Case Study 1.1: Separating Rumor From Fact in a Nigerian Conflict Zone Stéphanie Durand manages strategic media partnerships and a range of projects at the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations1 in New York. She is in charge of organizing media trainings, convening meetings of experts and editors, developing multimedia projects, conducting outreach for an experts website and managing a portfolio of more than 80 partners. She previously worked at Sciences Po Paris as the associate director of the American Center and then at the Graduate School of Journalism, where she developed the international strategy. Of Franco-German origin, she holds a B.A./M.A. from Sciences Po Paris and a M.Sc. from the London School of Economics in International Affairs. She tweets at @steffidurand2. The region of Jos in Central Nigeria is traditionally known as the “Home of Peace and Tourism.” Today, and for some time now, it is home to an ongoing war along religious and sectarian lines. Jos straddles the north-south border of Nigeria. The northern part of the country is predominantly Muslim; the south is predominantly Christian. The crisis in Jos has led to alarming headlines such as “Islamic Assailants Kill Hundreds of Christians near Jos” and “Muslims Slaughter Christians in Central Nigeria.” Those headlines and others like it prompted some religious leaders to blame the media for inciting religious violence because of the provocative nature of the reports. But there is deadly violence in Jos and the press must accurately tell that story. To do so, they must sift through an increasing number of rumors that spread via text messages, social media and blogs - and be careful to avoid publishing false information that further enflames the situation. Local journalists are also exposed to intimidation, self-censorship and fear of retribution from state authorities or militants. International media face challenges from decreasing resources that result in foreign reporters’ working alone to cover an entire region. This can affect their knowledge of the local context and sensitivity to it. It also increases their reliance on content gathered and distributed by (often unknown) witnesses on the ground. 13