"Since the end of genocide in 1987 Zimbabwe has remained a zone of ‘conflicts’, and the enduring debates surrounding this genocide, especially in public-owned but state-Controlled media, call for critical attention. Three years after independence, in 1980, Zimbabwe was plunged into a genocide na...med ‘Gukurahundi’ (meaning the rain that washes the chaff away after harvest) that lasted until 1987. This article argues that there has been a clash of ‘interests’ playing out in the mediation of this yet-to-be-officially addressed genocide. Through evidence from public-owned media, the media that carry the official voice of the ruling party, I argue that public media have seen genocide from conflicting and complex angles, making it difficult to reach a consensus suitable for national building based on genocide truths, meanings and effects to Zimbabweans. I specifically use the Unity Accord-associated holiday, the Unity Day, and its associated debates to pursue two arguments. First, public media have played an ambiguous role in appreciating the conflictual and multipronged nature of the genocide within ZANU-PF. Second, public media have largely been supportive of, and even complicit in, official silences on genocide debates and memory. The article uses public sphere and narrative analysis as frameworks for understanding the operations of public media journalism in the mediation of genocide nearly 30 years after its occurrence." (Abstract) more

"The study uses online observation and critical discourse analysis (CDA) to examine how ‘Ndebeles’ [= Ndebele-speaking people of Zimbabwe] discuss the 1980s genocide and how citizen journalism has generally revolutionised their participation in debates silenced by the ruling elite. What strongly... comes out from the discussants’ interactions is that the genocide, which has not been addressed since it ‘ended’ with the signing of the Unity Accord in 1987, remains contentious as victims have not found closure. The study concludes that Web 2.0 has reconfigured subaltern communities’ engagements with the traumatic genocide." (Abstract) more