Media Rhetorics and Coverage of the Rwanda Genocide: A Selective Analysis of Two Pulitzer Prize-Winning Investigative Series by Mark Fritz and Dele Olojede

Media Rhetorics and Coverage of the Rwanda Genocide: A Selective Analysis of Two Pulitzer Prize-Winning Investigative Series by Mark Fritz and Dele Olojede

Ibrahim Adeyemi

Journalism/Editorial, HumAngle Media Limited

DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.47772/IJRISS.2025.913COM0022

Received: 20 May 2025; Accepted: 26 May 2025; Published: 24 June 2025

ABSTRACT

The media is undoubtedly a critical component of a healthy democracy, serving as a link between the government and the people by shaping and reshaping the public view and perspective about political, socio-economic and ethno-religious matters. To convey information to the public, the media often adopts different narrative techniques, strategies, and rhetorics, especially during warfare coverage, to douse the war’s gruesome effects on the readers. Therefore, media rhetorics is the manner or style the media adopts to narrate stories, express ideas, and advocate ideologies, values, and beliefs through various figurative expressions, rhetoric, style, imagery, and sounds. It involves using expressive, impressive, and persuasive choices of words to clarify or sometimes obscure, underscore, exaggerate, or understate in the representation of a story to the public. This study selectively analyses two Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative Series by Mark Fritz and Dele Olojede. It specifically explores the rhetorical strategies and narrative techniques adopted by these two award-winning investigative journalists in the media coverage of the genocide in Rwanda. The study shows, among other things, how their series significantly contributed to the development of investigative journalism and international conflicts and human rights reporting through rhetorics.

Keywords: Human Rights Reporting, Investigative Journalism, Media Rhetorics, Rwanda Genocide, Warfare Coverage.

INTRODUCTION

Mark Fritz and Dele Olojede demonstrate exemplary international human rights reports of ethnic violence in Rwanda as war correspondents in their respective series. Fritz’ series was particularly pertinent because his telegraphic coverage came at the time when some journalists and/or media coverages such as Kangura newspaper, Radio Rwanda, and Télévision Libre des Collines or simply Radio Mille Collines (RTLM) were used as war propaganda to incite and exacerbate the extreme violence between the Hutu and Tutsi ethnic groups in Rwanda (Lower & Hauschildt, 2014; Hefit & Ausserladscheider, 2020). For instance, Yanagizawa-Drott (2012) cited Straus’ interview (2007) where one of the Rwanda genocide perpetrators reportedly said: “[t]he radio encouraged people to participate because it said the enemy is the Tutsi. If the radio had not declared things, people would not have gone into the attacks.” The investigative journalism reports by Fritz and Olojede on the Rwanda genocide are unique, even though both coverages are distinct for three obvious reasons: in scope, focus and timing. Firstly, Fritz’s report was an eyewitness account that rhetorically narrated the immediate aftermath of the cruelty and brutality of the genocide in Rwanda. Olojede’s report, on the other hand, came after Fritz concentrated on the impacts of the Rwanda genocide on survivors and perpetrators. Secondly, a decade gap between Fritz’s (1994) and Olojede’s (2004) reports sets them apart. Thirdly, Fritz’s series was more descriptive and narrative of the Rwandan genocide, while Olojede’s was more reflective and investigative. However, both series are not only similar because they contributed to the international understanding of the Rwanda genocide and won the Pulitzer Prizes in 1995 and 2005 respectively, but also, their deployments of rhetorical strategies in the coverages of the Rwanda genocide invoked and provoked international sympathy and response (Ghevolor, et al, 2023, p. 36). This study selectively analyses the rhetorical strategies employed by Fritz and Olojede in their respective series. It examines their contributions to the media representation of genocide in shaping public awareness and influencing international response.

BACKGROUND TO THE RWANDA GENOCIDE

2024 marks the third decade anniversary of the beginning of the holocaust, which occurred in one of the East African countries, Rwanda.  The Rwanda genocide was after the hegemonic rule by Germany in 1897, which was followed by Belgian colonial rule during World War I in 1916, which lasted shortly before the Rwandan Independence in 1962 (Lower and Hauschildt, 2014). Magnella (2005) noted that during colonial rule, Belgium introduced an identity card system in 1933-1934. This identity card system brought a rigid political, social, and racial discrimination among the Tutsi, Hutu, and Twa groups who originated from the same cultural and linguistic group called Banyarwanda, speaking the indigenous Kinyarwanda language, which is indicative of centuries of cohabitation among these ethnic groups (p. 808). During colonialism, Belgium imposed the superiority of the Tutsi group over the Hutu group, even when the 1933-1934 census revealed that the Tutsi population only consisted of 14% of the Rwandan population, while the Hutu had about 85%. The original settlers, “Twa”, had only 1% (Negi, 2022). Also, some Belgian pro-Tutsi replacement policies showed that the Hutu group were marginalised. For instance, by 1959, 43 of the 45 indigenous chiefs and 549 of 559 indigenous sub-chiefs were from the Tutsi minority (Magnarelly, 2005, p. 808). The standard adopted by the Belgians could not be faulted as the pre-colonial precedents showed that the Tutsi lived a pastoral life while many Hutu were essentially farmers. This occupational difference did not have much significance. Lower and Hauschildt (2014) stated that acquiring larger amounts of cattle could make a Hutu a Tutsi, whereas a Tutsi with fewer livestock could become a Hutu. Magnerelly (2005) corroborated this while quoting Mbanda (1997 p. 4) who said, “… a Hutu who gained status through wealth or by becoming a chief could become a Tutsi through a ritual of Kwihutura literally, a cleansing of one’s Hutuness. … [I]f a Tutsi lost his cattle and turned to farming for a living and married into a Hutu family, that person could become a Hutu” (p. 803). Thus, the Belgians used cattle ownership as the standard for determining which group an individual belonged to. However, the occupational distinction between Tutsi and Hutu would have been negligible if it had not resulted in class distinction, Hutu discrimination, and gentrification. Demographically, 83% of official posts in enviable areas such as the judiciary, agriculture and veterinary services were controlled by Tutsi (Kamukama, 1997, p. 21). Upon Rwandan Independence in 1962, the Hutu majority revolted against the Tutsi minority’s dominance, overthrew the pro-Tutsi policies and changed the Tutsi monarch. A Hutu-dominated Republican government was then established and led by President Grégoire Kayibanda. In 1973, a military coup overthrew Kayibanda and brought in Juvénal Habyarimana, a Hutu who retained policies favourable to the Hutu group. Peeved by this development, the Tutsi-led Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF) launched an attack against the Rwandan government, resulting in the Rwandan civil war that started in 1990. A year preceding the Rwanda genocide, 1993, Rwanda’s population was approximately eight million. However, shortly after the genocide, which occurred for 100 days, between the 7th of April, 1994, and the 19th of July 1994, over 85% of the population of Tutsi were dastardly massacred, and some moderate Hutus were equally killed. Yanagizawa-Drott (2012) observed that the Rwandan genocide reduced the country’s population by about 75%. There are controversies about the exact number of casualties; the Constitution of Rwanda puts them at one million. However, the most widely cited demography of civilians killed is between 500,000 and 800,000 (Guichaoua, 2020). Over 2 million persons were displaced while 250,000 to 500,000 women were raped, lamentably about 10,000 to 25,000 children were as a result of (gang) rape. Fritz (1995) reported that 1.3 million out of the 8 million Rwandans were displaced. Religious places, schools, and hospitals were destroyed without reverence for any International Humanitarian law by Interahamwe (militia), Impuzamugambi (militia), and the Rwandan Armed Forces (FAR). The Rwandan genocide claimed the death of President Juvénal Habyarimana when his plane was shot down on the 6^th of April, 1994. This attack triggered much counter-attack from the Hutu, and it led to the assassination of Agathe Uwilingiyimana, the Prime Minister of Rwanda, along with ten Belgian UN peacekeepers assigned to protect her on the 7^th of April, 1994 (Britannica, 2024).

Statement of the Problem

Despite the indispensable roles that the media play in influencing the perception of the public and provoking international response to humanitarian crises, there are scarce academic studies of the rhetorical strategies investigative journalists deploy in covering genocide. Concerning the 1994 Rwanda genocide, which resulted in the deaths of over 800,000 civilians, this current study aims to analyse rhetorically the contents of the respective series by Mark Fritz and Dele Olojede to convey the atrocities, brutalities, and cruelties of the genocide. The study shall examine the insights that the series offers into the complexities of reporting genocide and how media could be effectively utilised to cover similar future crises. It equally investigates the predominant rhetorical devices employed in the Fritz and Olojede series by analysing the rhetorical strategies. This study covers an academic gap in media representation of genocide in shaping public awareness and influencing international response through rhetoric.

Research questions

1. How did the Investigative Series by Fritz and Olojede contribute to the global understanding of the Rwanda genocide and prompt international response?
2. What rhetorical strategies did Olojede and Fritz employ to convey the complexity and horror of the genocide, and how effective were the strategies?
3. How did the series contribute to the development of investigative journalism and human rights reporting, and what lessons can be deduced from their respective approaches?
4. What are the implications of the series for understanding the role of media in shaping public views about ethnic violence and human rights?

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This research adopts a qualitative content analysis methodology primarily used to analyse the contents. It textually parses the contents of the series written by the two investigative journalists on the Rwanda genocide by subjectively interpreting some rhetorical strategies and narrative techniques deployed by the award-winning investigative journalists, respectively. All the series critiqued hereunder are as published by “The Pulitzer Prizes”, accessible via the respective links: https://www.pulitzer.org/winners/mark-fritz and https://www.pulitzer.org/winners/dele-olojede  titled respectively as: “The 1995 Pulitzer Prize Winner in International Reporting” where 10 different works by Mark Fritz are tagged “Winning Works”, cutting across the 12^th day of May, 1994 to the 9^th day of August, 1994.  Also, “The 2005 Pulitzer Prize Winner in International Reporting”, featuring ten works by Dele Olojede published between the 1^st day of May, 2004, and the 4^th day of May, 2004, are reviewed.

Content Analyses

Mark Fritz

(i) No Hard Feelings

This is the titular tag of the series; however, it is headed with “Villagers Defend Motives for Massacres”. The general title and heading employed a figurative expression that appealed to the readers’ mind, emotion, perception and cognition. “No hard Feelings“, aside from being an idiomatic expression, is Synesthesia, which ascribes a sensation that does not belong to a thing to it. “Feelings” is a mental process which is not liquid and incapable of being turned “hard”. Thus, idiomatically, “hard feelings” means disagreement, conflict, resentment or anger. But the adverbial word “No” negates the entire meaning of the phrase. It acts as Litotes, which has the effect of an understatement. However, in connection with the entire content, it becomes vividly ironic, which suggests the direct opposite of what is stated, because, as the readers were informed, the villagers killed their neighbours and used necessity as a justification. “Motives for Massacres” reveals the use of Alliteration. The readers are introduced to Juliana Mukankwaya, both “a mother” and “a murderer”. This pun suggests playing upon the two words that sound quite alike but are different in meaning, such as a homophone. While “mothers” are known to give care and protection to children by ensuring their safety, “murderers” are intentional killer who causes the death of another person. The audience is shown with the use of imagery; Visual and Tactile, the sense of sight and touch, how the murderous act by a mother was carried out “bludgeoned… to death with large sticks”. The horror was emphasised with Hyperbole: “They just made big eyes” “They didn’t cry because they knew us”. Paradoxically, Juliana claimed she was doing for the orphans, the victims of the murderous act. Pathos (pity and sympathy) was also invoked when the readers met with Alfred who joined the murderous orgy in his villages by matcheting three of his “childhood friends to death” because they were tagged anti-government agitators even though “We are friends! We shared the same class room”. Kitazigurwa, a teen who did not even know his first name, was used as a spy. Ironically, Kitazigurwa did not know his name, yet he gave the names of people to be killed. A septuagenarian, Joseph, acted as a historical consultant to trace whether a person’s parents are Tutsi or Hutu. The unmoving face, when Joseph mentioned his wife’s death, evokes the mood of sorrow, gloom and melancholy in the reader, the atmosphere of loneliness and sadness. Also, the soldiers who are to defend the villagers and supply them “necessary killing tools”, which employs an Oxymoron since “necessary” means beneficial and valuable, but “killing” is harmful and destructive. “Instead of hiding us, you are killing us”, shows a mood of distrust and betrayal. For instance, “Boniface invited 15 people on the local hit list into his home on the pretence of hiding them, then tipped the village killers of their whereabouts when the massacre began” employs Assonance as the vowel /i/ is repeated. “The evening air brought the stench of rotting corpses” deploys the smell imagery called Olfactory.

(ii) Only Human Wreckage is Left in Villages of Karubamba

The title of the series employs Metaphor as it compares victims of the genocide to “wreckage”, which implies the atmosphere of destruction and devastation. The atmosphere of destruction, ruin, emptiness, chaos, and helplessness was further exacerbated by using Hyperbole because “Nobody lives here anymore”. In part of opening statement, “Not the expectant mother hurdled outside the maternity clinic, not the families squeezed into the church, not a man who lies rotting in a schoolroom beneath a chalkboard map of Africa” is Anastrophe because of the repeated use of “not the” at the beginning of each clause. By appealing to the visual sense of the readers, “Karubamba is a vision from hell” adopts Metaphor, where the tenor is “Karubamba” and the vehicle is “hell”, which is the attribute that is borrowed. “… a fresh-and-bone junkyard of human wreckage, an obscene slaughterhouse that has fallen silent, save for the roaring buzz of flies the size of honeybees.” highlights typical atmospheric mayhem caused to the street during or after the mass murder therein while “roaring buzz of flies” deploys Onomatopoeia as the sound suggests its meaning. It is personification when the capital dies because only humans can die. The theme of anarchy is expressed as the headless state of Kigali for six days after the death of President Juvenal Habyarimana, who was killed in a plane crash, which resulted in the death of the capital. This is Pathetic Fallacy. “The paranoia and suspicion surrounding the crash blew the lid off decades of complex ethnic, social and political hatred” deploys Metaphor, which is used to compare the exposure or revelation to removing a lid, which suggests hidden tensions. Destruction, cruelty and atrocities were targeted at “traditionally … safe havens: churches, schools… ” The readers met with “A couple splattered against a wall beneath a portrait of a serene, haloed Jesus Christ” is a biblical Allusion by referring to “Jesus Christ” the saviour. The killers swarmed… and began systematically executing the predominantly Tutsi population with machetes, spears, clubs and guns” Climax is used by arranging the weapons in a sequence of intensity and level of destruction. “We thought we were in church. We thought it was a holy place. “It wasn’t” adopts Hypophora because curious thoughts were spoken out in the form of a question, and it was answered. This suggests the mood of pity and helplessness of the victims of the genocide. Multiple Prepositions in “Down the road, outside the maternity clinic next to the hospital, about 25 bodies lie beneath a cluster of shade trees” enhance a clear scene of casualties. Also, “most (people killed within the hospital) appear to be women, but it is difficult now to be sure”, suggests femicide, confusion, uncertainty and massacre. It is clear from “The killers made (expectant mothers) go outside and kneel, and then cut them in the head with machetes and spears” for the crime of being “Tutsi”.

(iii) Back with a Vengeance

This is the titular tag of this series, where the subject and the predicate are beheaded to express the brevity of the expression and the intensity of the action. However, the series is headed with “Refugee Rebels Battle to Conquer Hell” where “refugee”, a nominal word, is used as a qualifier to describe the “rebels” (Tutsi) Conversion and “to conquer” is a biblical Allusion to “Hell” which suggests a herculean or impossible task. This is so because Tutsi are just 14% of the Rwanda population, and it is challenging to defeat the Hutu, who are about 85%. “To their supporters, the rebels are seen as the cavalry coming to the rescue of a country hemorrhaging rivers of blood” while “cavalry coming to the rescue of a country” is Alliterative “hemorrhaging rivers of blood” is metaphorical and hyperbolic as it compares the loss of humans to personified rivers losing a lot of blood. Francois, a businessman who came for “guerrilla warfare”, a reference to military expedition as he had learnt to “survive sickness, carry weeks of food on his back, break the proper bones of rigid dead enemies to remove their covered clothing better”. Atmosphere of struggle and survival during the massacre through Climax, readers learnt that Francois “And he has learned how to kill”. “These young men (like Francisco) hardly know their country, hardly know the difference between a Hutu and a Tutsi”, suggests the irrationality of war, where people kill each other in war without knowing the cause of the war. “Yet there they are in the bush, fighting the war” adopts Inversion or Anastrophe because the adverbial phrase “in the bush” could have come after “fighting the war”. In “Human rights… and aid workers have uniformly held the Hutu-led militias responsible for most of the carnage in Rwanda,” the Alliteration of “h” is obvious.  The teen Guerrilla Eric was given a uniform and a big AK-47, revealing that children were used as soldiers to fight the mindless war to avenge the death of their relatives. Both ” a new song came on the radio, its lyrics urging people to kill RPF sympathisers,” and Francois found out it was time to resupply” adopt the use of Oxymoron because the former is hate-speech from the media, which was compromised. The latter means Francois involving “breaking the bones at the elbow and taking the shirt, then taking the pants and the boots” of fallen people. Asking “Could I do that?” is a Rhetorical question since it requires no response.

(iv) Rwanda Children Search for New Meaning in the Word ‘Family’

Readers are confronted with the plight of another orphaned teen, Donata, whose parents: “Dad drowned in a cattle dip” and her mum was taken away by “a man with a machete”, both of which adopt Alliteration and Imagery of the horrible and pathetic state of her parents. It was shown that Donata and 12 other children from different towns and ethnic backgrounds are with the new family.  The children “clanged their containers and their voices together as they trooped down… ” adopts Zeugma because the verb “clanged” relates to both “containers and voices”, which are distinctive complements. Thereafter, the melancholy visual imagery of their environment is displayed through: “a single left arm reaching out from the ground in the mass sealed grave”…  “homes of the dead, ransacked by fanatical militias still looking for some reminder of their enemies to destroy” The “Entire villages and neighborhoods were wiped out… … their inhabitants killed with guns and hand grenades or hacked and clubbed to death…. avenging the death of their president”, all of which show the atmosphere of destruction, ruin, revenge and mass murder. “The remnants of tens of thousands of shattered families are frantically trying to reunite, wandering great distances in search of blood links.” Metaphors denote the large number of family members who are supposed to be united by blood, but now, the meaning of “family” has changed because orphaned children have to travel a long distance to search for their bloodline. The family name “Bwakeyebute family” is used to represent Benoit (the father/husband), who watched as his wife’s throat was cut. This is Synecdoche, which uses a whole to represent a part. The part where “An old woman with a goat found me” forestalls the mood and atmosphere of helplessness, and uses Bathos, which is a shift from the important to the trivial because of the mention of “goat”. The “ranged in age” uses Consonance to describe the children who are 5 to 17 years of age, all minors. The 1000 people that were massacred in the Roman Catholic Church reveal that during war, there is no respect for a place of worship. The readers were given a clear visual image of how Donata’s father was killed:  “men grab her cattle herder father, drag him into the deep trench of chemicals used to cure cattle of parasites, and hold him under until the bubbles stop”. Euphemism is adopted using “until the bubbles stopped” to express death. In the arrangement of the loss of a ten-year-old, his three brothers and father were killed, and his mother is missing. Anti-climax is deployed. “During their mile-long walk for water, a group of men they believed were militia members shouted obscenities at them,” shows the search for hope and survival amidst the chaos. Still, trepidation is emphasised because “We’re always worried they will finish us off”.

(v) Tutsi Returning by the Thousands After Generations of Exile

Hyperbole is used to express the topic of this series. “A lost nation of Tutsi exiles is returning by the thousands to the country that once meant death for them.” is a Metaphor as it compares Rwanda to death, and the Alliteration “t” is equally observed. Since “1959” which is before independence of Rwanda in 1962 is used as a Historical Allusion … “Tutsi exiles are flooding back, arriving by the bus-load and on foot, congregating at government processing centers, moving into abandoned homes and bringing with them the old fears of minority” The repetition of “ing” is gerundial. Also, “Repetition” is observed in this series as “thousands” is used in the title, the first line, the second paragraph, the fourth paragraph, inter alia. The theme of optimism is eventually expressed. For instance, Faustin wanted to return to Rwanda as a desire to start anew after the ethnic violence. The revelation that a physician, Dr Fred Tagwa, also made his first visit to the country, but he had no desire to stay because the “killers are still there”, evokes the mood of abandonment of home as “purported killings of 63 people who had spent a night in the Butare veterinary school. The bodies of 15 dead Hutu civilians killed by RPF soldiers are symbolic of the RPF preventing the Hutu from returning home.  Assistant prefect (Boniface Ukuri) would not allow a reporter to visit the veterinary school because he said his boss was out of town. Fallacy, Appeal to Authority. He acknowledged there have been isolated and unauthorised reprisals and killings. Uncertainty still loomed because there were still reports “20 people were slaughtered with garden hoes”, which suggests unsophisticated killing of those he knew. Still, he never said whether they were Tutsi or Hutu. Evode attended meetings “where local Tutsi and Hutu gather so the survivors of killings can name the killers and take them off to jail”, which shows the mood of reconciliation and cordiality between the two warring parties.

Dele Olojede

(vi) Legacy of Hate

It is a short, prosaic piece that provides a brief narrative of the Rwandan genocide. For the title, “Legacy” is denotatively used to mean any real or corporeal property, endowment, or inheritance left by a deceased for the successors; however, it is the legacy of hatred, abhorrence, and dislike that is left between the Hutu and Tutsi. This is Syllepsis as both literal and figurative ” legacy ” uses are pertinent. The titular tag is apposite because this series narrates what occurred 10 years ago, a fresh, penetrative investigation. Referring to the genocide as “campaign” and “ethnic cleansing” is a creative use of Euphemism, and “vast execution ground” is used as a Metaphor for the Rwanda territory where genocide was executed. Also, “… if the descendants of their former Tutsi feudal lords were allowed to win a civil war” is a historical Allusion because feudalism is a social and economic system based on land ownership where the lords own the land and serfs work. This seems to be symbolic because Tutsi, the minority group, had taken the position of lords while Hutu, the majority group, had become serfs who worked as labourers in Rwanda. This arrangement resulted in genocide, where media was used to broadcast that “The graves are only half-full” “Who will help fill them?” The latter adopts a Rhetorical Question, which does not require an answer but mere execution.  Ironically, the government that was being fought and the churches where people were being killed later became instruments helping “survivors and killers alike… to come to grips with living together in the same villages and towns, however awkwardly.” The employment of Alliteration “b” is seen… “rebuild broken bonds” and … “restoring simple trust between neighbours and within families, so that the country can in time recover” is Personification as the country is presented as if it is a human suffering from a disease that needs recovery.

(vii) Genocide’s Child: Her Son, Her Sorrow

This is unique not only because it is the longest but also because it is the episode of the series critiqued from Olojede’s work. It adopts a non-linear chronological narrative technique with the use of flashbacks. The series title is paradoxical because a child to his mother is usually joy and happiness. However, in this case, Gervais was the source of sorrow to his mother. Visual imagery is created to demonstrate the strange and awkward relationship between Alphoncina Mutuze and her son. “… a hint of affection” between them is a metaphor, but they act “as if terrified of crossing a line” and adopt a simile. The reason for this is that the child is a product of gang rape and sexual slavery she was subjected to during the genocide. Yet… “Gervais represents two irreconcilable symbols for his mother”, as he is “… a reminder of the terrible violation that drove her to attempt suicide by drowning.” This is also a Metaphor because the boy is compared to a prompter who reminds his mother of her bad experience. The “I don’t hate him, but I feel this child is not mine” is a Paradox. Ironically, mother “…I tell myself he is the only relative in the world I have. So yes, sometimes I feel that I am his mother.” With a little digression, the atmosphere is shown to have “Compelled [them] to live together under conditions of grinding poverty, emotional turmoil and daily desperation, killers and survivors alike are feeling their way around the possibility that they could rebuild the everyday trust necessary for the normal functioning of a community shattered by genocide. “This shows an attempt at reconciliation and mutual trust. Metonymy and Synecdoche are adopted when, “The majority of the population proved to be willing executioners, and priest turned against parishioners, teacher against pupil, doctor against patient and, often husband against wife.” As “priests” and “parishioners” relates to church; “teacher” to pupil” relates to school, “doctor” to “patient” relates to hospital and “husband” against “wife” relates to the family, all of which consist the hubs of the Rwandan society.

The House on the Hill

This is the second episode of this series, and the heading suggests a location. “The House on the Hill” adopts the Alliteration of “h” and “t” as well as the Repetition of “the”. Visual Imagery which appeals to the sight of the readers is shown “Mother and son share a simple one-room house, a brick and mortar structure built four years ago with the help of a survivor’s group” and Synaesthesia is used because the sunlight is not liquid that is capable of streaming “Sunlight streams through a couple of perforations in the roof.” Referring to the boy as “Little Interahmwe” which means those who fight together” in Kiyarwanda language and people who killed a lot of people, is Antonomasia. “Gervais just sits, quiet, speaking only when spoken to, and then only monosyllabic” shows meekness and amiability of the boy. Still, Assonance is deployed with the use of “on”. But the fact that his mother just cried unexpectedly “without knowing what has caused it.” suggests the mood of melancholy about the circumstance of the boy’s birth.

One Day in April

There is an end rhyme in “confectionery factory”, where she had taken refuge for more than a week”, “as a convulsion of killing seized hold of the city.” This is Anthropomorphism because “convulsion” is a human attribute that is ascribed to the killing that had seized the city. While looking for food after leaving, “she worked packing cookies, candies and cooking oil.” Alliteration is used here; she met with “Head Coach” (some five boys), which suggests Symbolism. But now, “both banana beer and genocide had made them powerful” is Syllepsis because power drunk’s literal and figurative meaning is observed. Thus, “and they wanted her… ” Euphemism for gang-rape. The readers are then informed of her vulnerability and flexibility, “at 20, a pretty, smooth-skinned woman, tall and slender. And alone. ” Also, machete in their hands, they raped her in the broad day light. This “They were taunting me. I was crying. I was sobbing, and thinking I was dead…. ” evokes Pathos; pity and sympathy. The technique of narrating a story within a story is also observed here. So, hearing the story, his face was in his arms, and he looked up to his mother without any particular expression or word.  “Mutuze hit a wall” suggests the use of Metaphor to suggest to put to an abrupt, halt or wordlessness when she was asked how many men were involved in the rape. The dilemma and summary of this episode are then shown with the statement”… so, the children know they are members of a family but without knowing exactly who their parents are.” Now the mothers are worried about whether to tell the children the truth”

Escape from Kigali

With the use of Flashback, the readers are taken back to when the factory manager from the Indian Ocean took her away. Mutuze posed as his daughter, “running a gauntlet of roadblocks and easing their way with well-timed bribes,” used as Euphemism and Litotes of their travel travails. And “in shock at their sudden dislocation, Miller about as if in a trance, hungry and exhausted,” adopts Simile. But, during their vulnerable condition, “a cholera epidemic struck, killing as many as 7,000 every day for two hellish weeks.” reveals an atmosphere of helpless, sickness and death while “…smoke from tens of thousands of cooking fires rose in the fading light and the volcanoes bubbled menacingly in the distance, creating a surreal backdrop for the unfolding calamity.” adopts not only Hyperbole but also Personification with ideal Suspense which stimulates the attention of the audience in expecting what follows.

Lied to Save Myself

She lied because “exposure” of being a Tutsi guaranteed her death. The mood of horror, trepidation and uncertainty is evoked since there was another Tusti girl who was killed. Pressure built on the soldier to eliminate the Tutsi “snake” and finish the “work”. Both “snake” and “work” are used as metaphors, the former to refer to Tutsi as dangerous and poisonous like snakes, and the latter to refer to the murder and assassination of the Tutsi. However, “serving as a sex slave in exchange for permission to stay alive. Then, a few months later, came the telltale of signs of pregnancy.” Shows that since she wanted to stay alive, she had to satisfy the sexual urge of the soldiers, the result of which was an indication of pregnancy, the father of which she could not pinpoint.

Driven Towards Suicide

The feeling of pregnancy drove her to suicide or abortion. However, she could not commit abortion because the baby was theirs, “The child of Hutu” in her, and it would be taken that she killed a Hutu. This is Metonymy. She attempted to draw herself when she was five months pregnant. This is theme of frustration and desperation of a raped woman. It is further emphasised with “There was no one to confide in, not even God”. Eventually, she gave birth in a makeshift medical tent run by “Doctors Without Borders”, which is an Euphemism to refer to the relief agency. The theme of name of people has meaning because the anger, despair and shame felt by many a raped survivor can be measured in the names they have given or — have allowed family members to give — their children, is emphasised. For instance, Jiyamubandi (” The intruder): Niyigena (It is God’s Plan, given a child as if with a sigh of resignation); Mbuzukongira (I am at a loss) or Ntahobitabaye (It is not only me).

A ‘Thanksgiving’

In furtherance of the importance of name-giving, she wanted to name the boy War or Zaire, which would serve as a reminder of the nightmarish camp where she became a sex slave. She called him “Tuyishime”, meaning “Thanksgiving”. “His is not a particularly active face, save for the eyes which move constantly to take in his surroundings but rarely betray anything blissful contentment.” The boy does not look like the circumstances of his birth, as he is always cheerful and blissful. “The thing that prevented me from killing it was that I would be killed myself and killed badly, by those who chained it; it was theirs,” suggests Dilemma.

Little Girl Spoiled

With Bildungsroman, the readers met with the parents of Mutuze, Petero Gasimba and Atanasia, who nursed the young Mutuze until she entered first grade. Her older brother was Pierre Hakizimana; she was close to her as he “…doted on his baby sister, fended off neighbourhood bullies and bought her sweets.” This line employs Anti-climax because of the arrangement of the care and affection from Metuze’s brother. Meanwhile, “the government mobilised the population into a genocidal frenzy, telling the Hutu that their very existence was in jeopardy” is used as a Euphemism to show how the government instigated the genocidal attack. Thus, it is so ironic that between 1991 and 1993, killing a Tutsi was no longer seen as a crime. It was this period in April that “she ran smack into the road block where the first of her many rapists awaited.” With this Flashback (Prolepsis), readers learnt the events that preceded her being raped.

A Long Trek Home

Readers are informed through visual and tactile imagery that Metuze set off for Rwanda on foot. This brings home the mood of agony, gloom, loneliness, stressfulness, desperation, exhaustion and despondency. The journey was long; it took “three months and it was all for nought”. “Nought” as used is an anachronism, which means nothing. With that, the theme of loss, failure, and pessimism was emphasised: Hyperbole. The Alliteration in “Genocidaires of Gikongoro” informs the readers of the gruesome effects of the mass murder, which is referred to using Metaphor as “work” of exterminating the Tutsi. However, after various “detours”, which is another Metaphor for travails, upturns, movements, stops and hurdles for another year, the Protagonist in this series ended back in Kigali.

Mother and Son

Part of what shows that this particular series adopts a non-linear chronological narrative is that readers are moved forward seven years after Metuze and her son arrived in Kigali. The use of Paradox is seen in a “relationship highly conflicted.” For instance, both stayed in a hotel for the first time and “seemed to set aside their daily struggle temporarily,” shows the Sibilance of “s”. Also, the fact that Gervais (the boy) cooked and they ate together, and Metuze buys him candy, implies that a mother’s love may be impossible to erase. However, Metuze is pessimistic about her son, saying he could become a mayibobo (street child). The use of Vernacular suggests familiarity with the traditional language, slang and colloquialisms. Although she did not refer to the boy as her child or by his name, except this child or “that boy”, the boy remains her child. The fact that she beats him without a reason, but the boy never gets sad and “I don’t know why I buy him something when I go out” shows tormenting Conflict. Readers also observe a Rhetorical question, “Why would anyone want someone like me?” to show her distrust for men because “Men are liars”. Despite the pessimism, she is hopeful that her boy will look at her as someone who has tried to be a good mother in the face of all the difficult circumstances.

(viii) Born of Hate, Raised in Love

This is another series where readers are told that “The genocide was over”, even though hatred persists among the Rwandan people. The title adopts Antithesis. Readers met with Grace Chanzaire, who gathered her six children around her. Both the literal and figurative meanings of this expression are apposite since her husband is dead and her relatives are either dead or missing. Grace set to inform her children about her plights and she gave birth to them “Mother was pregnant”, she told them, “as a result of several weeks of rape by a neighbor, a member of the Hutu militia that spearheaded the nearly total extermination of members of her Tutsi minority.” Since it was the price she had to pay to save the children and herself. The mood and atmosphere of melancholy, sorrow, and grief are observed here. The ages of her children are: Nadine Tumukunde, nine and Nadine, her other siblings, are between 17 and 25, all of whom formed her “defensive line” against a hostile world. “Defensive line”, as used, is a Metaphor, suggesting that Nadine was raised in a protective cocoon, made to understand she shares the same father with her siblings, and to feel that she is a normal child in every respect.  The theme of social ostracism and familial dysfunction is seen here. Paradox further emphasises the tragedy because Grace had to raise a child conceived from that rape along with “the two older children, who knew that their father was killed by the biological father of their baby brother.” The use of “stacked neatly” is Euphemism in “But even as the capital turned into a necropolis, and dead bodies were stacked neatly on street corners and boulevard medians” The confusion about the features of Tutsi is seen in “they looked too Tutsi” to pass — tall, thin, with the aquiline features of Somalia or Fulani of West Africa. With Euphamism to suggest repeated rape of Grace, readers are informed of how “Mupanda offered his protection in exchange for her sharing his bed”. Metaphor is used in “the very fact of their survival, and the hints of humanity shown by the rapist, became the basis for her plea for the children’s understanding, and their eventual acceptance of their baby sister.” While in “I tried to impress the children that since the rapist did not kill me or the children, perhaps he was not irredeemably evil.” Assonance of “i” is observed. The same is seen “o” as in: “The older ones are so protective of her that they would not allow anyone to tell her that she has a different father. But in a neighborhood so congested that most of everyone’s widow opens on a neighbor’s, inevitably whispers about Nadine sometimes penetrate the family’s protective shield.” Metaphor can be seen in “the protective”. Then, readers observed the tone of satisfaction and contentment in “To leave as much as the past as possible behind, concentrating instead on the sunnier aspects of life.” “sunnier aspect” is used as Metonymy as it means brighter and lighter aspect which suggests happy or glamorous life. Again, “she smiles often and tries to cry little.” suggests Antithesis and it is used to inform the readers of her unstable emotional condition.

(ix) When Words Could Kill

It is an indisputable fact that inciting with words could prompt people to kill others. The use of Paradox is seen in the title as “most effective voices on the Radio”, which is a Metonymy, suggesting radio is used as a war propaganda. On the radio, broadcasters made up vulgar stories about inyenzi, or cockroaches, which is a metaphorical reference to Tutsi to show their lack of significance and to accuse them of cannibalism. Metaphor is used to refer to the perpetrators of the genocide in “United Nations tribunal trying the ringleaders of the genocide.” As readers observe the plight of a journalist, “… the shocked and disoriented Bemeriki (48) had pronounced herself guilty of incitement to genocide and begged forgiveness of her fellow citizens.” She is one of those who used words such as: “The graves are only half full. Who will help fill them?”, which could be: Metaphor, Euphemism and Rhetorical Question, all of which incite people to kill one another. The atmosphere of guilt, resignation and administration of justice is expected as the court is ready to administer justice to the detainees, including Bemerick. Through Prolepsis, readers observe that “Her witty and conversational style soon made her one of the country’s most prominent voices.”  Simile is adopted to show her patriotism and loyalty to her superior …” A journalist is like a soldier: he tells the story his editor tells him” Lawyers are in short supply.

(x) United by Love

This is another series where readers meet with Alice Nikuze and Eugene Shyaka, who would have made an utterly unremarkable couple but for their ethnic group differences. Metaphor shows … “they were fools in love.” Since another Metaphor is used to express the casualties of the warring parties, the bitterness and antagonism that still exist between Hutu and Tutsi as “The wounds still fester from the genocide of 1994”, which also serves as a historical Allusion. Their love and marriage proposal are metaphorically described as “temporary insanity”. This is so because the betrayal that the genocide represented was deep and all-encompassing to the point where husbands killed wives. Since both are “united by love”, there was no reason to stop the marriage. The similar features and mixture of the two ethnic groups resulted in a “substantial number of Rwandans who could “pass’ either way, and errors in classification led to many unintended killings– lucky escapes–during the genocide” This shows Analogy between the two groups. In the end, everyone’s a Rwanda, neither Hutu nor Tutsi.  Back to the couples, the prospective wife “… she was more afraid than reticent– scared of potential attack by Hutu extremists who were still launching cross-border raids at the time, and who might regard her as consorting with the enemy.” suggests fear of the unknown about the intermarriage. Finally, they married in 1998, and some objectors were in attendance. Their union has resulted in three children, the first of whom is Mariella Uwicyeza. With Metaphor, readers are informed that “The children… are the only hope of this damaged country,” since the children are no longer taught to hate in schools.

DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS

From the foregoing rhetorical analyses, the origin, causes, significance and immediate aftermath effects of the Rwanda genocide are presented in lucid and objective journalistic reporting. Fritz and Olojede contribute to the public understanding of the effects of politicide, genocide and mass murder on civilians, including non-combatants like women and children as well as destruction of churches, schools and hospitals of which are protected and safeguarded by extant international humanitarian laws (Protocol II Additional to the 1949 Geneva Conventions) during the Rwanda genocide. Without any regard for International Humanitarian Laws and the Constitution of the Republic of Rwanda (Chapter IV), the atrocities, cruelties and brutalities against the vulnerable civilian population were narrated as committed by the warring parties. It is observed that the 100-day Rwandan holocaust resulted in familial dysfunction and social ostracism in Rwanda. Rwanda genocide fits in the statutory definition of genocide which is the “acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group, such as: (a) Killing members of the group; (b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group (c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part (d)… (e)….” (Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, Art. 6).

Similarly, it is found that the narrative techniques adopted in narrating the story by the two journalists combine both authorial and characters’ voices. Although Olojede distinctively employs episodic non-linear chronological technique with the aid of Flashback and Bildungsroman under the series Genocide’s Child: Her Son, Her Sorrow, the duo predominantly uses the third-person narrative technique. Fritz’s series was more descriptive and narrative of the Rwandan genocide. Olojede’s series was more reflective and investigative, covering reconciliatory and adjudicatory efforts by the government, the people and international communities. Also, while Fritz focuses generally on the victims and the effects of the war, Olojede focuses particularly on women victims and perpetrators as well as children. Both seem to recount the mayhem caused to churches, schools and hospitals equally. The most predominant literary devices adopted by the two journalists are: Metaphor, Imagery, Euphemism and Hyperbole, all of which have effects of pity and sympathy on the audience (readers) and provoke international response. The themes of ethnic violence, genocide, effects of war, women and children as victims of war, social ostracism, familial dysfunction, violation of human rights, reconciliatory effects, etc., surface throughout the works. Distinctively, more indigenous expressions were deployed and translated by Olojede to show familiarity with the locals. The objectivity of the narrations and simplicity of choice of words by the two journalists could serve as a plausible recommendation for journalists involved in media reporting on warfare and victims of war.

CONCLUSION

The Rwanda holocaust has historically shown that media could be used as a tool for war propaganda to incite ethnic violence. Conversely, Fritz and Olojede’s works have significantly demonstrated that media rhetoric is a plausible media strategy that could provoke and inform international perception and response. It is therefore evident that the failure of media outlets to accurately report with clear but creative and unique rhetoric contributed to the delay in the international intervention in the Rwandan genocide. It is therefore vital for investigative journalists, radio presenters, news editors, and stakeholders in the media to prioritise media literacy, observe objectivity of journalism and employ media rhetorics in their reportage. This will enable them to narrate stories objectively and creatively without creating more horror during war due to the failure of words.

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