Michelle Betz is a senior media development consultant with close to 15 years of experience in assessment, project design, implementation, management and evaluation. Her areas of expertise include media in conflict and post-conflict, military-media relations, safety issues and rapid response interventions and she has a particular interest in the use of media in conflict prevention and resolution.
Before returning to the U.S. in 2016, Michelle was based overseas in Ghana, Egypt and Austria where she consulted for numerous international NGOs, U.N. agencies and bilateral organizations. Michelle has conducted workshops and implemented or assessed activities in more than 20 countries including: Ghana, Nepal, DRC, Burundi, Burkina Faso, Iraq, Tunisia, Algeria, Mali, Nigeria, Central African Republic and Ukraine.
Betz is an active researcher and has authored numerous book chapters and papers including:
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Betz, M. Constraints and Opportunities: What role for media development in the countering violent extremism agenda. IMS, 2016.
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Henrichsen, J., Betz, M. & Lisosky, J. Building Digital Safety for Journalism: A survey of selected issues. Paris: UNESCO, 2015.
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Betz, M. “Capacity building, institutional change and theories of change: Creating an enabling environment for journalists in post-conflict environments,” in Communication and Peace: Mapping an Emerging Field. Routledge, 2015.
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Betz, M and Papper, H. “UN Peacekeeping Radio: The Way Forward,” in Communication and Peace: Mapping an Emerging Field. Routledge, 2015.
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Betz, M. Challenges in Providing Psycho-Social Support to Local Journalists During and in the Aftermath of Conflicts, Crises and Disasters. 2015.
Michelle began her career as a network journalist with the Canadian Broadcast Corporation where she covered both national and international stories. She then spent six years teaching journalism at the University of Central Florida. She continues to mentor university students at Australia’s Monash University’s graduate program in international development.
In 2003, Michelle was awarded a Knight International Journalism Fellowship and spent four months working with journalists in Rwanda. Michelle was awarded a second Knight International Press Fellowship in 2005 and spent five months in Morocco training journalists.
Michelle received a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada (1990). She then achieved a Master of Journalism (Broadcast stream) from Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada (1994).
Michelle has a good command of French, working knowledge of Italian as well as some Arabic and German.