Covering conflict means investigating peace, too

Last month, a few of us from the newsroom traveled to Principia College in Illinois to participate in Monitor Night Live, the school’s annual public forum and discussion panel featuring our reporters and editors.This year, the event focused on the theme of conflict and peace: “Building a peaceful world: A job for someone else – or you?”It struck us as a particularly pertinent topic. The International Committee of the Red Cross counts 130 armed conflicts across 60 countries – more than at any time since the end of World War II. The consequences are as varied as the conflicts: frayed alliances, tattered norms and international laws, devastated communities. And then there are other kinds of conflict: trade wars, political demonization, bots hacking bots.Some of these conflicts, like the war in Iran, are regularly featured in national newspapers. Others simmer largely under the news radar, becoming what the Norwegian Refugee Council has called “neglected” or “forgotten crises.” Fighting in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo fits into this category. So does the civil war in Myanmar.We talk regularly about how to cover all of these topics. In this issue, for instance, writer Dominique Soguel details how the war in Ukraine is affecting that country’s farmers, who once fed much of Europe. As Sara Miller Llana, our international editor, told the audience at Principia, it is our duty to be as curious about those living in the background of war as about those on the front lines. But true to the talk’s title, we also discuss how to highlight moments of peace – both within war zones and outside them. As diplomatic correspondent Howard LaFranchi explained during the forum, we know that even during the most difficult situations, individuals are spreading light. They are creating art, rebuilding universities, and even – as he recounted from one of his reporting trips to Ukraine – planting roses.Part of our job in building a more peaceful world is to share these stories – as inspiration, for sure, but also as a way to expand readers’ understanding of a world all too often flattened into simplistic narratives of conflict, victims, aggressors, and division. Peace, we agreed onstage, is not the absence of fighting. To the contrary, it is an expansive exercise – one that can include those in New Mexico trying to restore dignity after generations of uranium extraction (see our article on page 12), or a longtime ecologist teaching a city how to love its bats (page 28).Peace is newsworthy. And often, the durability of peace depends on how conflicts are resolved. Sometimes, that might be outright victory through arms. In other contexts, it might be the quieter actions of forgiveness and reconciliation that stitch societies back together. Deepen your worldviewwith Monitor Highlights.Politics with respectGet political stories with respectful analysis.There‘s a world of new ideas in everyBooks newsletter.There‘s more to life, enrich yours withCulture & Learning weekly.Follow humanity‘s discoveries withScience & Nature stories in your inbox.Gain a spiritual perspectivefrom the stories in your inbox.Want to understand the deeper impact of critical events? Learn the Monitor‘s insight.Already a subscriber? Log in to hide ads. Our job is to cover that.Also, a note: This issue is going to press before the American midterm elections. Stay up to date with our political coverage online, and in upcoming issues, look for stories about democracy, governance, and – yes – peace. ALREADY A SUBSCRIBER? LoginReal news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.The Christian Science Monitor was founded in 1908 to lift the standard of journalism and uplift humanity. We aim to “speak the truth in love.” Our goal is not to tell you what to think, but to give you the essential knowledge and understanding to come to your own intelligent conclusions. Join us in this mission by subscribing.