ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the formation of public opinion through television coverage and the impact of that Television Coverage (TV) coverage and public opinion on American policy. It also focuses on the TV coverage during the genocide in Rwanda since there was virtually no coverage of Rwanda until 6 April 1994. Rwanda was the first test case for a new, very cautious US posture toward humanitarian crises. The episodic coverage given to Rwanda by television news in the initial months of violence gave encouragement to the Clinton administration's limited policy response. To understand Rwanda in the spring of 1994 required something much more than vague references to tribalism and ancient ethnic conflicts. It requires an understanding of political ambitions, both in Rwanda and elsewhere. The chapter shows that the Clinton administration made a conscious effort to distance itself, and the policy process, from the effects of media images.
