Maher Arar and Monia Mazigh, the Ottawa couple whose personal ordeal resulting from a botched security investigation became an international scandal, will join a panel of distinguished journalists at Carleton University to discuss media ethics and coverage of Muslims in a time of terror.
The event is open to the public. It takes place at 7 p.m. Monday, March 23 in Porter Hall, second floor of the University Centre on the Carleton campus.
Evan Dyer, a CBC Radio News correspondent who covered the Arar case, will appear on the panel along with Faiza Hirji, a Carleton instructor whose research includes communications issues related to Muslims.
“Maher Arar was sent to be tortured in Syria because Canadian anti-terrorism investigators gave false and inflammatory secret intelligence reports about him to Washington,” says Jeff Sallot, a Carleton journalism professor and former Globe and Mail correspondent who will moderate the panel.
“He was released only because his wife Monia Mazigh drew media attention to the case and kept in the spotlight even as some officials in Ottawa conducted a whispering campaign to try to discredit Arar,” Sallot said.
Canadians need to understand the role of media, not only in the Arar case, but also in the broader context of news coverage of Muslims after the 9-11 attacks,” says Karim H. Karim, director of the Carleton School of Journalism and Communication.
Arar was exonerated by a federal judicial commission. The Canadian government formally apologized to the Arar-Mazigh family and paid them substantial compensation.
“Young journalists can learn a great deal from the Arar scandal about the dangers of stereotyping and the fragility of human rights in troubled times,” says Jenna Tenn-Yuk, president of the Carleton Journalism Society, co-sponsor of the event.
“The Arar case demonstrates the importance for journalists, media outlets, and governments, to ensure their facts are accurate and complete, on all stories, not just Muslim stories,” says Richelle Wiseman, executive director for the Centre for Faith and the Media which is also co-sponsoring the event.
A reception will follow the event.
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For more information:
Carole Craswell
School of Journalism and Communication
613-520-7406
carole_craswell@carleton.ca
Jenna Tenn-Yuk
jtyuk@connect.carleton.ca
Jeff Sallot
jeff.sallot@gmail.com
Friday, March 13, 2009 in News Releases
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