From Massacres to Genocide: The Media, Public Policy, and Humanitarian Crises

Human suffering on a large scale is a continuing threat to world peace.

Several dozen gruesome civil wars disturb global order and jar our collective conscience each year.

The 50 million people displaced by current complex humanitarian emergencies overwhelm the ability of the post-Cold War world to understand and cope with genocide, ethnic cleansing, massacres, and other inhumane acts.

Greater public awareness of how much is at stake and how much more costly it is to act later rather than sooner can be a critical element in stemming the proliferation of these tragedies.The media play an increasingly crucial role in publicizing humanitarian crises, and advances in technology have intensified the immediacy of their reports. Because the world is watching as events unfold, policymakers are under great pressure to respond rapidly.

Close cooperation between international relief agencies and the media is thus essential to help prevent or conta