Western media

Western media

The Jakarta Post of April 13, 1996, published D.
Chandramouli's letter Blissful ignorance which was so realistic,
outspoken and fascinating that it should be voted "best letter of
the year 1996". The letter represented the truth, nothing but the
naked truth. In particular, I refer to his most pragmatic
statement: "People generally form opinions by what they read or
what they see and hear on TV. The global information bazaar is at
present owned, influenced and controlled by Western nations."

The West dominates most of the contemporary media houses so
much that its culture, philosophy and ideologies are visible in
most parts of the globe. In fact, Western media propaganda is so
strong today that it can determine people's mental direction.
Through their powerful media, Westerners can dictate what is good
or bad to the people of the world at the expense of reality but
in favor of their political or economic interests. For example,
anything good is from Washington, London, Paris or Canberra;
anything bad is from the developing world, particularly Asia and
Africa, the two main victims of Western media propaganda.

As far as Africa is concerned, Western media propaganda is so
persuasive that people have been generally programmed to believe
there is nothing in Africa but chaos -- in Somalia, Liberia or
Rwanda. False scientific research worth millions of dollars is
often conducted and the result is that the deadly AIDS was first
discovered in East Africa. Ebola virus (if true) existed in only
a small part of Zaire but the media made it look as if it were
from all 53 African countries. Some African nations, like Nigeria
and South Africa, are resourceful and economically secure, yet
the Western media portray the whole continent as poverty
stricken. If this is true I wonder why Westerners are the major
investors in Africa.

Asian countries also suffer from Western media bias, usually
in the name of human rights, child labor, child prostitution and
corruption. American movies have a strong influence on the minds
of Indonesian youths.

Chandramouli seems to suggest that he's one of the few Asians
who truly understands the biased tendencies of Western media,
even though he didn't provide a solution to the problem. I think
Western media should be fair in presenting facts by making
balanced reports of both the good and the bad sides of every
issue.

BUHARI ABDU

Jakarta