The 2nd December, the Holy Father Francis received in audience the members of the non-governmental organization “Leaders pour la Paix”, to whom he addressed the following words of greeting:
by Gilles-Emmanuel Jacquet,* GIPRI Geneva
(16 December 2022) It is widely acknowledged that the media, media freedom and free access to information play a crucial role in the democratisation of societies (through the formation of public opinion) and the consolidation of peace.1 However, there have also been numerous instances in recent history where the media played a role worthy of criticism in the coverage of armed conflicts or international crises by adopting the war propaganda of certain warring parties or providing partial or even one-sided coverage of certain events, which could and can amount to disinformation.
by Ramzy Baroud*
(16 December 2022) Soon after arriving in Oslo, my taxi zigzagged through the city’s well-organized streets and state-of-the-art infrastructure. Large billboards advertised the world’s leading brands in fashion, cars, and perfumes. Amid all the expressions of wealth and plenty, an electronic sign by a bus stop flashed the images of poor looking African children needing help.
by Wolfgang Herzberg*
(6 December 2022) As a descendant of Jewish-German survivors and a political writer of many years’ standing, whose family members perished in the genocide of the Nazi regime or were scattered all over the world. My parents, out of a deep sense of political responsibility, returned to Berlin after the Second World War, to help build an anti-fascist and peaceful Germany. Against the background of these existential family experiences, I ask myself the following fundamental questions about the war in Ukraine, which I would also like to address to the public and all those with political responsibility.
by Alan MacLeod,* Scottland
(6 December 2022) I’m an investigative journalist for Palestinian-American news outlet “MintPress News”. I have also been published or quoted in many of the most well-known English-language media outlets. Before that, I was an academic specializing in media and journalism studies.
by Christian Müller,* Switzerland
Dear guests
It is a pleasure for me to be able to speak to you at the invitation of the organisers responsible here. However, what I am to talk to you about is anything but a pleasure. It is a really sad story!
A long – critical! – letter to the editor on a military topic to the“Badener Tagblatt” in 1964, on the basis of which Werner Geissberger, the regional editor of the“Badener Tagblatt” at the time, asked me to write more often and also on other topics for the „BT”, became the start of my profession as a journalist.