This article suggests that
more emphasis should be placed on visual aspects in the concept of peace
journalism. The author argues, through theoretical and practical examples, that
visual aspects of journalism are underestimated when it comes to analysing how
the human brain deals with textual and visual impulses. Examples such as the
controversy around Jyllands-Posten's publication of the Mohammed cartoons
proves the power of the image in a digital and global media environment. Using
as a case study the coverage by Norway's biggest newspaper, Verdens Gang
(VG), of, respectively, Colin Powell's presentation to the UN Security Council
before the Iraq War in 2003, and the attack on the Iraqi town of Fallujah by US
and Iraqi forces in November 2004, the author argues that by placing more
emphasis on visual elements like graphics and photographs, peace journalism can
be an ever stronger instrument for developing a critical journalism during wars
and conflicts. By contrasting VG's coverage in Fallujah with the powerful and
emphatic coverage of the Asian tsunami a month later, the author suggests that
new digital media can be a powerful tool for journalists with ambitions to
promote peace journalism.