The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in Bolivia, with the collaboration of ICIP, has created and published an online course on peace journalism. The course, which is free and open to everyone, is aimed at people who practice or want to practice journalism and who are interested in peacebuilding and conflict transformation.
It is a series of videos published on YouTube that have the explanations of Xavier Giró, who was professor of journalism at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) for 30 years; the Bolivian communicator and political scientist Vania Sandoval; the editor-in-chief of Projeto Comprova, Sérgio Lüdtke; and an optional module facilitated by Arturo Torrez, founder and director of the Código Vidrio research portal.
The course deals with communication for peace in contexts of polarization and social conflict, journalism in the context of harassment and digital violence, journalism in electoral processes and communication for democracy, journalism and the fight against disinformation and the generation of hate speech.
The course has been created in Bolivia. Fernando Aramayo coordinated it, and Xavier Puig Escamilla and Yerko Rodríguez, members of UNDP Bolivia, contributed.
According to Aramayo, “the course seeks to improve the capacities of journalist to promote positive peace from their work area, providing theoretical aspects and above all tools, for their journalistic actions on the ground”, he points out.
The course, which consists of seventeen videos, is aimed at professionals interested in political communication and professional coverage of conflict scenarios “on the ground” and those who want to strengthen their investigative journalism skills.
You can access all the course videos in Spanish at this link.
The teaching team
Xavier Giró (ES)
He was a professor of Political Journalism at the Faculty of Communication Sciences of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) for 30 years. He was also the promoter and director of the research group Observatory of Conflict Coverage, where he specialized in analysing media coverage of conflicts worldwide. Before his academic career, he worked as a journalist for different media, gaining practical experience in the field.
Vania Sandoval (BO)
After practising journalism for years in the political area in local and national newspapers, she dedicated herself to research, working as the General Coordinator of the National Media Observatory (ONADEM-Fundació UNIR Bolivia) between 2006 and 2015. From there, she coordinated and carried out research on journalism and democracy, social conflicts, and public space. She is the co-author of a dozen books involving communication and the relationship with democracy in Bolivia, published inside and outside the country.
Sergio Lüdtke (BR)
Sergio Lüdtke (BR) is a Brazilian journalist and digital media consultant who wears many hats. He serves as the editor-in-chief of Projeto Comprova, the academic coordinator of Abrai’s training courses, and the director of the Atlas da Notícia research team in Projor.
Arturo Torrez (EC)
He is an Ecuadorian journalist with more than 30 years of experience. He is the founder and director of the Código Vidrio research portal and a contributor to the Washington Post, The New York Times, and Insight Crime. He is also the co-producer and researcher of documentaries with Vice News and ArtTV from Germany and the author of several books.
