This article considers how the portrayal of events in the news can serve to shape public opinion or discourage statesmanship. Through the example of the Rwandan genocide, my argument is that representation is constitutive of how we understand the world and the hierarchy that currently exists within mainstream media. As (Michael J. Shapiro, 1989) discussed, “The reason for looking at representational practices in relation to texts, language, and modes of interpretation is because it is through these practices that ideas about international relations are produced.” Genocide in Rwanda I investigate how a lack of representation can limit the study and practice of international relations. Alan Kuperman (2000) presented the thesis that "the Western media blames the international community for not intervening quickly, but the media must share the blame for not immediately recognizing the scale of the carnage and for failing to mobilize global attention on it." I then argue how representation can often be distorted and misleading, and thus manipulate understanding of information. During the Rwandan genocides, the role of radio and the press in inciting murder and fueling hate speech against Tutsis demonstrated the importance of controlled representation through the media. These two insights directly connect to how central the concept of representation is in the study and practice of International Relations. Western media coverage during the Rwandan genocide is analogous to how our understanding of conflict, war, or, more generally, the space within which international politics takes place, is always mediated by modes of representation. Both national and international media played a crucial role. ...... middle of paper ...... ions. Department of International Politics. 1(1), 1-15.Mamdani, Mahmoud. (2002). African states, citizenship and war: a case study. International Affairs, 78, 3, 493-506.Obinor, F. 2005. Reporting Conflicts in African Way. Guardian Online, 14 November. Available at (accessed 19 May 2011).Shapiro MJ (December 1989). The Politics of Representation: Writing Practices in Biography, Photography, and Political Analysis. . 5th ed. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press. 203.Sibomana, A. 1999. Hope for Rwanda: Conversations with Laure Guilbert and Harve Deguine. Pluto Press, London, UK, 205 pp. Sidaway, J. D. (2003). Sovereign excesses? Representing landscapes of postcolonial sovereignty. PoliticoThompson, A. (2007). International media coverage of the genocide. In: Kofi Annan THE MEDIA AND THE RWANDA GENOCIDE. London: Pluto Press. 145-261.