AUCKLAND (University of Auckland / Pacific Media Watch): Maria Armoudian is host and producer of the radio programmes, the Scholars’ Circle and the Insighters, which are heard on KPFK, WPRR, KMUD, among other Pacifica Radio stations in the United States and online.
She will be speaking in a seminar on how the media interact with psychological and cultural forces to impact perceptions, fears, peer-pressure, “group think,” and the creation of heroes and villains.
Armoudian describes how the media were used to spread a contagion of hate in three deadly conflicts: Rwanda, Nazi Germany, and the former Yugoslavia.
She also examines areas of the world where the media acted constructively—by aiding the peace process in Northern Ireland, rebuilding democracy in Chile, bridging ethnic divides in South Africa, improving the lot of women in Senegal, and boosting transparency and democratization in Mexico and Taiwan.
Dr Gavin Ellis, Freedom of Expression Working Paper series editor, lecturer in politics at the University of Auckland and former editor of The New Zealand Herald, will respond to Maria’s comments and place them in a New Zealand context before facilitating discussion.
Date: 6pm, 21 November 2012
Venue: Stone Lecture Theatre, Law School, 9 Eden Crescent, University of Auckland
Host: The New Zealand Centre for Human Rights and the Faculty of Law, University of Auckland
Contact email: lawevents@auckland.ac.nz
Pacific Media Watch
