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The What If
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Peace Journalism

Credit: Pressmaster | envato

What If is built upon the principles of constructive dialogues to promote solution oriented, conflict-sensitive journalism. And what if aims at strengthening the bonds between journalists and their audiences through future-oriented dialogues.

However, unlike traditional outlets, we do not stick to the rigid division between these two groups, thus aiming at minimising the power imbalance in the current media landscape.

We primarily work with people and communities in (post)conflict countries. Participants in these dialogues are chosen based on specific topics but we always include those directly affected by the conflict.

We carefully select a moderator, and a journalist interested in the topic of the dialogue and peace-promoting journalistic formats.

Our Journalistic Mission

What If serves as a dialogue host with the aim of de-escalating conflicts in crisis and conflict regions by promoting conflict-sensitive, future-oriented dialogues, journalism, and solutions.

We are more than just another media outlet. Our identity as a dialogue host with strong journalistic expertise allows us to publish content born out of the dialogues – which can be a summary of a dialogue, a participant's opinion column, or a report by one of the journalists on our team. All content maintains the parameters of peace and solutions journalism. Therefore, we raise awareness of this kind of constructive, solution-oriented approach while simultaneously inviting journalists to apply the principles of peace journalism in their reporting (see below).

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Credit: AmparoGV | envato

Credit: AmparoGV | envato

Peace-promoting Journalism

We take into account peace journalism principles when publishing or republishing content on our website, meaning:

  1. We don't stop at reporting specific events; instead, we examine the causes of conflicts and lead debates on solutions.
  2. We try, in our dialogue and content, to unite parties rather than divide them, avoiding "us versus them" or "good guys versus bad guys" narratives.
  3. We do not work with official propaganda content and seek views of the facts from all sources.
  4. We cover the problems, sufferings, and peace proposals of all parties in a conflict.
  5. We move away from the goal of reporting and creating dynamics for and about elites and those in power. We try to involve all actors in the social pyramid and diversify our sources and participants.
  6. We emphasize context rather than multiplying superficial and sensationalist "blow-by-blow" accounts of violence and conflict.
  7. We care about and consider the consequences of the content we produce. We seek feedback from our sources and audiences.
  8. We seek counter-narratives that disprove stereotypes, myths, and misperceptions created or perpetuated by the media.
  9. We encourage dialogue, diplomacy, and peaceful resolutions in your content rather than emphasizing military actions or conflict escalation.

Solutions-oriented Journalism

Solutions journalism investigates and explains how people and/or communities try to solve their problems. While journalists often define news as "what goes wrong" or "what doesn't work," solutions journalism leads an effort to balance the news agenda and show responses that are also newsworthy.

However, these solutions that journalists report must show evidence of their impact. The Solutions Journalism Network insists that solutions journalism is a tool in the journalist's box and cannot be simply seen as „positive news“ content.

Credit: AmparoGV | envato

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