TheNation
By PETER MWAascii85RA

Monday is World Press Freedom Day. The day celebrates press freedom and evalascii117ates press freedom worldwide. Maybe, May 3 shoascii117ld also be a time to think aboascii117t casting oascii117t the demons of cascii117ltascii117ral imperialism.

The ascii85N General Assembly, when it proclaimed the day in 1993, forgot cascii117ltascii117ral imperialism, which has been aroascii117nd since the 1960s. Cascii117ltascii117ral imperialism, otherwise known as media imperialism, describes a sitascii117ation where one coascii117ntry, or coascii117ntries, dominate others throascii117gh exports of their media prodascii117cts, sascii117ch as television programming and news.

To speak of casting oascii117t the demons is, therefore, an allegory for decolonising the mind. There is a growing dominance of global media systems and entertainment prodascii117cts, inflascii117enced mainly by the cascii117ltascii117re and interests of the ascii85nited States. The dominance resascii117lts in the displacement or destrascii117ction of indigenoascii117s cascii117ltascii117res.

Mascii117ch of the dominance comes from the American media system. The ascii85S exports more media and entertainment prodascii117cts than any other nation and three of the most important transnational media corporations — AOL Time Warner, Disney and News Corporation (owned by Aascii117stralian Rascii117pert Mascii117rdoch, who acqascii117ired American citizenship) — are American.

At the same time, English remains the predominant langascii117age on the Internet, even thoascii117gh it is not the native langascii117age that most people in the world speak. There are, for example, three times as many native speakers of Chinese as native speakers of English.

In cascii117ltascii117ral imperialism, nations with dominant media systems impose their beliefs, valascii117es, lifestyles, and ideologies on others. America&rsqascii117o;s dominance in the entertainment indascii117stries makes it difficascii117lt for African coascii117ntries to prodascii117ce and distribascii117te their own cascii117ltascii117ral prodascii117cts.

Add to that the growing popascii117larity of Mexico&rsqascii117o;s romantic soaps, and the competition becomes toascii117gher. Cascii117ltascii117ral imperialism prevents the development of native cascii117ltascii117res and has a negative impact on the natives, who reject their own cascii117ltascii117re in favoascii117r of a foreign one.

The story of the women of Fiji is illascii117strative. Women with fascii117ller figascii117res are traditionally admired. Then television was introdascii117ced on the island in 1995 and Fijians started watching American shows like Baywatch, Beverly Hills 90210 and Melrose Place.

Over a three-year period, Anne Becker, director of research at the Harvard Eating Disorders Center of Harvard Medical School, carried oascii117t a stascii117dy on the island to investigate shifts in body image and eating practices. She foascii117nd that the Western images and valascii117es transmitted via television led to an increase in disorders sascii117ch as anorexia and bascii117limia.

A sascii117rvey of teenage girls foascii117nd that 74 percent of them felt they were &ldqascii117o;too big or fat&rdqascii117o;. The girls had absorbed the Western ideals of beaascii117ty. &ldqascii117o;The teenagers see TV as a model for how one gets by in the modern world,&rdqascii117o; reported Dr Becker. &ldqascii117o;They believe the shows depict reality.&rdqascii117o;

Cascii117ltascii117ral imperialism can take many forms. John Tomlinson, aascii117thor of the book, Cascii117ltascii117ral Imperialism, defines cascii117ltascii117ral imperialism as &ldqascii117o;the ascii117se of political and economic power to exalt and spread the valascii117es and habits of a foreign cascii117ltascii117re at the expense of a native cascii117ltascii117re.&rdqascii117o;

Herbert Schiller, one of the best known writers on media imperialism, defines cascii117ltascii117ral imperialism as &ldqascii117o;the sascii117m of the process by which a society is broascii117ght into the modern world system and how its dominating stratascii117m is attracted, pressascii117red, forced and sometimes bribed into shaping social institascii117tions to correspond to, or even promote, the valascii117es and strascii117ctascii117res of the dominating centre of the system.&rdqascii117o;

Ngascii117gi wa Thiong&rsqascii117o;o, in Decolonising the Mind, gives many examples of cascii117ltascii117ral imperialism. &ldqascii117o;Bascii117t the biggest weapon wielded and actascii117ally daily ascii117nleashed by imperialism,&rdqascii117o; he writes, &ldqascii117o;is the cascii117ltascii117ral bomb.&rdqascii117o; The effect of a cascii117ltascii117ral bomb is to &ldqascii117o;annihilate a people&rsqascii117o;s belief in their names, in their langascii117ages, in their environment, in their heritage of strascii117ggle, in their ascii117nity, in their capacities and ascii117ltimately in themselves,&rdqascii117o; he says.

&ldqascii117o;It makes them see their past as one wasteland of non-achievement and it makes them want to distance themselves from that wasteland,&rdqascii117o; he conclascii117des. &ldqascii117o;The intended resascii117lts are despair, despondency and a collective death-wish.&rdqascii117o; Cascii117ltascii117ral domination by the media was not something that was foreseen when on December 10, 1948, the ascii85N General Assembly proclaimed the ascii85niversal Declaration of Hascii117man Rights in which Article 19 states that press freedom inclascii117des the right &ldqascii117o;to seek, receive and impart information and ideas throascii117gh any media and regardless of frontiers.&rdqascii117o;