© 1999 Bill Olson
This is the text of a speech I gave to the class
"Communication in the Information Age" at the University of
Wisconsin-Eau Claire on Thur., Oct. 28, 1999.
It's a summary of interviews in my video "African Perspective."
(INTRODUCTION)
Earlier this month, I talked with two journalists from Africa who are
members of the World Press Institute. They were finishing up a
four-month tour of the United States. I asked what they thought were
the effects of U.S. mass media on their countries.
(Note: I’ve edited some of the quotes for readability.)
(CORDELIA ONU)
Cordelia Onu is assistant news editor for the Daily Champion in Lagos,
Nigeria.
Cordelia told me, “My first observation was that Americans are regular
human beings. We were under the impression that they behaved like
computers, that they did not have emotions, they did not have problems.
Then I realized that they are normal human beings with their everyday
challenges.
“Back home, the movies show us that most Americans are violent. Because
most movies that come from the United States depict the people as violent.
They show everybody carrying guns around. It affected me when I came here
initially. I could not go out in the evenings. But I realized that
part of it was true, part of it was a lie. At least I survived for
four months without anybody shooting at me.”
Cordelia said that people in Nigeria believe that Americans “don’t
care
about their neighbors. All they care about,” she said, “is just making
money. But I think Americans are very caring people. They love
their
neighbors, their children, their friends, their townspeople.
“There was a time,” she said, “when we had a lot of security
problems in Nigeria because the criminals were becoming too powerful.
Most of
the
time when you watched them, it was like you were watching an American
movie. So we started believing that the criminals were learning how
to handle guns and how to rob people from American movies.”
(JAPHET SANGA)
I also talked with Japhet Sanga, chief reporter of the Daily News in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania.
He believes that there is so much violence in the U.S., such as the school shootings, because of the influence of our movies, most of which,
he believes, are violent. And when a person sees something on TV, Japhet
says, he wants to “transmit it into reality.”
Japhet believes American mass media are affecting Tanzania in moral way.
He said there is a generation that is growing up watching American TV
shows and movies. He says, “They see the wrong impression of the United
States in the movies.”
Japhet then referred to what he calls the “transparency” in American
culture. By this he means “freedom,” “openness.” He did not
give me the impression of being opposed to freedom per se. In fact, he seemed to
think highly of our freedom of speech. However, he voiced concern about
how our moral transparency is affecting his country’s customs and
traditions.
He said, “In Africa, I cannot go to the same swimming pool with my
mother and see her swimsuit or her pants. That is impossible.
I’ve never even seen my mom’s pants, or my dad’s pants. It’s
like a taboo. But you see, some of the youngsters back in Tanzania
watch these things on the television, watch these things in the movies, and they try to behave like
Americans, which I think is doing a big disservice to my country, sort of eroding the moral and cultural values, which we have sustained since time
immemorial.”
(CONCLUSION)
Remember, these are only opinions by individuals. Still, opinions,
beliefs, even false impressions -- which are totally subjective -- can
affect how people interact with objective reality, how people interact
with other
people, how Africans might interact with Americans.
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