Regional identity and the politics of belonging in the consumption of Zimbabwe's vernacular tabloid newspaper, uMthunywa in Bulawayo

This paper is a qualitative study of the consumption of uMthunywa, a Zimbabwean state-controlled tabloid newspaper. It focuses on its Bulawayo readers who constitute the bulk of the paper’s readership and particularly explores the meanings and relevance of its content to their everyday lives. The study establishes that the paper constitutes a forceful alternative mediated sphere that cements a regional identity and accommodates feelings of belonging among a readership that feels disenfranchised and neglected by the ‘power bloc’. The newspaper has (re)kindled a relationship with readers through its use of the vernacular language, isiNdebele and the coverage of community issues that resonate with the readers’ everyday lives