Mass media must be color-blind

Mass media must be color-blind

By Michael Kibaara Muchiri

YOGYAKARTA (JP): It is a Monday afternoon, and the TVRI state
television network is airing Irianese, or Papuan, dances. This is
odd as Papuans rarely appear in the Indonesian media, and this
showing happens to be on the state airwaves. Apparently, it seems
the right thing to do as the state is campaigning for greater
national integration.

Indonesia is known as an archipelago full of human diversity.
If harnessed well this could lead to a great nation. The United
States for example, has thrived to become a superpower despite
her diverse cultures.

Yet with the West setting standards on what is the "in" thing,
it is not surprising that the Indonesian mass media, especially
television, has alienated the "easterners of Indonesia".

"White" in developing countries seems the proper skin color to
wear even though the notion no longer works in the West. Driven
by money and profits, some private television channels have aired
some very racial advertisements, most notably the many skin
whitener commercials. They not only dubiously glorify white; they
do not respect the Asian skin color.

The few comments they make about black are not very pleasant.
It is not in so many words, but there is undoubtedly a heavy lack
of sensitivity for an advert to glorify the white skin color,
deceiving in extolling its capabilities to turn an Indonesian
into white.

The advertising world on television seems to be focusing on
the "real Indonesian". The adverts only focus on those mostly
found in Jakarta, the sawo matang (light complected) Indonesians
while making no effort to assimilate the eastern Indonesian in
their adverts.

It is thus not surprising when, for instance, Javanese in the
Yogyakarta community seem surprised to see black African
students. The experience for the Africans can be unnerving,
almost bordering on racism.

The students have had to bear a lot: unending stares at the
malls, an obvious fear to sit next to these blacks on public
buses and the failed relationships between African male students
with Javanese women as a result of "people talking".

It can obviously be blamed on the lack of proper integration
of all the country's people. Few mass media have covered the
easterners, the darker Indonesians. On the rare occasions it does
happen it involves the grainy documentaries the colonialists used
to depict, for example, Papuans, living in a citadel of barbarism
and a wilderness only fit for animals.

There is nothing as important as cultural pride. Adverts that
prick this pride may boomerang on what they purport to sell.
Someone out there -- either a self responsible party among the
product sellers, or among the government -- has to act to help
start portraying these easterners in a better way, in a more
considerate light, because what is at stake is dozens of ignored
and often ridiculed tribes and their cultures.

It means diversity in adverts, hence minimizing the unspoken
feeling that adverts will not sell products unless they use
"white" looking models.

Television here often depict Papuans as almost naked, hostile
tribesman. The stations may have been trying to emphasize the
diversity that can only be explained through actual footage of
Papuans in action, which they would argue to be the reality on
the ground.

Again this only gives credence to the claim that they only
find something interesting in the Papuans when it is "bizarre".

While it may be fun to watch the globalization-induced gap
between the Papuans and the "real" Indonesians on television, it
may be another matter altogether for educated Papuans who are
constantly reminded of the lack of education among their people
and a government almost indifferent to their plight.

Papuans and eastern Indonesians have been portrayed as static,
fixed, national museum attractions. The educated in such ethnic
groups may feel that they are a creation of a system that
degrades them.

Slowly hate takes center stage as Papuans are reminded of
their exploitation, hardening their hearts when it comes to
national unity. Token television does not help.

Lack of coverage of unequal societies is similarly found
regarding Africa.

The other day TVRI news focused on the famine now ravaging the
continent. This writer happens to come from Nairobi, a relatively
metropolitan center compared to northeastern Kenya that is dry
and semiarid.

Friends in Nairobi have never mentioned the looming famine
that is threatening 16 million people in 10 nations, with 2.4
million of them in Kenya.

Here were two Kenyan worlds: one where the average Nairobian
is ignorant of the famine; the other, the dying Kenyan Turkana
women and children who have resorted to selling their animals to
live.

To the writer, the news seemed like it did not come from
Kenya. Sadly, years of prejudice and deception had taught the
writer only to see Kenya as the authorities want it seen abroad
-- the tall skyscrapers and green gardens that make part of the
city-in-the-sun Nairobi. Beneath this is the test of real Kenyan
integration.

When these northeasterners are covered it is on some
relatively bizarre occasion or as a tourist attraction, part of
the zoo.

Thanks to a private newspaper and television channel, The
Daily Nation and Nation News Television, respectively, the world
had a chance to glare at northeastern Kenya and provoke world
interest to save these marginalized tribes, besides making
elaborate coverage on their predicaments.

The road ahead for the mass media in national integration is
still tough. Variety in adverts and programs has potential to
unify diverse countries such as Indonesia.

The television channels could at least avoid screening skin-
color biased adverts that seem to promote the colonial notion of
"black at the bottom, white on top" mentality as Indonesia tries
to woo its marginalized but proud easterners.

The media should take a leap forward and highlight more of the
marginalized areas because it will eventually pay off not only in
extra viewers, but in building coverage which is more
representative of the nation as a whole.

The writer, studying for his master's in psychology at Gadjah
Mada University in Yogyakarta, works for the Kenyan Ministry of
Education in Nairobi.