Literary crimes: The angry blogger

OK, I have many wonderful observations on life in Uganda that I have written by hand and will one day soon commit to screen, but first, I must use this forum for the most grievous sort of blog faux pas -the hurriedly typed out knee-jerk reaction to something that ticks you off.

I was reading an article here about Radio Katwe, a Ugandan website that is sharply critical of the current regime. The website has been blocked in Uganda. At the bottom of the article is a reader comment:

Reader comment: John G. says,

While I agree that the censorship in the case of Radio Katwe is a
bad idea, there have been other occasions in Africa (specifically
Rwanda) where censorship or jamming of "hate radio" might have caused
the tragic events there to play out differently. Radio, like any
medium, is simply a tool that is imbued with positive or negative
influence by its creator, More here on radio's role in the Rwanda
Genocide: (link to very basic info about the use of the RTLM radio
station to incite genocide in 1994).

Since I can't figure out how to post comments on that page, I will tell you instead.

This person falls into the trap of failing to view sub-Saharan Africa as anything more than a non-distinct and blurry mass of "Africans," with all countries and peoples indistinguishable from one another at any given time. While African states do share many of the same problems, one must seek to avoid falling into the trap of conflating separate issues merely because they both happen to take place on the "dark continent."

Firstly, RTLM in Rwanda was a radio station, while Radio Katwe is not on the airwaves. As is clear from reading the article, the current issue is the blocking of the website. The internet and radio are two very different media, with very different levels of diffusion and impact in this part of the world. The RTLM was hate radio, which explicitly encouraged Hutu extremists to murder Tutsis, moderate Hutus, and UNAMIR representatives. Radio Katwe is sharply critical of the NRM government, but stops far short of encouraging violence of any kind. Comparing the RTLM in the Rwanda of 1994 to Radio Katwe in Uganda in 2006 indicates that the writer has absolutely no understanding of the respective situations aside from the fact that they both involve broadcast media and take place in East Africa (although from the writer's use of the term "sub-Saharan Africa," I doubt that he even knows that).

While the writer claims to distinguish between the two situations, his comment indicates otherwise, as he conflates them by referring to them both using the term "hate radio." The mere fact that he raises the comment in the form of a warning belies his true position. John G's comment is analogous to this:

"While I disagree with censorship in the case of the Russian press
today, there have been other occasions in Europe where censorship of hate speech might have caused tragic events to play out differently (specifically in Nazi Germany)."

Would anyone compare the efforts of a struggling democracy to engage in political speech to the hate campaigns of the Nazis, implying that the situations are somehow similar because they take place in Europe? No, of course, we realize they are not comparable. Then why is it any different when it's happening in Africa? Once again, it's poor woe begotten Ahhh-frique-ahhhh, a continent of identical children incapable of managing their own affairs; instead of a group of individual nations filled with intelligent human beings trying to make the most of their diverse situations.

Ahhhh. Sorry for the outburst, but I feel much better now.