A new book on Rwanda

[marct]

I thought some people (i.e. Tom and Stan) would be interested in this

Book launch – The Media and the Rwanda Genocide

Canada's International Development Research Centre (IDRC) cordially invites you to the public book launch of The Media and the Rwanda Genocide, edited by Professor Allan Thompson. Wednesday, February 7, 2007
6:30 p.m.
Tory Building foyer
Hors d'oeuvres will be served

Allan Thompson, Assistant Professor at Carleton University, is launching The Media and the Rwanda Genocide, the first book to explore both the international and local dimensions of the media equation during the genocide. "More comprehensive and accurate reporting about the Rwanda genocide could have changed the behaviour of the perpetrators, mitigating the slaughter'', writes Thompson in the book.

Allan Thompson is currently promoting the book in the U.K., East Africa and the U.S. He is writing a fascinating blog on his experiences at http://www.allanthompson.ca (http://www.allanthompson.ca/blog.html/)/blog.html/ (http://www.allanthompson.ca/blog.html/)

[edit]http://www.allanthompson.ca/

Marc

[Tom Odom]

the link is down but I will keep trying

But in the meantime, I particpated in an On the Spot Forum Panel in April 2004 at USIP on this very subject:

On the Spot in Rwanda: The Challenge to Diplomats and Journalists in Reporting the Genocide. (http://www.usip.org/events/2004/0414_wksrwanda.html) It has been ten years since the genocide in Rwanda, which saw its most intensive slaughter in the spring of 1994. In light of the 10-year anniversary of the tragic events in Rwanda, on April 14 the Institute hosted a special roundtable discussion with three journalists and three diplomats who were on the ground in Kigali and in the region at the time. Moderated by Michael Southwick, former Institute Africa specialist and then deputy chief of mission to the U.S. Embassy in Kenya, the session featured discussion of the multiple challenges faced by journalists in their efforts to obtain and report the story as it unfolded and the role of American diplomats in the region to shape the response of policymakers. The panel discussion was followed by a general question and answer session moderated by Southwick.

Speakers
(Note: 1994 Affiliations listed for all speakers)

Panel I

Alex Belida
Voice of America
Donatella Lorch
New York Times
Jennifer Parmalee
Washington Post
Panel II

Thomas Odom
U.S. Military Attaché to Rwanda and Zaire
David Rawson
U.S. Ambassador to Rwanda
Michael Southwick, Moderator
Deputy Chief of Mission, U.S. Embassy Kenya
Of Related Interest

The USIP site still has the audios for our presentations.

Best Tom

[Stan]

Hello Marc !

Hors d'oeuvres will be served


Jeeez ! Free food !!! Do we have to do anything ? How are Canadian Hor d'oeuvres anyway :confused:

I have the same problem, the link is down but remain very interested.

Maybe you could call them (they could per se....join the Army :eek: . You remember, JTK gets the next frozen Canadian. We promised !

Regards, Stan

[marct]

Hi Stan,

Hello Marc !
Jeeez ! Free food !!! Do we have to do anything ? How are Canadian Hor d'oeuvres anyway :confused:

That's the tough life of he academy... work (food), work (booze), work (???)!!! The ones at Carleton aren't to bad.

I have the same problem, the link is down but remain very interested.

I just fixed it in the post - this one works.

Maybe you could call them (they could per se....join the Army :eek: . You remember, JTK gets the next frozen Canadian. We promised !

Yeah, but I keep telling you, the bounty's not high enough. If the US forces really want to sell it to Canadian academics and students, they need a campaign along the lines of "Join our unique, Participant Observation Summer program. All expenses included!!!"

Marc

[Stan]

Hi Marc,
You know, that's not a bad slogan. We've gone through so many, I don't which one to use anymore. That and the Army Chief of Staff is sending all retirees new pins, cause he didn't like the last set. Hmmm, what did that set the Army back for ?

Will give the link another shot now.

Thanks, Stan

[Tom Odom]

Marc,

I emailed Thompson. You should invite him to join the SWJ to blog or start a discussion thread on his book. Maybe we need an author's forum?

Best

Tom

[marct]

Marc,

I emailed Thompson. You should invite him to join the SWJ to blog or start a discussion thread on his book. Maybe we need an author's forum?

Best

Tom

Not a bad idea, Tom. I'm going to try to get to the launch, so maybe I can chat with him there.

Stan, if I get there, I'll let you know about the dors d'oeuvres :D

Marc

[Stan]

THE NEWS MEDIA PLAYED
A CRUCIAL ROLE IN THE 1994 RWANDA GENOCIDE: LOCAL MEDIA FUELLED THE KILLINGS, WHILE THE INTERNATIONAL MEDIA EITHER IGNORED OR SERIOUSLY MISCONSTRUED WHAT WAS HAPPENING. This book is a startling record of the dangerous influence that the media can have, when used as a political tool or when news organisations and journalists fail to live up to their responsibilities. The authors put forward suggestions for the future by outlining how we can avoid censorship and propaganda, and by arguing for a new ethic in media reporting.

Tom's reporting, albeit short were dead on.
When CNN couldn't or in some cases wouldn't go outside the magic forcefield of the airport, they would rearrange the bodies and take new shots.


Thanks for the link !
Stan

[Tom Odom]

Like I said I will read this book with great interest because as it is presented here it goes against everything I encountered then and since then. As stated above we talked this issue at USIP. Those reporters were all on the ground and they reported accurately without any spin control that I am aware of. I also believe that US government officials--especially Dave Rawson--were very very accurate in theri reports.

The spin came from above; prohibtions on using the word genocide in public statements and reporting cables were absurd and ultimately damning.

If I were to find fault with the media in Rwanda, it was later when there was a shift change reporters; the new folks tended to come in without any grounding and took events out of context. But this was not a media-only trait; you could tell who had been Rwanda for more than a day (I exaggerate) by the reaction to the Kibeho IDP camp disaster. Media, new military units, and individuals reacted with near hysteria. 2000+ dead was a startling event; compared to the genocide it was a blip of violence on a very large Rwandan chart. Some reporters who had been there took it in stride; the newbies did not.

Finally I would say what I said at the USIP conference in Aprill 2004: we--David Rawson and I--made the very real possibility of a larger war as clear as we possibly could. Bob Gribbin as David's successor did the same. our warnings went unheeded--or at least without significant reaction. More people died in the Congo War afterward than died in the Rwandan Civil War and genocide. Media and governments alike have largely ignored that fact.

Goma as Stan indicates was a different story; there the media stayed in their little compound and used bodies for stage props to make the scene look different. Here we played to the media--the classic being the "CNN airshow" directed out of the White House against our recommendations.

Again I look forward to seeing what Thompson has to say.

best

Tom