Covering Conflict : In Order To Stop Stoking The Flames

Over the years, Cameroon that was hitherto an island of peace on the continent has faced a number of conflicts. Being a new situation, today’s generation of journalists has not been adequately prepared to report these conflicts. It was for this reason that Defy Hate Now, an international charity with headquarters in Germany, from September 3-5, 2020 in Yaounde, held a workshop for 25 journalists.
Entitled “Catalysing Media for Peace and Justice in Cameroon,” the conflict-sensitive reporting training “engaged the media to tell the story better that we can live with our differences like in a rainbow nation,” explained Ngala Desmond Ngala, Defy Hate Now Country Project Manager for West and Central Africa.        
“Our organisation seeks to mitigate hate speech and violent language. This is a big problem in Cameroon because it has moved from online to offline. What journalists replicate on their media space can lead to offline violence. We hear people call others names. These words and expressions should not be used. Rather, we need to respect each other’s background,” Ngala noted. 
“Journalists have been one of the biggest vectors of the 2018 post-electoral crisis and the Anglophone Crisis,” Ngala said. “This is because the media has not been able to understand the facts of these conflicts. This has resulted in sensational reporting. The workshop was also necessary because more and more people take what comes from the media as gospel truth. And such information shapes the way these conflicts continue,” the Country Project Manager continued. 
“Journalists told us during the workshop that their repor...