Media have effective role to promote peace: IRNA chief

21 September 2008

International Day for Peace-IFNA
Peace can only be built when there is freedom, truth and justice in the world and when the humanity got rid of all kinds of war, violence, arrogance, power thirsty and discrimination, IRNA Managing Director Jaafar Behdad said on Sunday.

He said in a statement to mark the International Day for Peace that peace can only be achieved by international resolve and collective cooperation of the international community.

Behdad, who has undertaken presidency of the IRNA affiliated International Forum of News Agencies Coalition for Peace (IFNA-CP), made the statement to highlight the effective role of the media for promoting international peace.

"The media plays a significant role of shaping world public opinion by awakening the minds of the world nations."

He said that mass media technology and human and ethical norms when taken collectively, form one of the basic forces in shaping the life and the fate of world nations and their peoples.

"So media, as a powerful tool for conveying ideas and opinions and disseminating it beyond all borders is capable of helping restore order and security in today's troubled world.

"This is because only the media can explore the consequences of global conflicts impartially while raising its voice against injustice and renouncing violence," he said.

"Regretfully, despite the UN's call to observe September 21, as a day of global ceasefire and non-violence, we continue to see new threats of conflicts against humanity on a daily basis, as war drums reverberate from the so-called super powers," he added.

IRNA-CP was established with the aim to bring together world nations in an international alliance to help promote peace and friendship in the international community.

IRNA initiated the Forum which was held in Tehran on October 15-16, 2002.

IFNA secretariat is established in Tehran.

The Coalition for Peace encourages international media experts to seek ways to enhance peace as well as the mass media to play a more effective role to promote peace at the global level and to forge a closer cooperation among their counterparts to that effect.