Violence, hate speech and inflammatory broadcasting in Kenya: the problems of definition and identification

bibliographic database
Line

Periodical article

Title:	Violence, hate speech and inflammatory broadcasting in Kenya: the problems of definition and identification
Author:	Somerville, Keith
Year:	2011
Periodical:	Ecquid Novi: African Journalism Studies (ISSN 0256-0054)
Volume:	32
Issue:	1
Pages:	82-101
Language:	English
Geographic term:	Kenya
Subjects:	propaganda radio political violence ethnic conflicts
External link:	https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02560054.2011.545568
Abstract:	During and after the 2007/8 post-election violence in Kenya, media monitors, human rights groups, politicians and journalists accused sections of the Kenyan media - notably local vernacular radio stations - of broadcasting messages of hate and inciting ethnic hatred and violence. Some observers went so far as to suggest that certain radio stations had acted like the infamous Radio Television Libre des Mille Collines (RTLM) in Rwanda, during the 1994 genocide. This article looks at the context of the violence, the inflammatory and at times violent nature of political discourse in Kenya, the role in that discourse of vernacular radio stations, and the ways in which hate broadcasting and propaganda are identified and defined. The behaviour of the stations is viewed in the context of Kenya's political environment, language of political discourse, and media structure and history. Bibliogr., sum. [Journal abstract]