Joan_Didion

Global Issues in the Media Paper#1 9/26/10 Genocide The dictionary defines Genocide as “the deliberate and systematic extermination of a national, racial, political, or cultural group”. This definition is not based on a rate of death, although if genocide were to truly completed the numbers would be very large indeed. Through history it seems the human race has made several attempts at this atrocity yet has never truly completely exterminated any group. “Hotel Rwanda” is a depiction of an attempted Genocide in Rwanda utilizing the true heroic story of “Paul Rusesabagina” a hotel manager who is thrown into the position of savior during this conflict. The reaction of the people to media in this conflict is the targeted reaction; it incites people to rage and supplants seemingly legitimate reasoning. The Hutu led government planned this Genocide behind the back of their own president, assassinating him to further enrage the Hutu. When most Americans listen to the media they have many sources none of which are run by the government. Rwanda may be part of the Belgian colonies but the Hutu government has through superior numbers gained control of the media. All people are responsible for their own actions yet some like to hide behind their leadership to excuse them from infanticide, rape, murder and torture. Do we ever have the right to commit these acts' The foreign journalists in this film are forced to walk the line between their safety and the story not unlike the media in Iraq or Afghanistan. The reaction of the Europeans and the Americans that were in Rwanda was one of guilt and shame. The international media covered the event but did not get a decisive message to people so it became just another tragedy on the nightly news. The role played by the radio in Rwanda served to discourage the responsibility for people’s actions, like Hitler’s speeches fueled hatred for the Jewish people. A way to encourage responsibility would be with the use of other forms of media that shows the truth, or some form of protest. Foreign media outlets would have been more effective by way of presentation, instead of showing true coverage of what was happening they were busy arguing over whether it was Genocide or not when they could have looked it up like I did. The United Nations did very little to help end this attempt all foreign entities involved should have sent all the soldiers they could muster stopping this before it even happened. A failure of democratic countries is they don’t understand that their full combined power could be a power of peace. The people who engaged in the hate broadcast of the “Radio Mille Collines” were responsible for fueling the hatred that already existed. Coupled with the hate radio was the profitable sale of weapons to the combatants. People working in this hate media were irresponsible and not willing to investigate their reporting to guarantee legitimacy. Foreign media was not ready to give this situation the coverage it needed and did not have the security too stay and cover it. The whole conflict was overlooked until it was too late! If the foreign media was blamed in any way it was bad decisions from the top that incurred this responsibility. Hate radio and foreign media are not the only involved factions that carried blame Europe the United States and the United Nations did not back up foreign media like the Hutu government backed the hate radio making balanced coverage impossible. Checks and balances for the media in this conflict could have been established in many ways. Removing government involvement with the media would be the first and most effective way to report the truth. Competent Journalists possibly mixed with foreign journalists and outlets would be less biased and would be a buffer against propaganda. All outlets of media business and government were a colossal failure and a tragic learning experience for the whole world. Every decision made was either completely wrong or insufficient to alter the outcome. The United Nations the United States and the Europeans can’t seem to be able to make a decision. The only success can be gained when “Paul Rusesabagina” and these refugees cash in favors, lie, and bribe and guilt trip their way to a hairline victory. I was, as always, shocked this example of stupidity of the human race, the power of the few to influence the actions of the many. I saw the same regard for life as in the true movie “the Killing fields” which describes another attempt at Genocide by the Leader “Pol Pot” in Cambodia killing approximately 2 million. The scene where Paul drives across the dead bodies is comparable to the photographer that must escape Cambodia running across fields of the dead. The lesson to be learned is we should use the massive power of the free western world as an engine of peace forcing negotiation. All of the conflicts between these two factions is comparable to the “Hatfield’s and McCoy’s” fighting an unwinnable battle. Bibliography http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087553/ “the Killing Fields” www.dictionary.reference.com/browse/genocide Definition of Genocide