Uganda: Media, Civil Society Need to Fight Stereotypes

The problem of stereotypes in the media is a fundamental one, because it is largely a cultural matter. We all find ourselves belonging to a culture or another, most often by chance, not by choice.

The interaction between cultures and civilisations as played out in the media has concerned individuals and organisations. The events of September 11, 2001 and what followed emphasised the need for better understanding especially between people in Muslim societies and those in non Muslim societies.

Stereotypes and prejudices seem to have become more visible in political discourse, in the media and in education. They have become a hindrance to dialogue and cooperation all over the world. In 2005, the UN Secretary General launched an initiative -Alliance of Civilisations- to address the widening gap between Muslim and Western societies by examining five core areas of society namely; education, immigration integration, media, youth and political context. In the media, researchers have identified how the media in both the Islamic world and West contribute to misinformation, stirred up feelings, and alienation.

The media cannot tell the citizens what to think. But they tell them what to think about- they set the agenda and understanding by the ideas they plant, the pictures they sketch, and the opinions they offer. The Western media like to see themselves as independent, dedicated to democracy, and socially responsible, but in reality, profit drives producers to present superficial information and repeat stereotypes.

The news model in the Islamic world is more multifaceted. In some places the media are heavily censored and viewed through filters of national or Islamic identity. In other Muslim states, government control is easing.

There are extensive opportunities to overcome the media's shortcomings in by increasing journalists' professional skills and cultural sensitivity in avoiding stereotypes, by increasing media diversity, by instilling leadership within the media industry and by supporting educational-entertainment media, which offer a global perspective. The emergence of new media such as the Internet has made it more difficult to isolate people in the Muslim world. But it has also fostered more prejudices. The Internet has created an open and uncontrolled space for information where stereotypes are being used to shape the "enemy".

The aim of the UN Alliance of Civilisations is not legislation but awareness and consciousness. But will this new awareness hold when war breaks out and the media come under pressure? The media ought to work on a self regulation regime, so that their freedom is ensured more by their conscious actions than by articles of legislation. In the Western media, Islam is hardly ever covered as a religion, but is something which has to do with politics, fundamentalism, or terrorism. The Muslim media, on the other hand focuses on love conspiracies of the West, and see the western world as a sex fixated people with no moral, with uncivilised politics and double standards.
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The media consumers are fed on half truths, untruths, biases and prejudices The only way out of this media misery on both sides is education in intercultural relations, an international code of ethics and dialogue on equal terms of respect.

It is perhaps in this regard that the Islamic Scientific Educational and Cultural Organisation and the Federation of Universities of the Islamic World collaborated with the Islamic University in Uganda to hold the first ever national workshop on the role of civil society and the media in raising awareness on cultural specificities and cultural diversities in Uganda, at the beginning of this week.

All major media houses including the Daily Monitor participated, along with a spectrum of civil society organisations. I am glad I was there. This a journey we have to walk. Together.

- October 15, 2009

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Source: allafrica.com/stories/200910160917.html (accessed on 19.10.2009)