Abstract
The chapter examines the relationship of media, conflict and culture of deceit in postcolonial Zimbabwean politics where communities rely heavily on popular communication platforms to get news and information. Using framing, indexing norm and self-censorship theories, I highlight many ways in which the media have been used to both escalate conflict and culture of deceit in postcolonial Zimbabwean politics. I analyse selected media headlines and language, let alone compare the public media (The Herald, The Sunday Mail, The Sunday News, ZBC and radio) on one hand, and the private media (News Day, Daily News, The Standard, Studio7@voanew.com and Nehanda Radio) on the other. It is my argument that rather than reporting and reflecting on pressing issues, and helping to question established concepts and ideas, the media in Zimbabwe are active participants in generating and framing conflict and spreading propaganda, and instead of revealing truths, try to cover things up and curtail people’s freedom and right to information. As such, the media have presumed a parochial, partisan, highly politicised, combative role in postcolonial Zimbabwe by reducing citizens to the righteous and the wicked binary, based on their political party affiliation, ideological persuasion, regional, cultural or ethnic origin. This chapter will be a valuable resource for responsible leaders, academics, civil society groups and students interested in journalism and media studies and peace and conflict studies in different contexts within Africa.
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Zhou, T.M. (2023). The Media, Conflict and Culture of Deceit in Postcolonial Zimbabwean Politics. In: Mavengano, E., Mhute, I. (eds) Sub-Saharan Political Cultures of Deceit in Language, Literature, and the Media, Volume I. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-35323-9_14
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