How the U.S. media can help SE Asia<\/p>\n
Kumar Ramakrishna, Institute of Defense and Strategic Studies,
\nThe Straits Times, Asia News Network, Singapore<\/p>\n
The horrific bomb blasts in Bali sent shock waves throughout
\nSoutheast Asia. Fingers started pointing even before the rubble
\nsettled: Al-Qaeda, Jamaah Islamiyah. Still others hinted at
\nshadowy militant nationalists incensed at Australia's perceived
\ncomplicity in East Timor's acrimonious secession from Indonesia
\nin 1999.<\/p>\n
Business people worry that American companies, which
\ncontribute a large chunk of foreign direct investment to the
\nregion, may overreact. Apparently, one group of foreign investors
\ncanceled a meeting in Phuket after the Bali attacks, even though
\nThailand is not Indonesia.<\/p>\n
As someone put it, it's like canceling a trip to New York
\nbecause of a sniper in Washington.<\/p>\n
The powerful United States media can play a useful role in
\ntelling Americans that not all Southeast Asian countries suffer
\nfrom the same risk levels. The only question is whether it is
\nwilling to do so.<\/p>\n
The global mass media is dominated by a handful of powerful,
\nmainly American-based, transnational corporations such as AOL
\nTime Warner, Viacom and Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation.<\/p>\n
These media giants control the entire spectrum, from magazines
\nand newspapers to television channels and networks, film
\nproduction and book publishing. They have a powerful influence in
\nshaping global constructions of reality.<\/p>\n
Control, unfortunately, is not matched by omniscience.<\/p>\n
In addition, the U.S. media is not necessarily driven by
\nobjectivity. Most of the national print and broadcast media are
\nheadquartered in New York City, and most editors would have been
\naffected directly and personally by the Sept. 11 terrorist
\nattacks, compelling them to see the world through the \"prism of
\nSept. 11.\"<\/p>\n
Indeed, since the attacks, there has been only one big story,
\n\"Islamist terrorism\", coming out of the U.S. media. The only
\nexception is Iraq, and even that comes with an Islamic
\nconnection.<\/p>\n
Coverage of Southeast Asia -- seen in U.S. eyes in the pre-
\nSept. 11 period as rather quaint -- has been affected
\naccordingly.<\/p>\n
Some American media observers worry that the region is being
\nviewed as a rather monolithic \"second front\" in the war on
\nterror, with coverage skewed towards a focus on terror plots,
\nterror attacks and detentions of alleged terrorists with alleged
\nlinks to al-Qaeda.<\/p>\n
Complicating matters is the current structure of the mass
\nmedia in America, which does not promote a sophisticated
\nunderstanding of the region.<\/p>\n
Prior to the arrival of cable television, Americans had a
\ndaily evening routine of tuning in to one of the three major
\nnetworks for the news. Today, however, there are cable news
\nchannels and 24-hour saturation coverage by CNN, MSNBC, CNBC and
\nFox News.<\/p>\n
The American mass media has also consolidated around an ever-
\nsmaller number of power centers. For instance, AOL owns Time,
\nDisney owns ABC, Dow Jones owns The Wall Street Journal, the
\npowerful Graham family owns the influential Washington Post,
\nwhile the Sulzberger family owns The New York Times. Editors
\naccept that a certain degree of editorial conformity to the world
\nview of their corporate sponsors is helpful.<\/p>\n
Hence, among U.S. journalists, knowledge of Southeast Asia and
\nIslam remains, with several distinguished exceptions,
\nunremarkable. Of course, the media can always turn to the
\nacademics for \"expert\" assistance. But U.S. academia has its own
\nproblems.<\/p>\n
One West Coast professor notes that there has been a steady
\ndecline in area studies in America. The American academic system,
\nhe says, tends to reward theory construction. This has tended to
\nproduce university professors who are very good at \"theoretical
\nmusings\" but have little knowledge of \"the street level\".<\/p>\n
The upshot of this dearth of genuine area experts is that the
\npersonalities whom network television brings on screen are
\n\"cable-show screamers\", there to \"yell and scream at one
\nanother\".<\/p>\n
But it is not all bad. Since Sept. 11 last year, the U.S.
\nmedia has made a genuine effort to increase its knowledge about
\nIslam and to differentiate it from the more radical strains.<\/p>\n
Perhaps American media practitioners should do as their
\nAustralian counterparts and consult more with Southeast Asian
\nscholars to provide the necessary area expertise.<\/p>\n
Given the reach and power of the U.S. media to shape the
\nperceptions, and by implication the decisions, of Western policy-
\nmakers and investors, a little additional nuance in its reporting
\nwould be no bad thing.<\/p>",
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