Category: Media

This chapter reviewed the relevant literature on the effect of mass media on adolescents. The purpose of this review is to provide a background that would be appropriate for understanding what is currently known about the study. The theoretical and empirical information considered the influences of mass media on socialization of adolescent students. The influence of parental attitude on the use of mass media of adolescent students are also discussed.

In today’s world, media has made a very special place for itself in our lives. It would not be an exaggeration that today, media has become as important as food and clothing. Today different types of media is also very much helpful to educate and make a socially aware nation. The communication forms can be radio, television, cinema, magazines, newspapers and Internet-based web sites often play a varied and vital role in our society. They play an important role in increasing public awareness and formation of their views and attitudes toward certain issues. There is no denial that media is playing a very significant role in making the world smaller. Through various mediums of media whether it is radio, television, newspaper or internet, we are able to connect with large number of people around us. Thus the media informed the public about important social, economic and cultural issues as well as different problem of our society.

Television

Television is first of all based on a kinetic image, graphics and sound elements. In his book, “Fenomenul televiziune” (“Television phenomenon”), Ion Bucheru states the fact that a live broadcast or an event described shortly after it took place, is seen, felt, lived by the viewer, that becomes with or without his will, an active participant in this conduct. (Bucheru quoted in karim 2016). Romanian press offered some examples, especially in the non-adult age, a teenager bay that stabs his sister to death, after watching a horror movie, an 18 years old that raped a girl, declaring after that he only wanted to act as he many times saw on T.V. (Adevarul, July, 17th, 2015). In other words, sitting in front of the T.V. for countless hours does not always degenerate in such dose of violence in one’s social life, but it does have an influence on the brain capacity to gather information and to maintain a good work performance, encouraging a sloppy lifestyle, this being a passive activity. Here the numbers are very concerning, 70% of the young ones saying that after spending time in front of the television makes them grow weak, tired and they develop an attention deficit which makes them unable to concentrate on their homework or on reading.

Media Impact

Neelamalar & Chitra (December, 2009) stated in Kumar (2015) described that not only T.V. every mass-Media instrument has a Huge Impact on our Way of Thinking. Media is a one-faced communication provider. It tells you what is there, and it pulls you into its grip, but it does not suggest you or tell you what problems you may face later with it. Media succeeds in creating a current successful impact on its viewers, but it does not provide sufficient information about the after effects of such a success. So we should watch out for who is trying to hunt us down!! (Suman Shafi, 2012). According to a recent poll, 22% of teenagers log on to their favorite social media site more than 10 times a day, and more than half of adolescents log on to a social media site more than once a day. Seventy-five percent of teenagers now own cell phones, and 25% use them for social media, 54% use them for texting, and 24% use them for instant messaging. Thus, a large part of this generation’s social and emotional development is occurring while on the Internet and on cell phones. Because of their limited capacity for self-regulation and susceptibility to peer pressure, children and adolescents are at some risk as they navigate and experiment with social media. Recent research indicates that there are frequent online expressions of offline behaviors, such as bullying, clique-forming, and sexual experimentation, that have introduced problems such as cyber bullying, privacy issues, and “sexting” Other problems that merit awareness include Internet addiction and concurrent sleep deprivation.

Political Socialization of Adolescents’

A. Moore 2017 explain the Role of the Media on the Political Socialization of the youth. In order to decide which party to affiliate with, which candidates to vote for, etc., people need to decide what they believe in. This is where political socialization comes in. Political socialization is “the process by which people acquire political beliefs and values.” (Bardes, Shelly, and Schmidt, 2014)

At the beginning of the 20th century, before the widespread use of the radio and then television, the media was limited to newspapers. Later, there were very few radio and television stations, and even fewer people who could afford to own them. Information was very limited. So the public was pretty much spoon fed what the government wanted them to know. There was a sort of unwritten code that the media didn’t “tell all.

McDevitt and Chaffee (2002) believe that “Adolescent children are not merely receptive to political stimulation; they possess the power to transform patterns of family communication in ways that benefit themselves and their parents.” They call it a “trickle-up influence.” According to Spark Notes editors (2010), “Although the bulk of political socialization occurs during childhood, adults continue to be socialized. Political socialization occurs in many ways:

• Family: Families mostly impart political culture unintentionally by acting as examples for the children. Very often, people end up with political beliefs similar to those of their parents.
• School: Most children learn about their country at school, usually through a curriculum known as civic education. This curriculum trains young people to be good citizens, often via history, government, and social studies. Although these lessons are usually basic, many of the key ideas and values of a society are imparted through school.
• Peers: At all ages, friends and acquaintances will influence one’s beliefs.
• Religion: Different religious traditions have very different values, and one’s faith often significantly influences one’s political views.
• Social and economic class: The social class to which one belongs shapes one’s views.
• Minority status: Members of a minority group sometimes feel like outsiders, and this feeling of isolation and alienation affects their attitudes toward society and government. This is particularly true when the minority group is treated either better or worse than others in society.
• Media: The power of media is increasing with the spread of 24-hour cable news networks, talk radio, the Internet, and the seeming omnipresence of personal audio and video devices, so the influence of the media on political socialization is no longer confined to the young.

Mass-media in Socialization: Lam Lik Jay 2016 describe the role of mass-media in socialization. Socialization is the primary tool in which culture is transcended; all beliefs, norms, traditions and values are passed down to every individual born into the society. Traditionally, it occurs mostly through social interactions with family, friends and the society of which we are members. Today, with the advancement of technology and the rapid growth of media outlets, interaction amongst individuals are not what it once was. We now spend much more time on our electronic gadgets, namely our computers, televisions, tablets and of course, our smartphones. With the average teenager spending more than 10 hours consuming media each day (L. Jay 2016), mass media is arguably becoming the most potent agent of socialization in our society today.

Mass media, which now includes Internet sources such as new sites, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and a myriad of new mediums, was previously just newspapers, magazines, television, radio and billboard ads. Regardless of the changes in platform, none of these media sources are avoidable.

Rance Crain, former senior editor of Advertising Age, states that “only 8% of an ad’s message is received by the conscious mind. The rest is worked and reworked deep within the recesses of the brain.” Thus, we are unknowingly being socialized by the media that surrounds us every day.

Living in a society where we are almost always consumed by electronic devices, Internet media such as online newspapers, magazines, Facebook posts and even celebrity tweets are becoming the main source of information for the younger generations and older generations alike.

A recent study by Tecmark, a marketing agency based in London, has discovered that the average user in the UK picks up their phone more than 1,500 times a week. It’s not just changing how we interact with each other, but also radically transforming the way people are socialized. We are now so focused on the lifestyles of the rich and famous that there were multiple articles about Ariana Grande’s change of hairstyle with the headline “This is not a drill,” as if it was shocking news. What does it tell you about our society when a girl taking her hair out of a ponytail receives more media coverage than a virus that threatens the health of the entire world?

When all we see are female celebrities on the news, it presents a whole new myriad of problems. Men like myself who have been constantly exposed to images of these undoubtedly airbrushed photos of “perfect” women, proceed to judge real women more harshly, holding them to a physically unattainable ideal of beauty, and women who have been constantly taught that their value lies within their appearance, work towards and inexplicably fail to achieve this ideal, face an array of mental health problems.

Well, men are increasingly being objectified, too; walk into a fragrance store, or a men’s underwear section, almost every packaging will have a man with unbelievably chiseled abs, and perfectly trimmed or no body hair.” What I failed to realize was that when women are objectified, they are usually framed as fragile, submissive and sometimes even infantilized. However, men are shown in strong, assertive, aggressive positions, never made to seem small, or vulnerable. And these all inadvertently affect our perception of men and women; it’s subtle enough that we don’t notice it, but it’s always there, working subconsciously into our thoughts and actions.

The advent of mass media has made possible the reproduction of information on a massive scale via the medium of both the print and electronic media to inform, educate, entertain, as well as transmit values thus establishing the mass media the most powerful communication force ever created by man. Considering the degree of information flow available through the mass media, and its possible consequences on the child’s learning capability, it has become pertinent to take a critical look at the diversified role of the mass media in the process of socialization especially at the childhood stage.

This shows the extent to which the mass media has become a major socialization agent in our contemporary society. This also makes the monitoring of what the children are learning very difficult. Overtime, this intense and frequent interaction between the child and the media has served to reinforce the efforts of the family and the school, but in most cases, it weakens and dilutes family and school influences in the socialization of the child.

The media may be directly utilized for education and indoctrination, as in educational television programs. Or the exploitation of all forms of communication in authoritarian societies where the regime systematically try to spread and sustain the values they approved. As message multipliers, the mass media should transcend all the other agents in the socialization process because of its ability to increase the number and speed of message delivered, as well as the size of the audience reached in very little time. It is reasoned that given the tremendous powers especially in situations where the mass media have been adopted as integral part of the learning process, its socialization capacity must be enormous.

Agent of Socialization

Socialization, though a lifelong process occurs intensively along the first years of life. In other words, at the time when children begin to learn the language, detailed rules of behavior and the value system of their culture. Of course, all electronic media function as part of national culture too, but they come from beyond the immediate family circle and its community linked support.

Chinoy noted that, the chief agency of socialization is usually the family or kinship group. But contemporary studies reveal that children spend most of their time with the media like television, video, radio, mobile phones, tablets, internet etc. than with their parents and thus making questionable, the saying that – the family is the most primary social institution in society.

Effects of Media

Hurlock listed five effects of television on children, firstly, television watching cuts into the time available for other play activities, especially outdoor play with other children. It also leaves little time for creative play or different forms of amusement. Secondly, television present material in such an exciting and vivid way that schoolbooks can hardly compete with it for children’s interest and attention. As a result, they often find schoolbooks and schoolbooks boring. Thirdly, characters in television are usually presented as stereotypes and children come to think of all people in a given group as having the same qualities as the people on the screen. This influences children’s attitudes toward them. Fourthly, since children are imitators, they feel that what has the stamp of approval of a television program must be an accepted way for them to behave. Because law-abiding heroes or heroines are less glamorous than those who win attention by violence and other unsocial acts, children tend to use the latter to identify with and imitate. Fifthly, many children believe that anything said on television is true and that the television announcers know more about everything than parents, teachers and doctors. Hurlock believes that all types of amusements of childhood like television watching is commonly hazardous to personal and social adjustments because, first, more time is spent on it than other forms of play and, it is less often supervised by parents and other adults than other forms of play.

The research of Musa Abu Hassan (1996) found that communication media had a profound effect on the youth change which involved three aspects of cognitive, affective and psychomotor. The dissemination of unethical information through the broadcast programs. The elements of violence and sex from import media, with hugging, kissing, hand-held, and eye-dressing women scene are widely broadcast by electronic media (Hamismo, 1991). In addition, the media become the reason of attraction and repulsion that influence hang out of adolescents’ attitudes. The attraction factor is the entertainment provided, the atmosphere is comfortable and prestigious. The push factor is the home atmosphere that is uncomfortable, noisy, narrow and not entertaining at all.

Despite the ease and sophistication of the world today, it affects the performance of an individual, especially the teenager who is still a student. This effect can come in short term instantly or in the long term that happens slowly. Media and communication are capable of producing good and bad impact on human beings based on the message they are carrying and it is also capable of forming and characterizing personalities according to the references (Aminudin et al., 2009).

The main objective of media regulation is to enhance the benefits of media while reducing any harmful effects. Media practises who have large audiences are viewed as beneficial to society and are promoted by regulation. Media regulation is the control or guidance of mass media by governments and other regulatory bodies. This regulation is implemented through laws, rules or procedures and can have various goals. An example of this is to protect ‘public interest’, or encourage competition. .The main targets of media regulation are the press, radio and television, film, music, the internet, mobile phones etc.

Governments around the world have set their views on the role of media in society. Their aim is to maximise the benefits of the media. For example, some governments provide funding for film production to boost the nation’s film culture. On the other hand, the Government may restrict the circulation of ‘extremist’ political views and reduce illegal pirate radio stations.

There is a lot of controversy and disagreement surrounding how the media should be regulated. People have different views on how the media impacts people, whether it is harmful or beneficial. For example, some people claim that porngraphy should not be regulated because people should be free to explore their sexuality. Other people claim that pornography degrades and exploits women and should be censored.

Main forms of media regulation:

A form of media regulation is Direct government control. It is unusual for governments to take complete control of the media, however, countries with governments who enforce strict laws at the expense of personal freedom, often directly intervene in the practises of the media industries. For example, the Chinese government closely supervise forms of media and the Chinese media regulations allows the government to stop particular news stories by claiming that they expose state secrets and endanger the country. However, in democratic countries, the government may take direct action to eliminate news stories that could threaten national security.

The most popular form of media regulation in Europe are Independent statutory regulators.

The independent regulators are given the right to enact legislation on specific aspects of media regulation. In the UK, Ofcom regulates the communications industry. So if a member of the public makes a complaint about a television programme, Ofcom will conduct an investigation and take appropriate action. In the US, the Federal Communications Commision oversees the communications industry. Another form of media regulation is audience pressure. If consumer’s find news material offensive or potentially dangerous, they may campaign against it. To avoid campaigns against forms of media, some record labels put parental advisory stickers on their albums.

Factors that make a news event worthy:

There are different factors that make a news event newsworthy. If an event occurs near the consumer, it will have a greater impact on their lives. Likewise, if the event includes someone well-known such as a celebrity or Politician, it can have a larger impact on people’s lives and will get more media coverage. It can also depend where the news event occured. Although most people use the internet to get news coverage, we are still more likely to care more about something down the street than across the world. Also, when the news contains topics and events which are current, it is considered desirable news. Consumers are used to receiving the latest updates through different devices such as Mobile phones, and there is so much news about that old news quickly becomes irrelevant.

Abstract

Tourist destinations are currently pursuing more distinction in an increasingly competitive market, within which image is a decisive element in tourists’ destination selection. This research studies the impact of media channels, such as television, radio, magazines, newspapers, and magazines on the destination image and how it is delivered differently from one media platform to another.

Introduction

The rapid growth and versatility of the tourism industry during the last five decades, but also its fragility, has spawned a number of obstacles and opportunities in tourism marketing for tourist destinations and venues. (Echtner & Ritchie, 2003; Khodadadi, M.2013).

It is not a simple fact to overlook that the recent spur in tourism can be related to the media. Information and data are accessed using it and an education regarding the plethora of interesting attractions found around the globe. ( UKEssays, 2018)

According to the United Nations Tourism Organization (UNTO), the media plays an immensely significant role in putting tourist destinations on the rise in Eastern Europe and Central Asia onto the global tourist itinerary, thus helping to develop local economies. (UNNews, 2007).

Mass media plays a significant role in “shaping the individual and collective consciousness by organizing and circulating the knowledge which people have of their own every-day life and of the more remote contexts of their lives”(Adoni & Mane, 1984, p. 325). The media, particularly the news, and due to their high reliability and market penetration, may be the only image-formation representative capable of radically changing an area’s image in a short period of time (Gartner, 1994). “It is well recognized that people receive information about tourist destinations through a huge variety of media, gain knowledge about these areas and construct their images, which then form the basis of their destination choices (Mercille, 2005)”. (Khodadadi, M.2013).

Tasci and Gartner (2007) suggest that the media tends to be more instrumental to image formation since, as aforementioned, their credibility and reliability are relatively higher when reaching mass audiences, in comparison to the destination-originated information. News channels have the capability to create general knowledge about a destination, and are out of a destination’s immediate control. The authors also argue that, “organic information sources and especially news media tend to have an even greater impact when they portray a dramatic event occurring at a destination, including human caused disasters such as political upheaval, riots, terrorism, insurgency, crime, war, and natural disasters” (Tasci & Gartner, 2007). However, even though the significance of media in the creation and development of destination images, this perception has not been thoroughly examined in the field of tourism research. . (Khodadadi. M. 2013).

Image, as a factor in the traveling decision process, has been broadly examined. People hold differing perceptions of different places, which, once evaluated, become a main piece contributing to site selection. “Several studies have demonstrated that destination images have considerable influence on tourist choice and behavior” (Chon, 1991; Chen & Tsai, 2007; Pearce, 1982). According to Jenkins (1999) and Fakeye & Crompton (1991), defining the term “tourist destination image” while aiming for accuracy may pose as a challenging affair. Jenkins (1999) proposes that the most commonplace definition is the one proposed Crompton (1979, p. 18), “The sum of beliefs, ideas, and impressions that a person has of a destination”. . (Khodadadi. M. 2013).

Taking this definition into account within the tourism industry, there are different factors that affect the potential tourist to make his or her decision to travel. In order for the tourist to reach such a verdict, a basic need must be present; a need to travel. As soon as the decision is made to fulfill that need, there will be a need for information on different destinations. Then, the decision maker would look at the different options that he or she has, compare and contrast those options, before they actually decide where they want to go. “In this process, people make use of different information systems that influence their final decision”. (Kotzé, F.C. 2005)

According to Ahmed (1991), destination marketers spend great efforts to institute positive images for their locations. This is because of the high level of competition among destinations, especially with the development of media channels nowadays. A destination’s image is extremely important because it majorly influences a tourist’s decision-making process. This process is typically influenced by the tourist’s needs and wants, previous holidays, recommendations, available funds, among others (Lamb et al., 2002). “What a tourist thinks about a destination’s image is strategically more important than what a marketer knows about the destination. The key to creating a successful image is convincing tourists to view a destination in the manner intended by the destination’s marketers” (Ahmed, 1991; Kotzé, F.C. 2005)

The authors (Gartner et al., 1992) examined that media has a positive influence on destination image formation when the stories presented by the channels introduce or describe a particular place. They stated that the media’s influence would be enhanced when a receiver of the media message had uncertain or insufficient knowledge and information about the destination in question. Earlier studies also found the negative outcome of bad publicity on the destination images, as well as tourist visits to the destinations previously communicated via the media. (Park, J. 2015).

Baloglu and McCleary (1999) described that the relatively negative image that Egypt holds among Americans had formed because of the news coverage about terrorism in the country. Similarly, Peel and Steen (2007) discovered the negative impact on specific destinations. For example, the effect of news coverage about national crime rates on Australia’s image.

Furthermore, the authors found the sharp impacts of media coverage for crisis and natural disaster situations such as the tsunami disaster in Southeast Asia (Henderson, 2007) or terrorist attacks in Bali (Hitchcock & Putra, 2005; Park, J. 2015).

These studies explicitly indicated the significant role of media in the formation of tourism destination image, and suggested that media relations in the tourism industry should be well-applied to avoid potential negative or undesirable images. (Park, J. 2015).

The sources of information relative to tourist activities have changed significantly over the past fifteen years. This is primarily due to the impact of contemporary technology. Second, it is due to the change in tourist consumer behavior, and thirdly due to the rise in the number of tourist destinations. Lastly, this change is due to the growing level of competition between different destinations globally. (Molina, A. Gómez, M. & Consuegra, D. 2010).

“The image a tourist may have of a destination can be quite personal, as it depends on each tourist’s individual perceptions of the place” (Bigné et al., 2001; Gallarza, Saura, & Garcı́a, 2002; San Martín & Del Bosque, 2008). The opinions of tourists worldwide are highly personal and subjective in nature, that is because they can base their views of the same destination on varying experiences, which in turn depend on their personal thoughts and emotions. This has caused many researchers to investigate the mechanisms of a tourism destination image, generally elaborating on the cognitive and affective components. In the minds of tourists, whilst the cognitive image represents the tourists’ knowledge and beliefs of a particular destination, the affective image signifies their emotional responses towards it (Gartner, 1993; Beerli & Martín, 2004; Pike & Ryan, 2004; Royo-Vela, 2009; San Martín & Del Bosque, 2008, San Martín Gutiérrez, & Rodríguez del Bosque, 2011; Smith, Li, Pan, Witte, & Doherty, 2015).

When the cognitive and affective images are combined, the overall destination image is created (Baloglu & McCleary, 1999), which is comprised of personal characteristics of the destination, and integrates both tangible and intangible elements. (Alcocer, N. & Luiz, V. 2019)

“Violence is like a strong perfume. It may seem good from afar, but as soon as you get close it is sickening”. Today we live in a society where violence is everywhere, it seems every movie is an action blockbuster, every song is more vulgar than the last, every video game is based on killing another human being, and every TV Breaking News is a story about a mass shooting. Violence in the media leads to aggressive behavior, a desensitization to violence, bullying, fear, anxiety, nightmares, and depression. Violence is defined as “behavior involving physical force intending to hurt, damage, or kill someone or something”. This viewing of negative behavior is not beneficial to ones’ mental well-being, should not be popularized by the mainstream media; in fact, it is more harmful than entertaining.

Firstly, there is strong evidence that exposure to violence in the media will lead to aggressive behavior. A 1960 study demonstrated this theory. Researcher tested how preschoolers would react when shown a film of a man beating a doll. After viewing the film, the children were put into a room with a variety of toys, including the exact same doll shown on the film. According to Psychology Today “they beat the doll with a mallet, and they punched and kicked it. What was most surprising was that the children found new and creative ways to beat up the doll, and they played more aggressively with the other toys in the room as well” .

In addition, people with mental illnesses are especially affected by violence in media as compared to other mentally healthy people. If someone is more vulnerable to violent media, then there is a strong possibility that they would pick up the characteristics of the action hero, video game character, or model the violent behaviour that is constantly portrayed by the media. In 2000, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) found school shooters tend to have a mental illness of some kind, and that violence in media played a contributing factor in the school shootings. Also, in the past forty years, news articles were eight times more likely to mention video games as a motive in the report following school shooting.

The amount of violence in media has skyrocketed in the past few decades. Whether it be in TV, movies, music, or video games, this leads to a big problem with the over exposure of violence and people starting to become desensitized. The children who become desensitized tend to “become less sensitive to the pain and suffering of others” , lose empathy, increase their aggressive thoughts and actions, and become more fearful to the world around them. This change to their personality will turn children into more aggressive and emotionless adults.

Children also tend to copy what they see on tv and video games. If a child sees people fighting, they will copy it, most likely it will be on another child. This leads to physical aggression between children as well as bullying. Violence does not have to be physical, “Violent episodes can take the form of physical altercations as well as emotional taunting” , because of the increase in anger, aggression, and temper the children will take out their rage on the other children by hitting or insulting their classmates.

Fear is another factor in how violence effects children. Fighting, murder, aggression, and vulgarity will cause emotional upset, fear for violence, and anxiety in children. With the constant violence in movies, tv, and video games, the number of children who have suffered from these problems must be significant. The more gruesome portrayal of the real world in movies and video games has also been proven to create a false sense of the real world and scare children into thinking that fiction is reality.

Sometimes the fear can lead to problems that will affect everyday lives. Did you know that people who watch violent movies or play a mature video game before bed are 13 time more likely to have bad dreams and nightmares? If a child were to watch one of these movies or play one of those games before bed constantly, they could then develop problems like insomnia and night terrors. The children who do develop problems will not want to sleep and will suffer from sleep deprivation. Other symptoms are moodiness, fatigue, headaches, and an increased risk of a stroke.

The most common long-term problem with an exposure to violence in media is an increased risk of a person’s psychological well-being deterioration. “Among the various mental health problems, depression is one of the major problems they encounter” . In fact, depression among children aged twelve to seventeen has “increasing from 8.7 percent in 2005 to 12.7 percent in 2015” , and that is only for the people who have been diagnosed with clinical depression. What are the odds that in a day and age where violence in our media is so prevalent and our depression rates are drastically increasing both at the same time? The group of people who have had the sharpest increase in diagnoses are the target demographic for violent video games as well as action movies.

Aggressive behavior, a desensitization to violence, bullying, fear/anxiety, nightmares, and depression are all symptoms of an exposure to violence in media. If the mainstream media did not glorify this behavior, it is my opinion, we would have less aggressive people and a decrease of mental health related cases.

Bibliography

1. LoBue, Vanessa. “Violent Media and Aggressive Behavior in Children.” Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers, https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/blog/the-baby-scientist/201801/violentmédia-and-aggressive-behavior-in-children.
2. “Violence in Media.” American Psychological Association, American Psychological Association, https://www.apa.org/action/resources/research-in-action/protect.
3. Brown, Patrick, and Cheryl Tierney. “Media Role in Violence and the Dynamics of Bullying.” Pediatrics in Review, American Academy of Pediatrics, 1 Oct. 2011, https://pedsinreview.aappublications.org/content/32/10/453.
4. Soron, Tanjir Rashid, et al. “Media Violence and Childhood Depression.” Journal of Psychiatry, vol. 21, no. 2, 2018, doi:10.4172/2378-5756.1000439.
5. “Depression Is on the Rise in the U.S., Especially Among Young Teens.” Search the Website, https://www.mailman.columbia.edu/public-health-now/news/depression-rise-us-especially- among-young-teens.

The history of Nigeria mass media needs to be discussed under two headings for comprehensive understanding. The print media – newspapers, magazines, periodicals and paperback as well as broadcast media – radio and television. This report will brief point into the media history, which also x-ray the performances, problems and successes of mass media from 1859 to date which has been in the fore front in the country’s independence and subsequent nation building. It will also be of great importance to point out the media practice under the missionaries/columnists, colonialists before independence and after independence under the military and the civilian governments in Nigeria.

The Print Media Missionary Press Era

Print media is the forerunner because printing came before journalism. In Nigeria, print media serves as the first and oldest medium of communication in the media history of Nigeria. A professional printer and printing press were first brought into Nigeria in 1846 by the Presbyterian Mission of Rev. Hope Waddell and it was based in Calabar (now capital of Cross River State) with the major function of pamphlets production. Rev. Waddell used his printing press to print religious materials in fulfillment of his mission to evangelize to the people he met in Calabar and its environment and some educational materials but not newspapers. Writing on Waddell’s pioneering effort at printing, the eminent Professor of History, Ade Ajayi, disclosed in his book ‘Christian Mission in Nigeria’ that: “…in August 1849 the printer (i.e., Waddell’s printer) listed that he had produced eight hundred copies of the Primer, five hundred copies of Bible lessons, one hundred and fifty of arithmetic examples, two hundred of multiplication tables, five hundred almanacs with the commandments in Efik, three hundred copies of Elementary Arithmetic and four hundred of the Catechism in Efik and English”. In 1854, printing took a professional dimension when Rev. Henry Townsend fitted up a printing press and inaugurated a printing school in the Mission Compound, Ake, Abeokuta. The first newspaper in Nigeria ‘Iwe Iroyin Yoruba’ was published on December 3, 1859 by Townsend’s printing press, whereas Waddell’s printing press which was the first in Nigeria pioneered general commercial printing. The only newspaper that would have rivaled Iwe Iroyin was Anglo-African which was established by Robert Campbell in 1863 but it died a year later. Iwe Iroyin was however aimed at propagating religion and mass literacy. Iwe Iroyin became bilingual when an English supplement was added to it on March 8, 1867 before it finally disappeared from the newsstand later that year. After the demise of Iwe Iroyin, popular newspaper failed to show up on the newsstands until 1880s. The period within 1867-1880s is regarded as the blank period in Nigeria press history.

Colonial Press Era

This was the period that allegations were raised that the newspapers set up by colonialists were controlled to suit the purpose of the European proprietors on the ground that African events were not reported. All these allegations were combined to convince articulate Nigerians that was high time they had a native press that would mirror their desired aspirations. This struggle led to the emergence of nationalist press which served as the instrument to get mental emancipation from service colonial mentality. By 1920s, the nationalist press had started to operate in a full force. These media emerged to challenge, compete with and finally displace the colonial administration. Most of the newspapers were privately owned, except the Nigerian Daily Times published by Nigerian Printing and Publishing Company in conjunction with Daily Mirror Group of London. During this period, different newspapers were established which served as organs of individual political leaders. Notable amongst them were ‘West African Pilot’ established in 1937 by Dr. Nnamdi Azikwe, ‘Daily News’ owned by Herbert Macaulay and ‘Tribune’ (now Nigeria Tribune) established by Chief Obafemi Awolowo in 1949. These newspapers joined in the advocacy for political emancipation from the colonialists and ‘Tribune’ was a megaphone of its proprietor, advancing his political philosophies and enhancing his popularity in preparation for the struggle for leadership of the country, if when it became independent. However, there were some other newspapers established after the first three mentioned. It was noted that most of these newspaper writers were loyalists of their respective proprietors. One undisputable fact is that, the Nigerian press of the nationalist period was aggressive in agitation and advocacy, fighting in unism for the independence from colonial masters.

Civilian Press Era

This period is regarded as the time during which the government and the governed had freedom of communication to each other for mutual benefit. Thus, for any civilian system of government to be democratic, there should be freedom for every individual to express or publish his or her views or ideas through the instrumentality of the mass media without fear of prior restraints or arbitrary punishment for whatever being published or expressed. The independent constitution of 1960 was the first to allow for freedom of the press, later which the 1963 republican constitution reproduced the 1960 provisions, in addition, the 1979 constitution provided Nigerians a high degree of press freedom such as freedom of media ownership. The press, especially during the first republic was mostly controlled by their proprietors most of whom were politicians and press men became sycophantic propagandists for their employers. They threw professional ethics over board, forgetting the watch dog roles of the press. The Second Republic press also allowed for the politician to win and control the press and the effect of this partisan on the Nigerian Second Republic press was disheartening. The owners controlled the press personnel and newspaper centers to suit their selfish political purpose without any consideration of the citizenry. Under this republic, newspaper often danced to the tune of the owners. The effect of this was that, newspapers neglected stories on issue such as corruption, oppression and ethnicism. Examples of these newspapers who practiced such system were the Daily Times, New Nigerian and Herald controlled and serving as sycophantic megaphones of the National Party of Nigeria (NPN), which controlled the federal government, while Sketch and Observer constituted the large mouths of the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN), which controlled the four Yoruba speaking states and the old Bendel state now Edo and Delta states. An important fact remained that, in second republic press most of the private owned newspapers were strictly monitored and controlled towards the desire of their politically-minded owners as well as destruction of their proprietors’ political opponents sometimes with no regards for truth in their reporting. However, most newspapers tried to be fair in their coverage or events in the current civilian era regardless of the political party involved. This is because most of the prominent newspapers are not owned by notable politicians.

The Press Under the Military

The military like the civilian controlled the press as well but political control of the press during democratic era does not feature prominently during military regimes. Press censorship has also been associated with the military more than the civilian administration in Nigeria. The conditions of the press during the military era, the office of the foreign press in Nigeria was closed by the Murtala/Obasanjo military administration in 1976. The office or Reuters, the British News Agency, was shut for reporting events arising from the abortive coup in which Gen. Murtala Muhammed was assassinated. The use of newsprints as a weapon of control by the Buhari/Idiagbon regime which realizing its significance refused to grant news media exemption from the 20 per cent (20%) duty imposed on all imports. It also ordered that the payment of customs duty on newsprint be done in advance. This led to the April 1985 hike of newspaper price from 20 kobo to 30 kobo. Also, General Ibrahim Babangida’s administration sent a combined team of soldiers and policemen to close down and occupy the premises of Concord newspaper, Punch, Sketch, Abuja News Day and the Observer as a result of the annulment of June 12, 1993 presidential election. On the other hand, the Obasanjo regime decided to control the government owned media as a result of incessant criticism from the Nigerian press. For instance, the former Chief of Staff, supreme headquarters in the regime, Major-General Sheu Yar’Adua said that journalists working in government owned newspapers should “learn to toe the government tune or quiet”. This directive however put the government owned newspapers’ operation in some kind of dilemma over what exactly to do on certain crucial national issues. On the other hand, privately owned newspapers did not hesitate in playing watchdog roles as well as responding to the constitutional demand of rendering the account of the government to the people during the military era. Today, there are over one hundred newspapers in Nigeria and over fifty magazine organizations.

The Electronic Media

Broadcasting in Nigeria is one of the gains Nigeria had from colonialism. The foundation was laid by the then Director-General of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) who conceived the idea of ‘Empire Broadcasting’. This did not materialize until 1932 when the ‘Empire’ was divided into five zones, namely: Canada, South Africa, India, Australia and East Africa. Lord Reith, who was the prime mover behind the idea, was said to believe that ‘Empire Broadcasting’ would overcome some of the isolation and directness that is the fate of many of our overseer relatives. If we bring to them and to others some share of the amenities of the home country and metropolitan interest and culture, which for one reason or another, may not be fully available.

Broadcasting came to Nigeria in stages. The first stage or step was the introduction of wired broadcasting known as ‘radio distribution’ or ‘rediffusion’. On Sunday, December 1, 1935, the wired broadcasting service known as the Radio Distribution Service (RDS) formally took off as it was commissioned in Lagos. Subscribers responded well at its introduction. However, after the Second World War, a 300-watt short wave transmitter was installed in 1948 under the name Radio Nigeria. Radio Nigeria was in the main to rely the BBC with one hour of its broadcasting however, set aside in the evening for local programs which featured entertainment, news and local announcements. The RDS operation came to an end in 1951, the Nigerian Broadcasting Service (NBS) was established. It had stations in Ibadan, Abeokuta, Warri, Enugu, Ijebu-ode, Onitsha, Port-Harcourt, Calabar, Jos, Kaduna, Katsina, Zaria and Kano. However, after the regional independence, the Western Regional government demanded its own broadcast station. Thus, on October 31, 1959, the government of Western Nigeria under Chief Obafemi Awolowo went ahead to found Western Nigeria Broadcasting Service (WNBS) the first in Nigeria and in ‘black Africa’. It is pertinent to say, it is the WNBS which also championed the advent of television broadcasting not only in Nigeria but also in Africa. Thus, as contained in the Nigeria Television Authority (NTA) handbook in 1981, television broadcasting under the WNBS was initially under the trading name of Western Nigeria Radio Vision Services limited, in partnership with overseas radio-fusion limited, United Kingdom, UK. This later changed into Western Nigeria Broadcasting Services/Western Nigeria Television (WNBS/WNTV). It has ‘first in Africa’ as its slogan. The WNBS/WNTV gave way, a year later (1960) to the former government of Eastern Nigeria, to set up the second Nigeria television service known as Eastern Nigeria Television (ENTV). The establishment of Western Nigeria Broadcasting Service WNBSTV) combining radio and Africa’s first television services, triggered a race by other two regions to set up their own broadcasting services. In 1962, the Northern Regional Government established a television which was an arm of Broadcasting Company of Northern Nigeria (BCNN). Also, in Kaduna was situated Radio Kaduna Television (RKTV). This was jointly owned by the regional government and the British Television Company. The Nigeria Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) took over when America partnership was terminated. The post-civil war economic boom precipitated the take-off of the new states station in the Midwest, Benue-Plateau (first color television), Kano, Rivers, East Central (at Aba) and North Western states. WNTV gave way to the establishment of many television stations not only in Nigeria but in Africa as a whole.

Conclusion

Today, one finds out in Nigeria that each state has at least two television stations, one for the federal government. The federal government owns the Nigeria Television Authority (NTA) which was inaugurated in 1977. Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN) was also established in 1978 with NTA as federal monopolies. The decree 24 of 1977 which established it was promulgated in March, 1977 but took effect from April, 1976 by the decree, the NTA became the only body empowered to understand television broadcasting in the country, and it commenced network news to all states of Nigeria. Broadcasting system in Nigeria has taken a giant step with the advent of the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) which was established in 1992 to monitor and regulate broadcasting in Nigeria. This came as a result of decree No. 38 of 1992 which ushered in the participation of private broadcasting stations and outfit in Nigeria. The decree put under NBC all transmission by sound or vision by cable television, radio, satellite or any other medium of broadcast from anywhere in Nigeria to its authority. However, there are over fifty radio stations owned and controlled by both federal and state governments, about thirteen radio stations owned by the private sector. While there are about thirty-two television stations owned by the federal government, about thirty owned by the state government and about ten owned by the private sector. This is the reason Nigeria has been regarded a media proliferation due to the continued increase in mass media, thus, print media-newspapers and magazines and broadcast media-radio and television.

References

1. Ogunyem et al. (2014). Problems of Mass Media in Developing Countries Available at: https://www.academia.edu/13803547/Problems_of_Mass_Media_in_Developing_Countrie (Accessed: 23rd March 2019).

Over the past century, the ways in which governments have used propaganda to influence the masses have changed dramatically. In this essay I will be analysing two pieces of propaganda, one historical piece (Is This Tomorrow? America under Communism, a 1947 comic book) and one contemporary piece (Donald Trump’s 2016 Presidential Campaign slogan “Make America Great Again!”) . I will look at the ways in which each piece was used to influence its target audience and for what reasons they were used in the context of the socio-political climate of their respective time.

The ideology of the comic is closely linked to the philosophy of the American government during and after WW2 (The Second World War). Before the war, the United States was in a period of isolation, in which the country had minimal involvement in international affairs. After the war, the united states were well and truly involved in international relations again, this led to a rise of Xenophobia across the nation, both in government and in ordinary Americans. The USA, as a distinctly capitalist government, have always had opposing principles to that of communists regimes, so when the end of the war led to the creation of a new global superpower that was ruled by a communist government, The USSR, the US government was concerned that the ever expanding reaches of communist ideologies would infiltrate the nation and corrupt the minds of the American people. The purpose then of this comic book was to respond to the spread of communism by instilling a fear of communists into the American people, creating a negative image of communism and what America would look like under communist rule. The USA has had a long history of anti-communism prior to WW2, for example, the mass deportation and prosecution of American socialists during the years following WW1. The end of WW2 led to a second “Red Scare” which would come to last decades by virtue of the Cold War.

This comic strip was produced in the formative years of the Cold War, “Is This Tomorrow? America Under Communism” was published in 1947 by the Catechetical Guild Educational Society, based in St. Paul, Minnesota. It was written by F. Robert Edman and Francis Mcgrade and the art was done by Charles M. Schulz. Catechetical teaching refers to catholic religious education, as such, the catechetical Guild of St. Paul is a Catholic Organisation that produced educational materials for Catholic children. The leader of the organisation was Father Louis Gales, who created the very successful Catholic Digest, which is still being published to this day. This comic therefore had the target audience of catholic children as well as catholic communities. Since before WW2, The Catholic church was already involved in the anti-communist movement in America, which was due to the increase of immigration of Italian Catholics who were seen to have more radical political views than the more conservative Irish Catholics. By the start of the start of the war, the conservative Catholics in the church held most of the power, so when the war ended most Catholics already had a negative view of communism.

In the introduction of the comic, its apparent purpose is stated, “TO MAKE YOU THINK!”. It states the large numbers of the communist party members in the united states and that they are already in positions of power. The fictional story that follows focuses on the USA during a catastrophic drought which leaves the US weak. The communists are shown to adopt racial, ethnic and religious hatred of different organisations. The tactics used by the communists during the takeover in the story seem to mirror those of rise of the Nazi’s in Germany in the 30’s, riots leading to national emergencies resulting in terrorist attacks which kill the leaders of government. The Catholics in the story suffer greatly in the revolution, members of the church are killed for trying to stop the communists and a mass persecution of Catholics begins. This sort of anti-communist propaganda was actually very common after the war, it uses historical examples of similar events to make its point. The comic appealed to a mass audience as many would recognise the symbols used in the comic from school or from news headlines. The authors of this comic used the Catholics’ fear and anxiety of being a minority in a mostly protestant government , as well as the long history of the prosecution of Catholics across Europe, to instil fear into its readers.

To know the purpose of trump’s campaign slogan during his presidential election, we must first look at the ideology that trump holds. Donald Trump has stated many times that he is a “total nationalist”. A nationalist is someone who strongly identifies with his own country and vigorously supports its interests, especially to the exclusion or detriment of the interests of other nations. The purpose then of this slogan is to gain support from voters by appealing to their nationalistic views. During the 2016 election campaign, there was a large majority of Americans who believed that the country was in decline. The slogan became a huge pop culture phenomenon and the famous red “Make America Great Again!” Hats went on to sell millions. Both his supporters and people who have opposed him have used the slogan for their own means and countless parodies have been made of the slogan. The slogan was created by Donald Trump himself in the lead up to the start of his presidential campaign, A similar slogan was used in the 1980 presidential campaign when Ronald Reagan coined the phrase “Let’s make America great again” to which Trump said he had never heard before and that “I(Trump) don’t like it(Reagan’s slogan) as much. With this campaign, Trump did not really have a specific target audience but rather it was more of a “backshot” approach to his message where he attempted to influence anyone and everyone that would listen to him. In studies done on Trump’s voters, it was found that most did not go to university( voters were 65% less likely to vote for him if they had a degree) , most live in parts of the USA with a lot of racial resentment , most are men , most are over the age of 30 , most have a low income and they are mostly white or English-speaking Hispanics . By using the phrase “Make America Great Again!” he is saying to his voters that America, which was once a great nation, is now a punching bag for other countries such as China and Mexico. With just these four words Donald trump was able to garner the support of millions around America. The reason this slogan is so powerful is because of the last word “Again”. Using “Again” invites a with-us-or-against-us reaction, you can either question whether America was ever great or assert that America is still great, or you accept the slogan and support trump in his goals.

Overall by comparing the historical evidence to the contemporary, we can see that propaganda is just as successful today as it was seventy years ago. The same methods are still being successfully employed to influence people today and with technology, trying to discern whether something is or isn’t propaganda is becoming even harder.

“Just because something works, doesn’t mean it can’t be improved.” – Shuri (Black Panther, 2018)

Marvel vs Dc has been an ongoing debate for years now. Who’s better at producing movies? Who’s better at selling comics? Who has the best characters? Don’t get me wrong all of the questions above are valuable but the real question we should be asking is who is better at marketing and advertising their content?

Introduction: The Marvel vs. DC Debate

Let’s start by explaining who these big companies are.

Marvel was founded in 1939 (80 years ago) and it’s an American media franchise that since 2009 is owned by Disney. They started with comic books and since then have made their way into the cinematographic industry.

DC Comics was founded in 1934 (85 years ago), for those who don’t know DC stands for Detective Comics (because it was because of a comic book series about a crime that the two founders of DC ended up teaming up and forming a company using the same name). They have since been a huge part of the comic book industry and later on of the TV and film industry. They are currently owned by Warner Bros. Entertainment.

Historical Background: Marvel and DC’s Origins

To understand the importance of marketing in the cinematographic industry and its impact on Marvel’s revenue, we have to understand what Marvel was and what it did to become who they are today.

Back in the 90s Marvel was pretty much done for, they were strapped for cash and the solution that they found back then was to sell the rights to some of their heroes.

Back then DC’s heroes were already well known; with Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman under their belt, it seemed like they had nothing to worry about, especially when Marvel sold the rights of their top heroes Spiderman (to Sony) and X-men (to 20th Century Fox).

After the deal, Marvel was left with some money but no well-known heroes to work with. That’s when their marketing strategy really began. Let’s think about 11 years back. Beginning of 2008 who would you know that would recognize Iron Man or would know that it was not only the title of a Black Sabbath song?

Before the movie, Iron Man was released not many of us knew who he was and now there’s not one kid who doesn’t know his name.

Marvel choose a long-term strategy. Instead of releasing separate movies or even just working on the avengers straight away, they chose to build the brand first.

Let me give an example of how they worked using a cosmetics brand. Let’s pretend that there’s a new brand in the market that not a lot of people know of, so instead of releasing a full line of cosmetics and deals, they choose a long-term strategy to introduce their products one by one to the public to build the brand’s image.

At first, they release lipstick (Iron man) after that they release their bronzer (Hulk) their eye shadows (Thor and Captain America), and so on. When their products are well known individually they wrap all of them together in a pretty purse (a great production) and release them together as a whole (The Avengers).

What we have to understand is, the idea was always, from the get-go, to sell the purse but instead of just doing it with what they had available they strengthen the name of the brand because with a strong name it’s easier to sell products.

They chose to work on a long-term strategy to make more money later instead of making quick cash immediately.

The Marketing Genius of Marvel

Comparing Marvel and DC ends up being inevitable, they both have very similar products and dare I say almost the same fan base. This entire market focused on superheroes started with comic books, and both of these companies (Marvel and DC) are greatly expanding this market and taking it to a whole new level by utilizing all types of channels available in a vigorous effort to make their characters more popular and well-known.

The animated series DC has Batman: The Animated Series that won an Emmy award, Justice League and Justice League Unlimited, we all have watched at least an episode in our earlier days and the reruns were watched by our kids or younger siblings.

DC also has the longer-running superheroes series on TV with Smallville a Superman prequel about his teenage years that ran for 10 years (2001-2011).

DC’s Struggles and Successes

In the small screen aspect, we can say that Marvel is following in DCs steps and providing more content to their fans.

Since 2013 we are being bombarded with Marvel TV series. We were introduced to SHIELD and their characters throughout the Marvel movies, and after the success of The Avengers, a TV series based on those characters was released. Marvel Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. won a ‘Most exciting New Series in 2013 in the Critics’ Choice Award and has been an ongoing series on ABC (an American broadcasting company) series ever since.

Another 15+ series from Marvel were released or are bound to be released in the next couple of years. These series are spread across different platforms including Netflix, Hulu, Freeform, and the newest Disney+. It’s easy to see how Marvel is now everywhere, which is another part of their marketing strategy.

Some people choose Netflix, some choose Hulu and Disney+ but different Marvel series are available in all of them.

This essay is by no means trying to bury the work that DC has done. Their heroes are still well known and still bring audiences to the movie theatres but if they want to catch up with Marvel’s success they will have to come up with a stronger marketing plan.

DC keeps excelling on the small screen with Gotham, Arrow, The Flash, and Supergirl and they also found a great way to do a crossover, with the last 3 shows mentioned being connected in the same cinematographic universe. They tend to get high ratings when the characters get together in the different shows, but this is not enough to bring their heroes up into the 1st place again.

A way into selling is by making people relate to what you have, that’s why people buy products promoted by digital influencers that they like because they relate to them. Marvel is doing a great job of bringing the characters closer to the audience, we are all cheering for them and sad when they get hurt and that’s what keeps us following their journey. We want them to win and we want to see it happens. DC, on the other hand, keeps their heroes a bit above us and that creates a bigger difference between us and the characters that influence when we want to choose if we want to watch them or not, and that has been proved.

A study conducted by ZappiStore used facial expressions of people reacting to both, Marvel and DC trailers. The study showed that Marvel movies achieved more success because the audience find them more appealing and emotionally engaging than DC movies. That has a lot to deal with how the movies are produced and the idea behind them.

The Emotional Connection: Marvel’s Edge

What I mean by this is, in the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe) all the films are made in a way that they complement each other and at the end of each movie we have a sneak peek of a scene that shows what we are supposed to expect and to peak our curiosity on how things are going to connect and it creates that anticipation feeling that drives us to the movie theatre.

On the other hand in the DCEU (The DC Extended Universe) the films are produced in disconnected ways where the movies are pursuing individual successes without showing the development of characters and without hinting at what’s about to come.

DC is trying to change this image though, they did hint at the idea of the justice league movie in Batman vs Superman, the same movie in which they introduced wonder woman before the release of her solo movie, so, they are trying to achieve a similar feeling that the MCU created they are just not having the same success.

Justice League was released in 2017 bringing all of their biggest heroes together (Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, The Flash, and Cyborg) and they also used a lighter tone to the movie to appeal more to the audience.

They were eager to compete with Marvel, and because they wanted to be up to par fast, they didn’t give enough time for their characters to conquer the public’s heart.

Even though the public is aware of the existence of the DCS superheroes (even more than they were aware of the Marvels heroes when they first started) the production and the way they are introduced in the cinematographic universe is different, and without getting their public involved and invested in the characters, the movie ended up not being as successful as The Avengers (the equivalent of the movie on the different company).

In the comic book side of it though DC has been trying and even succeeding in marketing its brand. In 2016 they came up with the rebirth book collection. In this collection they had a line-wide re-launched of their titles, they all had different covers and were released twice a month (Their previous comics were released once a month) and the collection ended up being very appealing to the readers making the sales of the comic books soar right after the launch. But even so in August 2019 in every two comic books ordered from Diamond Comic Distributors by North American comic book, one was a Marvel comic book which means that Marvel held a 50% share amongst all other companies for the month of August.

Conclusion: The Future of Marvel and DC

The quote by Shuri in the Black Panther shows what Marvel is going for, they have a system that is clearly working but at the same time they are not holding back, it’s the opposite, they are pushing forward and trying to improve even more by pushing their brand in all channels, they are present on tv, comic books, toy shops and more importantly on the cinemas. They are also very present on social media, all of their actors are constantly posting about the movies and hinting at what’s about to come, their interviews get constantly shared on social media and that keeps the public interested.

DC is also following one of their hero’s quotes and dare I say not in the best manner.

“It’s not who I am underneath, but what I do that defines me.” – Batman

What I mean by this is, DC has great characters which we were raised listening to and talking about, but even do they have this strong core they are not doing much about it. They are taking them for granted and not working on them in a way to make them more interesting to the public and that’s the reason that their numbers are going down. I do believe that if DC works in its marketing strategies it can be up to par with marvel they need to evaluate what’s best for their brand even if that means starting again and working to build the brand back up.

Every year from July to September Torrential rain, flooding and monsoons are the norms for South Asia. The annual event is unpredictable in its danger, death, and destruction. In 2019, the first onslaught of catastrophic monsoons hit on July 12 in the South Asia region in countries such as Bangladesh, China, India, and Nepal. Numerous Publications have covered the event from differing perspectives to their respective audiences. From local viewpoints, foreign opinions and ultimately transnational behaviour the event is perceived, constructed and consumed in a variety of ways. By using discourse analysis to identify meaning from the language used by these publications’, traces of socio-cultural, political and ideological influences surface. Transnational behaviour is observed; however, publications of origin within the affected areas in distinct ways concentrate on local experiences and reporting. As society attaches meaning to language, the realms of knowledge and culture become inextricably connected. Using media outlets from Germany, Qatar, the United Nations, India, and Bangladesh, publications like Deutsche Welle, Aljazeera, UNICEF, India Today and Prothom Alo present this connection through the reporting of current events; such is the South Asia Monsoons and Floods of 2019.

Deutsche Welle provides a humanitarian viewpoint in the wake of the Rohingya refugee crisis as a flood ridden Bangladesh struggles to cope with large camps of refugees and makeshift ‘shantytowns’ via the desolation of the Monsoons and Floods. The article ‘Rohingya refugees struggle to survive in monsoon season’ reintroduces the Rohingya refugee conversation, from its 2017 beginnings during their persecution from Myanmar. Through a video format, Deutsche Welle aims to move beyond language in written form and instead evoke an emotive response through visual means concerning their continued plight. Communication takes an oral form to convey the devastation the events of the monsoon season have brought to the already harsh reality of life in a refugee camp. The video itself also provides a means for easily translatable content as sound recordings can be dubbed over and text re-written in one of the 30 languages Deutsche Welle operates online. As a conservative German International Broadcaster; their content and mission focus on their motto ‘Made for minds’ to reach their audience of “international decision-makers, to people who have or will have an influence on opinion-making” — reaching an estimated 197 million people a week.

The word ‘Minds’ insinuates that their target audiences are of education and the lens through which they view the natural disaster taps into socio-political issues regarding refugees and the actions of governments in addressing the increased devastation to this particular group of people. Another Humanitarian view was taken by UNICEF, the United Nations organisation for the preservation and long-term improvement of the needs of children and women in developing countries. Created by the United Nations General Assembly in 1946, the organisation targets its media material towards governments, corporations and the general population of developed countries. Through their similar humanitarian lens, they use emotive language to invite their audience into the reality of the people affected by the monsoons and floods; especially women and children. The article ‘Monsoon rains bring severe flooding and landslides across South Asia, affecting more than five million children’ is characteristic of their mission statement shifts to focusing on UNICEF’s involvement and “the most urgent needs” conveying an immediacy as all the articles similarly portray solutions to the devastation. “Clean water, hygiene supplies to prevent the spread of disease, food supplies and safe places in evacuation centres for children to play” . Praying on socio-cultural ideals of a child’s standard quality of life is key to receiving the intended outcome of UNICEF as an NGO requiring support and donations for ongoing work.

Prothom Alo, a Bangladeshi Newspaper published a host of articles on the Monsoons and Flooding; themes differentiated from local to lifestyle as devastation reports and jewellery protection. The article to be discussed, ‘Taking care of yourself in Monsoon’ focuses on the self-preservation nature of the monsoon’s effects on individuals. Remedies and precautions to take on the advice of Dermatologist Nivedita Dadu “Staying hydrated will also help to prevent any headaches or infections which you might normally have during monsoon” . As the publication date of the article precedes the events; the nature of the report focuses on pre-emptive measures and a prediction of the impending risks and adverse effects of the monsoon season as an annual event. “The monsoon season brings relief from the scorching sun, but it also brings along allergies, infections, frizzy hair, germs and more. Take care of your body from head to toe, suggest experts” . The cultural attitude attached is highlighted as a reminder of the annual event within an air of comfort and familiarity. The embedded attitudes towards the 2019 instances were individualistic as it appealed to the everyday reader of the media outlet as the casual majority who already have an understanding of the events to unfold; however, the degree of severity is always an unknown.

In contrast, the Aljazeera news outlet has focused on a transnational accumulation of sources and views as it covers the Indian subcontinent. The three reporters Asad Hashim, Roshan Sedai and Faisal Mahmud all report from Islamabad, Kathmandu, and Dhaka respectively have provided information interdependent of one anotherfor the article ‘Monsoon floods: Death toll rises to more than 660 in South Asia’. Apart from the consistent references to government and health officials in all the articles provided; meteorology experts were consulted by Aljazeera to anticipate further flooding and destruction in the northern regions of the affected countries.

A final note alludes to the poor infrastructure and quality of dwellings that are common in these regions. Ultimately the subject reignites the obvious disadvantages the people affected already have. The “Heavy losses due to the yearly monsoon rains are common in South Asia, where many rural homes are built of mud or stone and mountainous regions are prone to landslides” . Aljazeera’s platform aims to provide an alternative viewpoint from the perspective of the Arab world in the English language in comparison to the dominant western media viewpoints like the New York Times, Reuters and Bloomberg. As a state-owned publication controversy is not absent from the narrative of Aljazeera as confusion between the Aljazeera Arabic and English channels were misconstrued to be the same; as a perceived direct translation of one another. Each station provided by Aljazeera is unique in its efforts to target specific cultural audiences, and the cultural ideologies and languages of that audience have contributed to the perceived political affiliations of the media outlet as one unit. This criticism by Oren Kessler who believes in during the Obama administration and since 2001 Al Jazeera “deliberately fans the flames of Muslim outrage” . State-owned entities always retain some form of political risk in the media industry as socio-cultural dimensions of organisation and ideologies shape opinion and viewpoints. The reader understands this dynamic as a substantial quantity of past controversy has not involved the South Asia region and therefore poses little risk in the coverage of the South Asia Monsoons and Floods.

India Today has generated a local perspective of the urban populations affected by the floods and monsoons in Mumbai and Bengaluru in comparison with destruction seen in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The widely circulated article ‘Mumbai, Bengaluru worse than Dhaka in water access: Report’ reaches approximately 8 million people to whom they provide a politically centre-right lens upon the events. The focus of the article is to shed light on the devastation sustained by the economic centres of India regarding a clean water supply; which has already been compromised in Chennai. The article has various a traditional text magazine format with a highlights section summarising the inadequate piping facilities in Mumbai compared to Dhaka, São Paulo, Colombo and Caracas. The article proceeds to take the form of a transnational comparison of ‘Global South’ cities and their access to a regular supply of piped water. With references to the formal institutions of the World Bank, WHO and UNICEF; the argument is that due to the increased catastrophe the recent monsoon season has brought in its early stages more destruction, injury, illness and death. Socio-economic issues arise later in the article addressing the wealth-gap as another factor contributing to the devastation. A final note on safe water access addresses the crisis in a global context as $US141 billion would be required to provide universals safe drinking water to the world in five years, compared to the current 260 billion dollars in annual global losses for contaminated water . India Today focuses on the water supply and piping via the Monsoon season coverage to address an issue that also exists outside of the principal events.

Through an analysis of language, structure and visual aids presented by the publications Deutsche Welle, UNICEF, India Today, Al Jazeera and Prothom Alo a condensed variety of contextual information and sources has been compiled to understand the direct effect of the interpretation of current events. Discourse analysis has allowed for understanding these interpretations in a way that highlights language, culture and form as frames for consideration.

References

1. Anonymous. “Monsoon rains bring severe flooding and landslides across South Asia, affecting more than five million children”. UNICEF. Published 18 Jul 2019.
2. Anonymous. “Rohingya refugees struggle to survive in monsoon season”.
3. Deutsche Welle. Published 17 Jul 2019.
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Introduction

The origin of the word “Propaganda” goes back to Athens in Greece. Before the First World War too, the term was regularly used (Casey, 1944). Propaganda can be defined as a method that involves persuasion, to ensure that the agenda of governments and people are achieved. This is done by the deliberate act of making false statements and giving wrong information (Bruck, & Manzaria, 2010).

Media is one of the most effective tools used for propaganda. In most cases, media, owned or supported by governments change what is real. For the interest of the government wrong messages are circulated, which people believe. For instance, the government of the United States spends millions for the Voice of America (VOC), which is a shortwave radio. The radio is referred as the ‘official’ spokesman of the US (Riddle, 2016).

In the media, propaganda is similar to manipulation of news. Journalists intentionally write and broadcast news, which say good things about a government or agency. Such things are done for different reasons. It can be done to make a government look effective and concerned about the people. It is also done to clean the bad-images of the government and agencies.

During propaganda, what is written in newspapers is information which are given by the one involved in the propaganda. Those who are behind the propaganda are able to do this by ensuring that journalists do not have contact with any other people. Sometimes, journalists are told that they will not get news if it is not written in favor of the propaganda makers. So stories with headlines telling good-things, which are not true come out. Due to the development of social media, using the media for propaganda has increased (Bruck, & Manzaria, 2010).

About the topic

On September, 7, 2014, the valley of Kashmir in India, saw the worst natural disaster in more than fifty years. The people suffered and there were chaos as over half a million people could not get out. 280 people died and the valley was devastated.

Apart from hospitals, schools and other buildings, the flood took away media houses also. Due to this the media in Kashmir could not do any kind of reporting. But media people from New Delhi came. They were supported by the Indian government, especially the Indian Army. As there were no one but the Army to depend on, all the reporting were done based on interviews of the Indian Army. This led to the spread of news about how good the Indian Army was (Mustafa, 2014).

What the international news wrote was different. For instance, media like BBC online, Al Jazeera, Reuters and the Financial Times, London, wrote about the work done by others and not just the Indian Army. Thus, it becomes clear that the Indian Army, by helping the Indian Journalists, used them as a propaganda machine to clear their image, which has been bad since the division of Kashmir. This incident shows the different ways used in propaganda and also the way media carry out the jobs as a propaganda machine.

After the British left India, in 1948, Kashmir was divided into two parts. One was Indian-controlled Jammu and Kashmir, and the other Pakistani-controlled part of Jammu and Kashmir. There is a big presence of Indian Army in Kashmir. By the beginning of 1990, people in Kashmir began to go against the Army. The Army reacted back. There were issues of human rights violation by the Army. The image of the Indian Army was not good. Due to this, the flood was a good opportunity for the Indian Army to use media as propaganda and clean their bad image (Khalid, 2016).

Analysis

After the flood, it was mainly the Army that had access to everything. They had helicopters and boats. So reporters had to depend on them. Because of this, journalists were taken to places where Army was carrying relief works. Interviews were taken from the army. So, all stories that came out were from the army’s side. For instance, the army said that more than one hundred thousand people were rescued. Reporters had no ways to cross check (Bukhar, 2014).

One of the journalists, who were a Kashmiri, said that the Army had conditions. Not wanting to say his name, he told that the Army said “they would air lift,” him only if he made a story, “favouring the army and the air force and covering their relief and rescue efforts.” “I refused to go. Instead, I waded through the …. The majority of the media outlets from New Delhi were operating from the military airbase in Srinagar. They were embedded and did not shy away from openly running a public relations operation for the military. It seems they were reporting for the military, and not for the flood victims,” the journalist said (Khalid, 2016).

An analysis was done on reports of the Times of India (ToI) and New Delhi TV (NDTV). It found that coverage was done on behalf of the Indian government and armed forces. 57 percent of the ToI’s coverage was particularly on the army’s relief works. Both had ignored what was done by others, such as volunteers. Khalid (2016) says that the “Indian media coverage was also notably security-centric, possibly to create sympathy for the Indian army, typically viewed as an occupying force in the region.”

Mustafa (2014), wrote that stories just projecting the Army as heroes, have ignored people who were affected.

Photo stories, headlines, captions and even editorials written by the Indian papers spoke for the Army. All four photo stories on ToI’s online site had the armed forces, involved in rescue works. Headlines used were such as: “We salute Indian army,” “Without Indian army, J&K rescue efforts could not be possible (Khalid,2016).

When reports from local media came out 18 days after the flood, stories were different. It was not the Army only, but local population and volunteers who helped the people by establishing temporary houses and managing food (Qazi, 2014).

Similarly, international media’s reports were different and had interviews with the locals. Al Jazeera reported that thousands of people were still in flood areas even one week after the floods. News about people saying that Indian soldiers were first saving families of government officials and the rich came out.

The New York Times reported: “At a mosque where residents had set up a relief camp, Ghulam Hassan was coordinating efforts to feed 2,000 people. He said the volunteers were on their own”.

Qazmin, (2014) writes in The Financial Times: “Stories are relentlessly repeated of how Indian television stations have glorified the army, while troops have insulted Kashmiris by flinging down packets of out-of-date food from helicopters and ignored appeals for help from flood survivors on the upper floors of their homes.”

Conclusion

Propaganda, by using the media is examples where the true story is not told. The intention is political in most cases. Propaganda is also used to change the image of an organization. During the 2014 floods in Kashmir, India, the Indian Army found a golden opportunity to use the disaster mainly to show to the people and the world that they are not enemies of the Kashmir people. The Army provided support to media who wrote good stories about them helping the people. The media covered only stories based on Armed forces.

But reporting by the local and international media exposed intentions of the Indian Army and media agencies who had helped the Indian Army use the flood and relief measures as propaganda for their self-agenda.

Reference

1. Aljazeera. (2014). Thousands still stranded in flood-hit Kashmir. Retrieved from https://www.aljazeera.com/news/asia/2014/09/thousands-still-stranded-flood-hit-kashmir-2014910982186136.html
2. Bukhar, S. (2014, September 18). Volunteers wade into Kashmir floods to rescue thousands. BBC Retrieved from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-29218301
3. Bruck, J. & Manzaria, J. (2010). Media’s Use of Propaganda to Persuade People’s Attitude, Beliefs and Behaviors. War & Peace: Media and War. Retrieved from stanford.edu/class/e297c/war_peace/media/hpropaganda.html
4. Casey, D, Ralph, (1944). What is Propaganda? School of Journalism, University of Minnesota. Retrieved from https://www.historians.org/about-aha-and-membership/aha-history-and-archives/gi-roundtable-series/pamphlets/em-2-what-is-propaganda-(1944)
5. Kazmin, A. (2014, September 7). Kashmir Flooding kills more than 150. The Financial Times Retrieved from https://www.ft.com/content/e5dc508a-364b-11e4-95d3-00144feabdc0
6. Khalid, W. (2016), Media Propaganda and the Kashmir Dispute, University of Oxford. Retrieved from https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/sites/default/files/research/files/Media%2520Propaganda%
7. Mustafa, S. (2014, September 17).The Media and the floods in Kashmir, The Citizen. Retrieved from https://www.thecitizen.in/index.php/en/NewsDetail/index/1/602/THE-MEDIA-AND-THE-FLOODS-IN-JAMMU-AND-KASHMIR
8. Qazi, W. (2014, September 19). Kashmir floods and the national media: A saga of shame and cynicism. Firstpost Retrieved from https://www.firstpost.com/india/kashmir-floods-and-the-national-media-a-saga-of-shame-and-cynicism-1720545.html
9. Riddle, L, (2016). American Propaganda in World War II’ warhistoryonline.com. https://www.warhistoryonline.com/world-war-ii/american-propaganda-world-war-ii.html

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas focuses on the racism that black communities face in modern America. Throughout the novel, Thomas highlights the impact of the media, particularly how it influences society, elevates racism and creates bonds between characters.

In The Hate U Give the media strongly influences society and encourages racism. One of the forms of media used is music, during a Garden Height’s riot following the grand jury’s conclusion that officer one-fifteen is innocent the N.W.As ‘F*ck Tha Police’ blasts, the title of the song alone portrays the mood of the characters. They sing out “fuck the police […] a young nigga got it bad ‘cause I’m brown” (pg.388) emphasising how hip-hop connects to the pain the black community is experiencing, with the lyrics reflecting that Khalil was murdered simply because of the colour of his skin. Mainstream critics dismiss hip-hop as a violent genre of music forming a stereotype around it that fits in with how the media in The Hate U Give refers to Khalil’s neighbourhood as “ghetto” (pg.74), alluding to the stereotype that black youth are threatening. Although, to compare Khalil’s neighbourhood to hip-hop, they each hold more meaning below the surface. For instance, Khalil explains Tupac’s definition of the acronym “Thug Life” (pg. 21), Khalil explains to Starr, “Pac said Thug Life stood for ‘The Hate U Give Little Infants F*cks Everybody” (pg.21). Despite the phrase initially sounding like it glorifies gang violence, one explained, it is clear that it highlights the circumstances that create violence in black communities. Similarly, the TV news alludes to black stereotypes to justify racism, displaying “a photograph of Khalil’s black hairbrush, the one he used in the car” (pg.214), following this officer one fifteen’s claim that “he saw it in the car door, and assumed Khalil was reaching for it. The handle was thick enough, black enough for him to assume it was a gun” (pg.215). The underlying connotation of the brush’s description relates to Khalil’s skin colour, suggesting that “Khalil was black enough” (pg. 215) for one-fifteen to assume that he would be a violent threat. The media influences society through the allusion of stereotypes and, as a result, encourages racism within the community.

Officer one-fifteen symbolises racism in the American law enforcement system throughout the novel. However, his actions are condoned through the sympathy he receives from characters; this is displayed through the use of pathos to appeal to characters emotions through the media. One-fifteens farther speaks for his son in a news interview saying, “soon as I pulled him over, I had a bad feeling” (pg.243). This comment encourages Hailey to sympathise one-fifteens situation, saying what he is going through “is awful […] that poor family” (pg.244). This ultimately demonstrates how the media elevates racism by manipulating the story to portray their favoured side, resulting in society accepting racism. Starr refers to the one-fifteen by his number rather than his name, dehumanising him to represent how he saw Khalil as a black threat rather than a human being. Referring to him as one-fifteen is also highlighting that he is a statistic that is a part of a much larger system that condones police brutality against black communities, emphasising that the problem is the entire system not one officer. The media’s approach to justifying the shooting was to release the news headline “Khalil Harris, a suspected drug dealer” (pg106). It is evident that the headline comes with negative connotations, immediately moving the blame of Khalil’s death onto himself by associating him with gangs, suggesting that he was violent and dangerous. Thomas’s use of pathos and negative connotations effectively illustrates how the media elevates racism by displaying it as socially acceptable.

The media plays a critical role in forming relationships in The Hate U Give, particularly between Chris and Starr, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air creates a bond between the two characters when, “one Saturday [Starr] reblogged a bunch of Fresh Prince GIFs and clips. [Chris] liked every single one” (pg.85), foreshadowing Chris and Starr’s future relationship that sparks from their common interest in the show, also suggesting Chris’s commitment to Starr that does not die out. The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air is a motif that recurs throughout the novel, representing Starr’s struggle to be herself in white communities such as Williamston High. By Chris calling Starr his “Fresh Princess” (pg.85) it implies that he promises Starr that he will continue to accept her as every version of herself. After Khalil’s death Starr created a Tumblr page named “The Khalil I Know” (pg. 202), the title emphasises that he is not what the media is portraying him to be. After creating the page, “in just two hours, hundreds of people have liked and reblogged the pictures” (pg. 203), here the media has allowed hundreds of people to connect over their shared sadness for Khalil, ultimately spreading his true story rather than the stereotypes other forms of media have been alluding to.

Angie Thomas’s The Hate U Give highlights the significant negative and positive impacts the media can have on people lives. Ultimately displaying how it can influence societies view on black communities, elevate racism by alluding to stereotypes as well as create bonds between characters.