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 is the first book to explore both sides of that media equation. Given to rwanda by the media and others outside rwanda before 1990 242 mike dottridge 22 the medias failure a refl ection on the rwanda genocide 248 richard dowden 23 how the media missed the rwanda genocide 256 alan j kuperman 24 an analysis of news magazine coverage of the rwanda crisis in the united states 261 melissa wall. The media and the rwanda genocide book description 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 is the first book to explore both sides of that media equation. Linda melvern investigative journalist and author of a people betrayed the role of the west in rwandas genocide melvern 2000 and conspiracy to murder the rwandan genocide melvern 2004 argues that international media contributed directly to the genocide by misconstruing the killing in the first weeks as spontaneous tribal warfare rather than a systematic campaign to exterminate a minority nigerian born researcher emmanuel alozie is one of the few to seriously examine african media