Nicos Trimikliniotis (University of Nicosia/Symfiliosi) - Dimitris Trimithiotis (University of Cyprus/Symfiliosi)

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1 Nicos Trimikliniotis (University of Nicosia/Symfiliosi) - Dimitris Trimithiotis (University of Cyprus/Symfiliosi)

2 Peace is not merely an absence of war (Creighton and Shaw, 1987). Peace a vague concept, but there are many different degrees, dimensions and levels of peace (Ehrlich, 1987). Peace unfolds in particular historical, social, political, economic and cultural contexts gola: peace among people reconciliation (Ehrlich 2013b). Great divide in social sciences: Order-based Versus conflict-based

3 1. Informed by neo-liberal economics: in austerity & crisis? 2. Conceived in geopolitical & spatial contexts, Western northern traditions >> then imposed on non-western regions. 3. Overlook internal consequences suffered by pacified spaces i.e invasive practices: ignore, orientalize, romanticize other. 4. Lack sociological & contextual historical depth; Suffer from: (a) Eurocentrism; (b) intellectual dependency c) exceptionalism. 5. CR paradigms from comparative political science. No sociology 6. Fragmentation, disciplinary specialisation disconnect the conflict from reconciliation processes. Superficial modelling rather than in-depth comparative sociological studies

4 Ambitious project: pursued historically, globally and regionally. World out of joint (Wallerstein) Current context: Multifaceted crisis (economic, political, social, hegemonic demise, etc.) Collapse of post-cold war liberal triumph produces fundamentalisms, violence and conflict zones threatening stable and secure zones. Collapse of nation-states, welfare generates survival strategies. Stimulating alternative peace models and processes - Must be studied & connected to their potentialities.

5 Fundamentally successful peace-building, peace-keeping and restoring societies in mainstream circles. Rethink peace-building in terms of social transformation: Read societies as dynamic spaces of struggles and contestation for betterment v. domination/exploitation Understand peace within social struggles The generation of new socialities: social forces developing social links, even in extreme situations Digital materialities, social media and networks

6 Eg. Intercommunal Killings in Cyprus (Loizos 1988) 20 years after the logic of intercommunal violence: collectivist, generalizing and non-specific ). Sitas (2007): Conditions for genocidal killings & ethnic cleansing Cyprus present (M. Man The Dark side of Democracy,) yet did not occur such a scale. Cypriot humanism = ethic of reconciliation? 2016 : 25% G/C have T/C friends (Psaltis 2016) & reconciliation & social media: emergence of new third space? Potential? Barriers (language, barbed wire, bureaucratic, ideological, everydayness etc)

7 How do we generate a new public sphere that is open, seeking peace & cooperation [ third space, ethic of reconciliation etc ]? What about the legal and normative framework: Professional issues, ethics and sanctions Address forms of ethnic/communal censorship Economic/political interests, ownership, control The case of Cyprus: A new federal public sphere - generate confict transformation?

8 Frontal attack on definition of the nature of conflict & division: Against ethnicizing /, national alignment - a political disagreement & de-ethnicisation Contextualisation and relativisation Transference towards social and other issues Consequence: potential for new third spaces, but need to rethink public sphere.

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10 a definition PJ is a frame of journalistic news coverage which contributes to the process of making and keeping peace (Hanitzsch, 2004). a critical evaluation of Conflict Reporting the criteria of news selection (Galtung and Vincent, 1993). the mono-causality within journalistic descriptions of the origins and causes of conflicts (Schicha, 1999). media focus attention on a conflict arena only when manifest violence is about to take place (Jakobsen, 2000). its limits cultural/social pressures on the journalistic process structural constrains which shape and limit the work of journalists

11 Public Sphere is the space in which social actors and groups of social actors deliberate about their common affairs (Habermas, 1991). Participation in the Public Sphere of modern and mass societies is (in theory) empowered through media (Fraser, 1990)

12 G/C Public Sphere Federal Public Sphere T/C Public Sphere News media in Cyprus contribute rather to maintain and reinforcing the conflict than to its resolution. (Avramidou 2016; Bailie & Azgin 2008; Christophorou, Sahin & Pavlou 2010; Lyndon 2011, Trimikliniotis 2004; Trimithiotis 2009).

13 G/C Digital Public Sphere Digital Federal Public Sphere T/C Digital Public Sphere only alternative media tends to promote such a public sphere the thematic core remains the Cyprus Problem mainly not bilingual but in English the few bilingual provide different content in the two languages the only exception is the online news portal of ΡΙΚ/KRYK/CYBC It seems rather as a third autonomous and separate sphere than a common and federal one

14 Main hypothesis: The formation of a (Digital) Federal Public Sphere is crucial in transcending ethnic conflict/hatred ideologies by establishing processes which enable to: redefine and challenge the conflict divisions - contextualize and relativize the conflict transfer the conflict to other issues

15 Research Questions What is the impact of the only mainstream online news media (CYBC) in terms of conflict resolution? In what extent and under what conditions other mainstream online news media could follow the example of CYBC? Is the audience of Cyprus interested in accessing news content in the media of the other site? Do online mainstream news media in Cyprus produce news and promote issues that could be interested for a bi-communal audience? In what extent and under what conditions they would be able to produce this type of news?

16 Carpentier, N., Dahlgren, P., & Pasquali, F. (2013). Waves of media democratization A brief history of contemporary participatory practices in the media sphere. Convergence, 19(3), Carpentier, N., & Doudaki, V. (2014). Community media for reconciliation: A Cypriot case study. Communication, Culture & Critique, 7(4), Fraser, N. (1990). Rethinking the public sphere: A contribution to the critique of actually existing democracy. Social text, (25/26), Hanitzsch, T. (2004) Journalists as peacekeeping force? Peace journalism and mass communication theory, Journalism Studies, 5:4, , DOI: / Milioni, D. L., Doudaki, V., & Demertzis, N. (2014). Youth, ethnicity, and a reverse digital divide A study of Internet use in a divided country. Convergence, 20(3), Rodríguez, C., Ferron, B., & Shamas, K. (2014). Four challenges in the field of alternative, radical and citizens media research. Media, Culture & Society, 36(2), Rojas, H. (2010). Corrective actions in the public sphere: How perceptions of media and media effects shape political behaviors. International Journal of Public Opinion Research, 22(3), Schäfer, M. S. (2015). Digital public sphere. The international encyclopedia of political communication. Trimikliniotis, N., & Trimithiotis, D. (2017). Critical Peace in the Digital Era of Austerity and Crisis. Pedagogy, Politics and Philosophy of Peace: Interrogating Peace and Peacemaking, 81. Trimithiotis, D. (2014). Why is the category of pluralism insufficient to describe the media sphere?. French Journal for Media Research, 1. Vandendorpe, C. (2008). Reading on screen: The new media sphere. Siemens and Schreibman,

17 Nicos Trimikliniotis (University of Nicosia/Symfiliosi) - Dimitris Trimithiotis (University of Cyprus/Symfiliosi)