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A Brief Review Of Running The Rift, By Naomi Benaron

1023 Words5 Pages

The year 1994 was the beginning of one of the worst genocides this world has ever experienced. The result of this Rwandan genocide was 800 000 casualties and millions of refugees. Naomi Benaron's novel, Running The Rift, clearly demonstrates the various roles that the medias took in contributing to the magnification of tension between the Hutus and Tutsis. While the Rwandan regional government led radio stations and newspapers dehumanized those that suffered, the international media provided very minimal coverage of the horrendous massacre. Moreover, during the genocide, local Hutu radio stations broadcasted carefully depicted plans to execute the killings against the Tutsi minority.

The Hutu led radio stations dehumanized the Tutsis in …show more content…

The radio stations were run by Hutu fanatics and the plans to eradicate the Tutsis were broadcast for everyone to hear. "Last month, the government claimed some RPF were planning to murder Hutu leaders there. They broadcast the story on radio Rwanada, screaming and shouting that it was time to kill or be killed, getting Hutu heads so heated up they took up clubs and machetes." (Benaron 85). The Hutu population was being provoked to attack the Tutsis in fear that they were in danger of being slaughtered themselves by the rebels. This is a form of brainwash and defamation of the Tutsi population. "Each modern case of genocide has been preceded by a propaganda campaign transmitted via mass media-" (Benesch 63). The previously mentioned plans were an essential aspect of the incitement to commit genocide. The Hutu were slowly but consistently given reasons to have animosity towards the Tutsi and eventually it became their reality. Even if the feud had been occurring for hundreds of years, the hate became exponentially worse because of the media. The political leaders played into the fears of the population which caused them to act on their

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The government is manipulating the Hutus to make sure they keep disputing and rioting against the Tutsis. By doing that, the government is making sure that the war doesn’t die down easily. If the government didn’t communicate the poisonous rhetoric to the people, the war could have possibly ended much earlier than expected. In conjunction with the first quote, Rusesabagina confirms the fact that the poisonous rhetoric said by the government does work on the civilians, by giving an example of Peter. “Peter was just a cool guy; so nice to children, very gentle, kind of a kidder but never mean with his humor.

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