Enlist the MEDIA to build trust.

Sunday, April 28, 2002; Page B03

ANTHONY BORDEN is executive director of the London-based Institute for War & Peace Reporting:

Today, Israeli and Palestinian newspapers and televisions stations are both driven by -- and driving -- the conflict. Even before the current crisis, they displayed little interest in the reality of each other's lives. Israeli media are more open than their Palestinian counterparts. But on both sides, dissenting views -- and especially voices from the other community -- are seldom heard. Media outlets have instead come to be viewed as legitimate weapons in the arsenal of struggle. No accord over the hard issues will hold without a strategy for strengthening dialogue through responsible reporting.

Such a strategy for creating peace-building media can begin now. The first step is to exchange information, encouraging the republication of Israeli articles for Palestinians to read, for example, or the airing of Palestinian programs on Israeli television.

Such "information bridges" between the communities could be created online or through special media initiatives. And they should not only provide an opportunity to share extreme views. With the involvement of colleagues outside the immediate conflict, these exchanges could become the source for more balanced and responsible reporting as local journalists aspire to a broader perspective.

Taking such steps, even at the high point of conflict, should help to strengthen possibilities for engagement when the violence reduces. Journalists now schooled in reporting for a national cause will need to be retrained in the practical and psychological aspects of seeking objectivity, of course. While partisanship sells papers in wartime, as we are seeing in the Balkans, the strongest post-war media outlets are ultimately those striving for the highest professional standards.

With such complete polarization, the job of fostering these standards will at first fall to outside parties who can monitor grievances and urge responsible reporting and moderation in tone. But it could gradually fold into local initiatives, such as the independent Israeli-Palestinian Media Forum, which, until it recently lost its funding, collaborated on joint editorial projects and tried to help Israeli and Palestinian journalists build relationships on professional terms.

Any such efforts will face serious obstacles from the respective political establishments. But as the Israeli author Amos Oz recently wrote: "During these days, every man of peace must . . . demonstrate, persuade, write, debate, garner support for reasonable compromise."