Haig Balian travels to Sri Lanka
The winner of a $20,000 fellowship, Haig Balian is in Sri Lanka to help promote journalistic ethics. He said journalism is the perfect way to combine all of his interests, which include world travel and politics.
Photo by allison martens
Haig Balian has scooped a $20,000 Journalism Fellowship from the International Development Research Centre to promote media education in Sri Lanka.
He will work with Voices of Reconciliation, a non-government organization (NGO) that seeks to instruct the media in constructive and conflict-sensitive reporting practices.
“In Sri Lanka, the media and NGOs don’t trust one another. NGOs are seen as imperialist and viewed suspiciously,” Balian said.
“They feel like what they’re trying to achieve isn’t accurately portrayed by the media,” which is frustrating whether they are trying to improve health and education in the country or mediate a peaceful resolution to the ethnic conflict there.
He will help media organizations and NGOs to understand one another better. Similarly, he will encourage fairer and more accurate reporting on everything from natural disasters to the ongoing civil strife.
“It’s so important to the peace process to have a fair press. If people don’t know what is going on, it could be a recipe for disaster.”
Balian’s own parents left Beirut in the 70s at the height of the Lebanese Civil Wars. Their ancestors had first settled in the Middle East after fleeing the Armenian genocide in the early 1900s.
Peter Downie, Graduate Program Director in Journalism, says this fellowship is a great way for Balian to kick start his career.
“Increasingly, our students are energized by international projects that allow them to use the journalism skills they learned with us in places other than the mainstream media.”
Balian also holds a BA in political studies from Queen’s. He has traveled extensively throughout Asia and Oceania, and lived in Australia for a year and a half.
He was attracted to journalism because, among other things, it would permit him to work anywhere in the world.
“I like to create and to write. It’s a perfect fit that rolls all my interests into one.”