Beyond reporting. Media agency in transitional justice processes

Abstract

Despite the significant impact of the media in transitional justice processes, this relationship remains underexplored. The role of the media in building narratives of conflict and past human rights violations was traditionally framed within the dichotomy of promoting peace vs inflicting war. Yet, these roles, as well as the media systems themselves, need to be placed within more complex frameworks. This article analyses some of the key themes that connect transitional justice (the right to truth, justice, reparations and guarantees of non-repetition) and the media. The primary conclusion is that we need to go beyond the role of the media as an observer, and frame it as a possible agent of the overall process of conflict transformation and transitional justice.