Today, we hear the echoes of the past. This research project is interested in the colonial history of

Europe in the African countries and its ongoing aftermath. In particular, we focus on ex-colonizer

Belgium and its former African colonies the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Burundi to

trace if and how a post-colonial debate and 'living' memory is present in contemporary media, with

a focus on printed press. While some scholars claim that in recent years, debates on racism,

multiculturalism and post-coloniality are increasingly present in the media, others have particularly

criticized Belgium for its colonial memory loss or for not conducting a post-colonial debate as in its

neighbouring countries. By adopting an in-depth textual, production and audience reception

analysis, we want to critically investigate how post-colonial developments are molding everyday

news coverage of the 'colonial other' and how these ideas are represented in contemporary Belgian

as well as in Congolese, Rwandan and Burundi media. We work in a reciprocal way, by including

Western as well as African printed media, to acknowledge their historical and contemporary bond.

This project will contribute to the broad field of post-colonial studies, studies on international news

coverage and journalistic practices as well as memory studies.