ABSTRACT
Indigenous language newspapers have been studied in Zimbabwe and there is general agreement that they are outperformed economically by the English language press. It has also been noted that they are sensational, focus on township and rural news and are left out of developmental news. Colonial and post-colonial language policies have been implicated in this state of affairs. This chapter explores the strategies deployed to turn the fortunes of Kwayedza and to ensure Umthunywa stays afloat. It also seeks to understand how indigenous languages have been turned into a positive instead of being viewed as a handicap. Grounded in decolonial theory and critical political economy of the media (CPE), the chapter seeks to render visible, through ethnographic interviews with editors of the selected indigenous language newspapers, that which colonialism and coloniality (of power and being) have rendered invisible. It seeks to humanise indigenous languages, indigenous language media and indigenous language journalists by demonstrating how they have managed to not only survive but also become profitable in an English-language-dominated media environment.
