ABSTRACT
Africa has witnessed a surge in the rate and spate of “democratic elections” since the turn of the century. This chapter presents practical steps that journalists can take to ensure that they report elections from a Peace Journalism perspective, while not sacrificing journalistic integrity and professionalism. It discusses Jake Lynch and Annabel McGoldrick’s 17-point plan for Peace Journalism, and aims to contextualise it to African scenarios. The chapter also presents workable suggestions for devising and applying such a strategy to re-balance the reporting of elections and intentionally countering the distorting influence of traditional journalism that is often partisan and inflammatory. All across the continent, “former” dictators are allowing elections to take place in their countries. Many journalists have ended up as pawns in their hands and have aided the fostering of illegality, which has the potential to snowball into direct violence.
