South African Stereotypes in the Media - Coursework Example

South African Stereotypes in the Media Introduction The media is one of the major and very powerful mediums that produce meanings. The idea of representation symbolizes the subject that the media build meanings concerning the world - they represent it, and in doing so, assist audiences to make logic of it (Ennew, 1993). The media provides techniques of imagining exacting identities as well as groups that can have material effects concerning how natives experience the world. It also indicates how they are legislated or understood for or possibly beaten up by others in the street. This is partly for the reason the mass media has the influence to represent some imaginings, some identities, and to keep out others, and thus make them appear unfamiliar or even intimidating. Discourses that surround rights of children and development of an international community In as much as the Dutch were the first people to settle in South Africa in 1652, they did not have any ideas of culture or education. To the population of South Africa, most had not embraced the concept of education and modern culture, until the arrival of the Europeans. Early in the time, South Africans did not have an organized formal system of learning. The Dutch introduced education after putting healthy culture across South Africa in the mid-nineteenth century. The Dutch did these to make sure that South Africans embraced their norms first, and then it would be easy to colonize them from that point. Education has today become one of the fundamental rights of all children in South Africa. History dates back in the 1970 by McDowell, who stated that education is as old as mankind. By these, he meant, before colonialism in South Africa, people received informal education. These were because values of the society were orally passed in different generations; it means they were said by mouth and by an appointed person or one who had leadership skills. People got a chance to learn about attitude, ways in which they were to behave, teachings about religion and how to control the economy. The instructions aimed at molding children who then grew with the principles in them and acted as per their set values (Ericson, 2014). Hart, 1993 argued that most people need to be in a position to prioritize the needs of children. These will help transform the city as a whole instead of separating groups of young people. The idea is supported by Ericson, (2014). He stated that adults should take it upon them to think about the lives of their children. The needs and education to children as a whole, and not the fact that they assume their inner concerns. These will in the end show a great interest and respect for the rights the children deserve to possess. Scholarly Literature Review and Critique The process of producing information is pregnant with influential cultural as well as ideological assumptions concerning what is ‘acceptable’ and ‘normal’ and the major information production centers and dissemination are situated in the wealthy and influential ‘Western’ parts of the world. It is as well significant to understand that what is not re-presented can be just as significant, or more so than the one incorporated in the meaning course. There is the domination of certain kinds of imagery or story angles in all conventional media, which make and strengthen suppositions and structures of suppression and dominion; ‘them’ and ‘us’. For long, South Africa has been taken as a place where continuous poverty, conflict, diseases, and violence exist. The preceding studies demonstrate that the unconstructive stereotypes and delusions concerning South Africa come from diverse sources counting colonial, missionary accounts, along with the local African journalists (Abdi, 2005). According to the Journalists’ International Federation, the way the media depicts children results in a collection of the following fables: • Families from developing countries, victims of war, children living in disaster and poverty lose individualism and civilization. The media portrays them as powerless sufferers that cannot act, speak or think for individually (Chawla & Chawla, 2006). • There is a tendency to cover children’s matters on the thrilling without paying heed to the wide range of issues that deal with children as illustrated in the conference on the rights of the Child. • Media items are usually one-time, with no much analysis and follow up. • Children’s discretion is not usually respected. Children from all over South Africa have said they detest the way the media represents them. They convey the hatred of being taken lightly. They are made to present like animals’ circus, or the media depicting them as uninformed. The children also whine of using upsetting images or “cute” to bring to mind a poignant response. Other issues include being utilized as well as ignored, grownups speaking on their behalf “when the children make out more concerning a subject”, “forcing us to speak” or interfering with them, and treating them as harmonized crisis groups (Foley, Hayes, & ONeill, 2008). In the media, the children are frequently featured as tinkerbell girls, starved children as well as “reckless youngsters”. Children’s issues in South Africa receive inadequate coverage. Stories of child abuse, children implicated in crime and street children have a tendency to dominate while the bigger issues of rights of children are usually not taken as interesting. The result is a disturbed thought of children as casualties (Pais & Bissell, 2006). Images in popular media, news, and school textbooks usually highlight South African people living in miserable poverty; hardly ever do they show the truths of wealth, power along with good health that as well exist all through the nation. Typically, South African children are portrayed as hungry and sick; rare are portrayals of the millions of South African children that arrive at school fed and prepared to learn every day. Imprecise impressions of South Africa begin early, as children have an exposure to books of stereotypical information, advertisements, the news media, and film as well as TV programs like "Madagascar", "The Lion King," and "George of the Jungle," to mention just a few. Many scholars have debated concerning the choice of South African news in the American media. Some claim that American reporters are selective when covering South African news. They focus on the crisis and leave out South African achievements along with contributions to the global community. For instance, Blacking, (1964) asserts that, “the downbeat depiction of South Africa by American media is intentional and methodical process that is created as well as sustained by the bias in the way American media choose overseas news stories.” Brickman et al, (2008) as well observed comparable patterns of overgeneralization like, “South Africans live in villages, South Africa is hot and humid…” yet many South Africans have clean homes, live in cities, and some parts of South Africa hardly ever get intense temperatures. In this instance, the media is dysfunctional rather than practical by deceptive the community. Owing to the delusions and misrepresentations of South Africa in the global media, this paper analyzes how media contributes to stereotyping in South Africa (Chadwyck-Healey, 1996). The media is a fundamental tool for shaping and persuading people’s opinion and understanding of South African people and people of the African ancestry. Earlier studies found that European and American media depict South Africa as a war-ravaged, poverty-stricken, and disease-ridden nation, which also strengthen other unconstructive stereotypes (Chadwyck-Healey, 1996). In general, the delusions and misinformation begin in lack of knowledge concerning South Africa by people in Western nations. Earlier research indicates that due to little information concerning South Africa is taught in schools; the major information source comes from films, newspapers, missionary accounts, and television (Blacking, 1964). Many Americans do not know the cultural, social and religious multiplicity in Africa. Africa has ethnic groups along with clans from 54 nations with approximately nine hundred million people. Driskell, (2002) claims that an inference of two thousand languages as well as dialects most of African origin spoken in Africa counting French, Afrikaana, Arabic, Swahili, English, Portuguese, Malagasy, and Spanish accepted for public use in education, courts, and business. In addition to this, there is a diversity of religious beliefs counting Christianity, African Traditional Religions, Islam, Judaism, Hindu/Baha’i and many others. It is claimed that the absence of written records explains why Americans do not understand Africa. This is not right since a few African intellectuals like Ngugi W’Thiong from Kenya, Chinua Achebe from Nigeria West Africa, and several others have written books on social, cultural, political, spiritual matters pertaining to Africa in the past forty years. In the meantime, the oral tradition exists for passing African values along with traditions onto later generations. Preceding studies as well established that the Western media ignore important matters like progress and accomplishments amongst the African nations like South Africa. Even though 60% of Africa’s financial system is subsistence farming, there are many industries in addition to factories that enhance the economy. Burman & Reynolds, (1986) argued that South Africa’s economy would rise from 4.3% to 5.2% in the third quarter of 2007. In addition, Said, (1978) noted that from independence leaders in Africa formed many cooperative organizations like the Economic Community of West African States in 1975, Organization of African Union in 1963, and the South African Development Community in 1994 to increase monetary activities, build cooperation, and solve area disputes. Hart & Smedley, (1993) note that the media does not cover the wireless information of Africa, which has grown by 20% and made Africa be linked to the rest of the world. Categorization of Africa by the Western media is majorly caused by the colonialism effects which give a fake intuition that Africa is cut off from the rest of the globe. For this reason, it has been known as “a dark continent” (Burman & Reynolds, 1986). Hart & Smedley, (1993) also asserts that the account of African people along with people of African descent as uncultured and unaware of European ways is due to colonialists’ letdown to understand the social, cultural, political, financial and religious conduct of Africans. Driskell, 92002) notes, “Africa’s story is unique from other distant stories since Americans have tried to comprehend African tale but have a hard time.” On the other hand, Sen, (2009) claimed that modern journalists, writer, and reporters have enabled the colonial representation of African community via the media as a dependable information source. Likewise, Ennew, (1993) asserted that the Western media get news like ethnic conflict from insecure, young, and poorly paid journalists, which usually cover huge regions on a freelance basis. Some researchers claim that the media’s choice of news is merely for profit. Owing to Sen, (2009), “News is a product and its profit controls the purpose of events as interesting by American media and as well determines how they assign their resources the world over.” The mass media affect the public in a broad manner. Chawla & Chawla (2006) claims that watching television coverage is the basis on which most people put their world outlook. She asserts that in many cases images in the television shape our stereotypes and attitudes toward other people. For instance, South African men are depicted in the media as aggressive and intimidating. The one-dimensional depiction along with stereotypic images can lead to an internalization of an unconstructive self-notion as well as low self-esteem amongst young African in Americans. Chadwyck-Healey, (1996) also note “choice or purposive use may be a feature that makes African Americans select the media surroundings in which they partake. Radio may consequently be seen as a substitute for television.” Likewise, Africans born in the Caribbean, Brazil, or Latin America have not been to Africa and almost definitely will not do so. The news concerning Africa from magazines, television, newspapers, the Internet, or people that visit Africa once in a while are the only way that people of African origin learn concerning Africa (Blacking, 1964). From the colonial and slavery times, such African images have existed in the West. They still infuse the perspectives assumed by the influential Western media embodied by journalists, editors, politicians along with even academics. Within the past decade, parts of the Western media have campaigned for the re-colonization of Africa, claiming that “…the features which will allow the revitalization of colonialism is in place." Opponents of these types of depictions of Africa point a finger at the media commercialization media particularly the leisure and news businesses in the West. They have perfected prejudiced skewed presentation of imprecise, misleading images of misinformation concerning Africa (Riggio, 2002). They are meant to suit the industry interests of the media company. Alternatively, other researchers, like Dan Chandler and Stuart Hall would like us to see these as the formation of new types or methods of understanding realism and get away from analyzing stereotypes and biases since there is no set “reality” or “truth” of the images. The New York Times In 1992, while reporting on the starvation and drought that devastated some east and South African Nations, published five considerable tales in eight days. Of the stories, three were very importantly displayed, and they concerned the rhino, the elephants, and other endangered ones. The other two shorter stories that appeared deep in the within pages were about the African people. It is not valuable to dwell on the fact that the Western press pays more attention (and consequently coverage) to the devotee of animals than the African people in an occurrence that is now known as the “Animalization of Africa." There are broadcasting channels (like Animal Planet in addition to Discovery Channel) and several documentaries that dedicate all their concentration on the wild Africa along with the “Safari” adventures, rather than the African people. Disney World shows “Safari” boat trips that depict Africa as a primordial jungle experience (Abdi, 2005). Another research analyzes the South African image given by the former USSR media for a longer time gap (1956 – 1993) than examined in the beforehand stated US study (Riggio, 2002). The previous study exposed that the aims of the present interpretative discriminations and stereotypes varied from those accounted by Hagos, but nevertheless had a propensity to build the same marginalized and shallow image as exposed by other study on the same theme (Sen, 2009). The stereotypes varied from blaming the troubles bothering South Africa on “imperialist scheming” to the depiction of a nation incapable to build up single-handed devoid of external help, in the case in point global aid that, in the author’s judgment, hardly concealed its paternalistic approach (Benson, 1994). For as mentality deals with the characteristic and renowned habitual stereotypes of South Africans symbolize them as continually and unavoidably primitive, superstitious, irrational, lazy, as well as unable to plan or take care of themselves plans, if anything merely managing to stay alive. When this distinctiveness are shifted to professionalism and know how, the effect is a picture of people and groups that possess poor operative and cognitive capacity, not suited to managerial positions as well as depending on external aid for any crisis (Abdi 2005). Western media presents a tendency of political unsteadiness in most of the African countries. Security for America, Africa and the rest of the universe has been one of the main worries for the American Congress. As a result, South Africa and U.S. generals have come together to improve military training capabilities for peacekeepers. South Africa is aware of the U.S. military help to South African leaders in time of war. The media can manipulate how the individuals in the Western world conceptualize South Africa as either negative or positive. Personal reflexive exploration of scholars’ positionality Sen, (2009) argues that functions are a ways that people are kept in stability and those that demoralize the society are dysfunctional. He also claims that actions can be apparent functions (intended) or dormant functions (unintended). The functions that harm people are considered dysfunctional or dormant dysfunctional. In modern society, the mass media can develop a value to a large part of society. For instance, mass media agents can be considered functional because they can collect, distribute, and emphasize valuable information like cultural and social values including justice, democracy, and respect for human rights, peace, and law. Global mass media as well enables viewers to appreciate the cultural and social values like ethnic and social relations that are present in societies except their own. Media, conversely, can be dysfunctional when it does not reflect the view of all society members. For instance, for the aim of selling goods, making a profit, preserving the goods demand, and the constant society economic growth, the media can misrepresent or over-generalize groups of individuals by creating public distorted messages or images making people incapable of thinking critically (Abdi, 2005). I support the views of other scholars that it is apparent that South African people, as well as people of African origin experience issues like war, diseases, ethnic conflict, poverty, as well as other crises. Media should not just over report the problems of South Africa while overlooking the excellent things that occur among its people. Moreover, media should not stereotype how South Africa is poor with many issues but instead focus on the good part of South Africa (Blacking, 1964). Balancing the representations as well as selecting for news coverage of South Africa is critical. Conclusion It is evident that media has not changed its exposure to the South African news for the past two decades. There is a determination of stereotypical images that keep on impacting the self-esteem of South African people, as well as individuals of African ancestry. Coverage of the future news should focus on a well-balanced image of South Africa including its accomplishments and contributions to the world (Glasgow, 1996). There is a necessity of introducing cross-cultural programs into the American system of education so as allow students to achieve understanding of other nations, particularly those in Africa. It is time to advocate true media representation. References Abdi, A. A. (2005). Culture, education and development in South Africa: Historical and contemporary perspectives. S.l.: Information Age Publ. Bird, W., & Rahfaldt, M. (n.d). Children and the media: Voices worth hearing? Retreived May 1, 2015, from http://www.childrensradiofoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Pages-from-sa_child_gauge_2010-11.pdf Eko, Lyombe. 2001. “Steps Toward Pan-African Exchange: Translation and Distribution of Television Programs Across Africa’s Linguistic Regions.”Journal of Black Studies, 31(3): 365-379. Foley, M., Hayes, N., & ONeill, B. (2008). Children’s Rights and Journalism Practice: a Rights-based Perspective. Keim, C. (2009). Mistaking Africa: Curiosities and inventions of the American mind (2nd ed.). Boulder, CO: Westview Press. Pais, M. S., & Bissell, S. (2006). Overview and implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Lancet. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(06)68267-6 Walker, Sheila, and Jennifer Rasamimanana. 1993. “Tarzan in the Classroom: How “Educational” Films Mythologize Africa and Miseducate Americans.”Journal of Negro Education, 62 (1): 3-23. Wallace, J (2015). American Perceptions of Africa Based on Media Representations. Retreived May 1, 2015. 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