014
The center’s director traveled to Rongo University (Kenya) to conduct seminars and workshops with a peace theme. Multimedia products detailing the project include audio stories and a photo album.
The center’s director participated in the Media For Social Change symposium in Mexico City, Mexico sponsored by Ashoka México y Centroamérica.
Peace Journalism and Immigration Seminar, BronxNet/Lehman College, Bronx, NY. The seminar/project focused on effective, compassionate reporting about immigrants.
Peace Journalism project in Cyprus. This included lectures at Eastern Mediterranean University, and a Peace Journalism and Migration seminar at the Cyprus Community Media Centre in the buffer zone in Nicosia. For more, see the April 2014 Peace Journalist magazine.
2013
The center’s director participated in the Sustained Humanitarian Presence Initiative workshop, sponsored by Irish AID and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation. This workshop in Limerick, Ireland for NGO leaders was the first part of a larger project to develop a course to help NGO’s operate more effectively in a crisis area. Steven Youngblood’s instructional segment at the workshop centered around how NGO’s might most effectively utilize media in a crisis zone.
Symposium-“Doing the Wrong Thing: The Struggle for an Ethical Media,” held at Park University. Video of the event is archived at at http://portal.stretchinternet.com/parkadmin/.
Peace Journalism Bootcamp, Bronx, NY. Held in conjunction with BronxNet and Lehman College.
Speaker: Generation Next Seminar, Sponsored by Fulbright Association, Issyk-Kul, Kygryzstan. Topics: The Peace Movement and Social Media, Peace Journalism.
Peace Journalism seminar, Advanced peace journalism seminar, Professional journalist training, Beirut, Lebanon. Held in conjunction with Media Association for Peace-Lebanon.
Keynote speech: “The Ethics of Peace Journalism: Serving a Higher Calling.” Communication and Media Days, Univ. of California-San Marcos, April 24, 2013.
“The Crisis in Mexico: Is Peace Journalism Possible?” A special symposium was held on Feb. 22 at Park University. The event was co-sponsored by the U.S. Institute of Peace in Washington, D.C. Expert panelists includes Cristina Zesatti (Zacatecas, Mexico), and Mary Sanchez (Kansas City Star).
PAST PROJECTS
2013-2014
Workshops/projects- Rongo University (Kenya); BronxNet/Lehman College, Bronx, NY (2013 and 2014); Eastern Mediterranean University (North Cyprus); Media Association for Peace, Beirut, Lebanon
Speaker: Generation Next Seminar, Sponsored by Fulbright Association, Issyk-Kul, Kyrgyzstan. Topics: The Peace Movement and Social Media, Peace Journalism; Sustained Humanitarian Presence Initiative workshop, sponsored by Irish AID and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, Limerick, Ireland.
Symposium-“Doing the Wrong Thing: The Struggle for an Ethical Media,” held at Park University.
Keynote speech: “The Ethics of Peace Journalism: Serving a Higher Calling.” Communication and Media Days, Univ. of California-San Marcos.
“The Crisis in Mexico: Is Peace Journalism Possible?” A special symposium was held at Park University. The event was co-sponsored by the U.S. Institute of Peace in Washington, D.C. Expert panelists includes Cristina Zesatti (Zacatecas, Mexico), and Mary Sanchez (Kansas City Star).
2010-2012
International Peace Research Association—Youngblood presented two papers on peace journalism at an international conference in November in Japan. For details, see the April, 2013 Peace Journalist magazine.
Workshops/seminars- BronxNet/Lehman College, Bronx, NY; Nairobi and Kisumu, Kenya; University of Cape Town (South Africa)
Peace media/counterterrorism project–A peace media and counterterrorism program launched in Dec., 2011 and continued in 2012. The project brought together media and security officials to in Uganda to establish frameworks of cooperation on anti-terrorism efforts. It was funded with a $150,000 State Dept. grant.
Peace and Electoral Journalism project, Uganda-The 11-month project featured dozens of seminars held throughout Uganda to encourage peace journalism style reporting of the 2011 election. Trainers, including Prof. Youngblood, traveled 14,000 km to ever corner of Uganda to teach. The project was sponsored by a $270,000 State Dept./USAID grant.