Carleton University Prof. Allan Thompson has joined the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI) as a senior fellow in the Global Security and Politics program. CIGI is an independent, non-partisan Canadian think tank focused on bringing clarity and innovative thinking to global policy making.
Thompson will be leading the Media and Mass Atrocity Project, a collaborative effort in partnership with CIGI and the Montreal Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies (MIGS).
This initiative includes a roundtable event at Carleton from Dec. 1 to 3, 2017 and a future publication, Media and Mass Atrocity: The Rwanda Genocide and Beyond. CIGI hopes to publish the book in 2019 to mark the 25th anniversary of the Rwanda tragedy.
“This project provides a great opportunity to look back and try to figure out the lessons from Rwanda when it comes to the links between media and mass atrocity events, but also to look forward at a media landscape that is vastly different from 1994,” said Thompson.
“We are also creating an opportunity for students in Carleton’s School of Journalism and Communication to get directly involved in the roundtable. Nine of our students are part of a digital media and research team that will be covering the roundtable through social media and getting a chance to interact with these experts from around the world.”
The resulting book is a follow-up to Thompson’s first one on the topic, The Media and the Rwanda Genocide.
“I’m delighted that Prof. Thompson is joining CIGI to provide his influential research on the accountability of the media and its role in the Rwanda genocide,” said Aaron Shull, general counsel and COO at CIGI.
“As we prepare to mark the 25th anniversary of this atrocity, his work will continue to drive change in an industry relied upon to speak for the world’s most vulnerable communities.”
For more information on the project, you can visit the Facebook page.
About Allan Thompson
Allan Thompson joined the faculty of Carleton University’s School of Journalism and Communication in 2003 after a journalism career at the Toronto Star, where he worked on Parliament Hill as a political reporter specializing in foreign affairs, defence and immigration issues. He also completed reporting assignments abroad in Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Somalia and Russia. He is a graduate of Carleton’s Bachelor of Journalism program in 1986 and has a master’s degree in international relations from the University of Kent at Canterbury in 1987. In January 2006, he launched the Rwanda Initiative to build capacity in Rwanda’s media sector after the genocide. He launched the Centre for Media and Transitional Societies (CMTS) at Carleton in 2009.
About Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI)
CIGI is an independent, non-partisan think tank with an objective and uniquely global perspective. CIGI’s research, opinions and public voice make a difference in today’s world by bringing clarity and innovative thinking to global policy making. For more information, visit CIGI’s website.
About the Montreal Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies (MIGS)
The Montreal Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies is known globally as Canada’s leading research and advocacy institute for the prevention of genocide, mass atrocity crimes and violent extremism. Through conducting in-depth research and proposing policies, MIGS works to address threats to human security internationally and prevent atrocities from developing into mass crimes.
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Thursday, November 23, 2017 in News Releases
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