Broadening the global media landscape
Al-Jazeera to the rescue
TOPE ORIOLA STAFF
Global satellite television got a refreshing breath of life on Nov. 15, 2006 with the maiden broadcast of al-Jazeera English. The famous al-Jazeera that had hitherto been broadcasting exclusively in Arabic for 10 years entered international airwaves with the Queen’s language from — would you believe it? — Qatar in the Middle East! As its historymaking presenters stated on the launch date, “a new era in television news” has dawned. What are the implications of world news reporting in English language by a channel owned by people of the Middle East?
The media industry has long been a monolithic pro-wWstern establishment in the firm grip of mainly American bourgeoisie whose affinity with their government is worldrenowned. It is a fact that they do offer criticisms of their government at home, but coverage given to international issues is very biased and betrays vested interest. Thus, the philosophy has been that the government must be socially responsible at home, but may choose to be internationally irresponsible. Who cares?
In a March 29, 2006 article in the Manitoban, I argued against the “misrepresentation of Africa” by people who knew little or nothing about Africa and Africans. If Africa has been consistently misrepresented, the people of the Middle East have been overwhelmingly maligned by a steady daily dose of unreal stereotypes. It is didactic that a fourthyear University of Manitoba student wrote a letter published in the Manitoban on Oct. 25, 2006 that all Muslims, especially from the Middle East, were being treated as terrorists.
It is not an accident that the “bad guys” in Hollywood movies often have one “accent” or the other. The most popular “accents” include Russian, Italian, African (though divergent) and in most recent times, Middle-Eastern “accent.” “Accent” is not merely a question of linguistics, it is cultural, situational and a function of geography. A Canadian will have an “accent” in England for instance. That begs the point. However, would you imagine a situation where all the negative characters — drug smugglers, drug addicts, under-world criminals and gang leaders — in every movie you watch speak unmistakably like a person from Winnipeg? The damage this could cause over the years would take generations to obliterate. But that is what is being done to people from the Middle East; a very unfounded and bogus assumption that they are all religious fanatics and
In the worst-case scenario, the likes of George Bush and Donald Rumsfeld may perhaps be labeled terrorists on al-Jazeera. This could potentially enrich mass communication for us all.
Clearly, there is a need for the people of the Middle East to be represented in the media in a way that portrays who they truly are. This is not to deny that there is violence going on in the Middle East, supposedly because of religion, but at the minimum, through al-Jazeera English, the world would begin to see the fact that the Middle East does not refer to one country, but about 20 countries and people actually live their lives as defined by their socio-cultural milieu, as opposed to the warped social scientific methodology of the Western media prism. In the worst case scenario, the likes of George Bush and Donald Rumsfeld may perhaps be labelled terrorists on al-Jazeera. This could potentially enrich mass communication for us all.
If you are still in doubt about what any genre of the media in connivance with so-called social “scientists” can do to the image or self-concept of a group, please inquire from the authorities of the University of Manitoba about the damage control they have had to undertake as a result of the Maclean’s rankings. Certainly, those within the U of M know that both the “facts” and analysis presented by Maclean’s are flawed. You can always get whatever fact you are on the lookout for. However, unlike the U of M that had the luxury of pulling out of the rankings, the people of the Middle East cannot pull out of the world.
Recently, a Canadian student asked a Saudi colleague if they had motorable roads in Saudi Arabia. He argued that they probably rode on donkeys. How could anyone in 2006 believe that there are no roads, hence, no cars in Saudi Arabia, one of the wealthiest countries on earth? There’s no point blaming the poor guy; that’s what he deciphered from the media.
As an African, I have often been asked questions I considered embarrassing initially: questions about whether we live in mud houses or have any form of telecommunication, electricity, clean water and so on. I got furious at first, but later learnt to sympathize with the ignorance of people asking such questions. You don’t have to go to the moon to have electricity or ride on cars. Such questions are rooted not just in ignorance, but in pathological ethnocentrism and a psychological need to feel more privileged than others. Such a feeling makes the alienation generated by capitalism in this part of the world more tolerable; at least we are better than others.
As Wadar Khanfar, Director General of al-Jazeera told Reuters, it is crucial to “reverse the flow of information to the south.” To that I should add: to clean up unreal perceptions both in the north and south and curb what Jurgen Habermas called “communication distortion.”
Al-Jazeera English will, however, need to present facts as they are and not be a veritable ground for propaganda. It must be critical not just of western governments’ foreign policies, but of Arab governments, particularly state sponsors of terrorism. It should also beam its insider search-light on the activities of Hamas, al-Qaeda and other terrorist organizations. Theirs is the task to set the agenda for the Middle East in the English-speaking world. The long-awaited oriental sun is here.
Tope Oriola is Comment Editor of the Manitoban and a graduate student in sociology.
