Since the shootings in Tucson, debate about the role of violent rhetoric has often invoked the role of “hate radio” in the Rwandan genocide. A simple search for “Gabrielle Giffods,” “Rwanda,” and “radio” turns up over 5,000 hits in a “Google blogs search”:http://www.google.com/search?q=%22gabrielle+giffords%22+rwanda+radio&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a#q=%22gabrielle+giffords%22+rwanda+radio&hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=YqT&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&prmd=ivnso&source=lnms&tbs=blg:1&ei=D-E9TcbUIYP98Aa7uKiyCg&sa=X&oi=mode_link&ct=mode&cd=8&ved=0CA0Q_AUoBw&prmdo=1&fp=623357592a1c4c0a. Thus, it seems important to highlight this (“again”:https://themonkeycage.org/2009/06/scott_roeder.html):
bq. The importance of hate radio pervades commentary on the Rwandan genocide, and Rwanda has become a paradigmatic case of media sparking extreme violence. However, there exists little social scientific analysis of radio’s impact on the onset of genocide and the mobilization of genocide participants. Through an analysis of exposure, timing, and content as well as interviews with perpetrators, the article refutes the conventional wisdom that broadcasts from the notorious radio station RTLM were a primary determinant of genocide. Instead, the article finds evidence of conditional media effects, which take on significance only when situated in a broader context of violence.
That is from a 2007 paper by Scott Straus. Find it “here”:http://users.polisci.wisc.edu/straus/Straus%20Radio%20P&S%202007.pdf (ungated pdf).