What kind of image of the Third World does the mainstream media give? Do they deliberately ignore or emphasize issues and people? What are the reasons? Annalena Oeffner answered these questions in an essay prepared for the Global Journalism course at the Department of Journalism, Media and Communication (JMK) of the Stockholm University


Introduction

The Third World finds itself presented as crisis ridden, without precise geographical delineation, inhabited by hordes of hungry and occasionally angry people. This observation by the London daily The Guardian in 1978 seems still justified, as a 2002 survey reveals. According to Voluntary Service Overseas, 80% of the British public believe that the developing world exists in a permanent state of disaster (Cozens, 2002). Many people around the world presumably have some sort of idea about these places comprising the majority of the presently 190 countries listed by Countrywatch (2002); and the media contribute towards shaping this picture.
Four fifths of the public's information, according to UNESCO, derives from the three main news agencies based in London, New York and Paris, (in Thussu, 2000: 152), one reason why a large amount of news received by audiences across the globe has been mediated through US American or European eyes. Many scholars warn of a "cultural imperialism" by the United States, an "Americanization" of news and other media material.
This essay tries to look at the justifications for these assertions; it will present some general concepts about unequal information flow and its consequences, give examples from different areas and discuss alternatives. It aims at evaluating the claim that the people of the Western countries are being kept "in a dangerous state of ignorance regarding the realities of the Third World countries, lulling them with the complacent assumption that Western industry, technology and culture, in short, Western civilization as a whole, are superior" (Ridha, 1977).
Although all commonly used terms to "describe the world" (v. Ginneken, 1998) carry some sort of subjectivity, expressions such as "the West", "the South", "the Third World" or "developing countries" will be used here. Those nations with a dominating economy and media presence will also be referred to as "centre" and others as "periphery", drawing on a concept by Galtung and Ruge that will be discussed below.


Debates Over a New World Information and Communication Order

The first debates about unequal information flow between different parts of the world came up in the 1970s, mainly with the demanding of a New World Information and Communication Order (NWICO) by Third World leaders who argued "that Western media through control of major international information channels gave an exploitative and distorted view of their countries to the rest of the world" (Thussu, 2000: 43).
The Tunisian Information Minister Mustapha Masmoudi formulated their demands, pointing out a "de facto hegemony" evident in the indifference of the media in the West to "the problems, concerns and aspirations of the developing countries", upon which "transnational media impose their own way of seeing the world" (Masmoudi, 1997: 172/3). The complaint resembled the US American accusations of European news agencies at the turn of the twentieth century (Oledzki, 1981; Pillai, 1983).
The subsequently appointed so-called McBride Commission proposed, among other things, the respect for the rights of each nation to inform the world public about its interests and values, and for the right of all peoples to participate in international exchange of information (UNESCO, 1980). News organizations in the West responded "they were only reporting the reality of life in the Third World - political instability, economic backwardness, human and natural disasters - and that this objective journalism was disapproved of by undemocratic governments in the South" (Thussu, 2000: 48).
The offensive against reforming international information flow was led by Western conservative leaders such as Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan, claiming that "Soviet-inspired" Third World dictators tried to stifle media freedom (Thussu, 2000: 47). The debate died away after the fall of the Soviet Union. In 1996, information ministers of at least 27 non-aligned nations were trying to revive the NWICO, declaring developed nations "were employing their media to disseminate false and distorted information of events in developing countries" (Editor & Publisher).


Portrayal of Third World Countries Elsewhere

Vast inequalities exist in terms of quantitative coverage of Third World countries. For reasons of time and space it is impossible for the media to give all places the attention they deserve. Therefore it is likewise impossible for the audience to get a full picture of the world by merely relying on the mainstream media. The danger is that the viewers, readers or listeners may forget (and we all do that for sure) that the stories we hear about are highly selected and ignore most of what is going on. The choices about what is on the news agenda often come from outside the newsroom, as Silverstein points out:
"The first rule is that the Third World largely doesn't exist for the American media until the White House, almost always for national security reasons, decides to put one of the Third World countries on the map. Rule number two is that once this threat to national security is over, the Third World country in question once again falls off the news agenda until the next crisis situation arises" (1994).
The focus on war stories, often without any follow-up once they are considered over, is partly a response to the clients' demands (Boian, 2002). It is however widely recognized that stories get barely covered once "white" interests are not involved. Another problem arises with heavy generalizations about "the Third World". The continent of Africa alone consists of 54 different countries, within each a large amount of languages being spoken by many culturally very different peoples. In this context, Sreberny has argued that many Western scholars have a less "understanding of Third World cultures, seeing them as homogenous" (in Thussu, 2000: 63).
The pattern of information flow observed between "centre" and "periphery" can also be found within the Third World where, according to Thussu, the information about the developed countries and about issues they see as important prevails. Developing countries "know virtually nothing about events in neighbouring countries that has not been filtered through the lenses of the developed media systems" (Thussu, 2000: 66). Pillai, living in Malaysia, agrees: "We in the Third World still know more about the lives of Hollywood film stars and the newly rich in the West than we do about our own neighbouring countries" (1983). The same applies to Caribbean people who know "less and less about what is happening on neighbouring islands, and more and more about the US" (Smith, 2000).


Journalists Covering Foreign Places

Gauhar believes Western media and journalists are simply "not equipped, culturally or otherwise, to interpret the world for the people of the South" (1981). This statement can be supported by several illustrations. Journalists may in fact be determined to "objectively observe and neutrally report" social reality but since it is impossible not to be tied to one's own background, messages will inevitably be distorted. Their original meanings can only be understood "in the original context which is not accessible to the reader" (v. Ginneken, 1998: 193). Another limitation is mentioned by Nohrstedt: Despite wanting to show "the true face" of the Gulf War, the reporters were hardly given any opportunity to access information from both sides, as most of it was censored by the military (2002).
The distribution of correspondents is very uneven and has a major impact on what will be covered and what left out. Whereas the "centres" such as London and New York are flooded with journalists, even the biggest news agencies have hardly any correspondents outside the capitals, often covering neighbouring countries from there. If journalists are only flown in for a major event, they will not be able to also report on local stories as they do where they are based. It can therefore happen that African droughts and famines affecting millions may take months to be reported, whereas the public hears instantly about events of the president's pet (v. Ginneken, 1998: 128).
In order to retain the view from the outside, news agencies prefer their correspondents to move every few years, so that they will never integrate into the foreign culture (Boian, 2002). This will, however, limit their ability to fully understand events and, in particular, processes.


News Values

A 1965 study by Galtung and Ruge on the flow of information between "centre" and "periphery" (between as well as within countries) identifies a number of news values which determine whether and how an event is covered. These include the favouring of expected and negative news, of cultural proximate stories and short-term events, of �lite nations as well as sources speaking on behalf of the "periphery".
Assuming that processes which take long to emerge "may not be noted as news at all" (v. Ginneken, 1998: 29), implies that long-term developments in Third World countries will be hardly covered. Jarman believes "competition drives mainstream media to rely on negative and sensational stories which emphasize problems rather than solutions". The little coverage of positive developments remains "tucked away inside low-circulation academic journals" (1998). Simplifying complex issues may also be "shielding society and government from responsibility" (Iyenga, 1991).
Because covering negative events takes less time, many countries are presented as "eternal problem areas, incapable of any achievements on their own" (v. Ginneken, 1998: 31). Thussu claims that during the civil war in Angola, the international media focussed on the inability of Angolans to live in peace and emphasized their "traditional" tribal rivalry and ethnic nationalism. In Rwanda, the emphasis lay on Western support for refugee camps. When distorting the story by leaving out historical or political context, the "media helped Western governments hide their lack of policy on genocide behind a mask of humanitarian zeal" (2000: 250).
"Cultural proximity" means "the culturally distant will be passed by more easily and not be noticed" (Galtung and Ruge, 1965). This means that stories appearing "too foreign" will be ignored altogether. Secondly, journalists will place "greater trust in people who are similar to them" (Gans, 1979). This problem applies to both local as well as foreign reporters. Coming mostly from a particular social background, "journalists are trained to be desensitized to the voices and life-works of working class and minority people" (Gitlin, 1980). This explains why even the "genuine" stories from developing countries we hear are mostly seen through the dominant economic class' eyes, who indirectly select "certain issues for discussion while marginalizing or ignoring others and, in particular, those voices calling for progressive change" (Eldridge et al, 1997: 30).
Van Ginneken mentions other factors related to sources, which may result in a one-sided account of Third World events. For reasons of time, space and budget limits, easy availability of a source is very important; this favours �lite nations as well as persons. European or US media are also dependent on certain schedules and therefore seldom consider office hours in Asia or elsewhere. The author criticizes that the poor in the developing countries are being spoken about, but do not get to speak themselves. Stories may even be left out, if official sources are missing. Anti-Western sources quoted or referred to often receive delegitimating labels.
Whenever "natural catastrophes" occur in some distant places, the causes, often human faults such as inappropriate housing conditions, are simply bypassed. In connection with terrorism, Chomsky notes that there are strong temptations to ignore one's own role: "It is much easier to personalize the enemy, identified as the symbol of ultimate evil, than to seek to understand what lies behind major atrocities" (2001: 37).
On-the-spot voices in times of disasters are often Western aid workers in front of an unidentified, helpless crowd. The average expert interviewed is a middle-aged white male Westerner, while "a learned Arab, Indian or Chinese may know more about his culture than a Western academic, but [...] is probably not able to explain it to a Western (or global) audience" (Said in v. Ginneken, 1998: 100).


An illustration: Coverage of the Summit of the Americas by the New York Times

"Who gets to speak, who defines the agenda, how 'reality' is presented, and how non-�lite voices are marginalised" is described in a recent study by Vanderbush and Klak who examined the coverage of the December 1994 Summit of the Americas in Miami by the New York Times. The authors criticize the incomplete reporting of a paper, which "can do more damage to a Latin American government than a thousand large-scale demonstrations" (Rubio, 1995).
The first such conference since over 25 years, hosting 34 heads of state, was covered in only ten stories within two weeks, lacking, according to the authors, "the depth, history and range of perspectives to allow even previously knowledgeable readers an opportunity to grasp the challenges facing the region, or even to comprehend the events of those few days."
Merely �lite sources, mostly US-American, were relied upon by the newspaper, ignoring oppositional voices or those outside of the high politicians' meeting. Questionable claims made by officials remained unchallenged. The coverage focussed on the implications of free trade for the United States, leaving aside issues of importance to the other countries, such as education or the environment. A US cabinet member explained the importance of raising wages for Latin American workers which "can of course be considered a human rights matter, but it is also a commercial issue for the United States. Without a rapidly expanding middle class, there is no market for us."
The ideological standpoint of the only representative of a 'left-leaning research group' was emphasized, whereas no one else was described as right-leaning or conservative. Among the few Latin Americans quoted were the 'American-educated' president of Bolivia, and the Chilenean World Bank's chief economist for Latin America. Exile Cubans planning an anti-Castro march were the only explicitly mentioned immigrants. The rather hostile coverage of Cuba - the only American state not being invited to the summit - "provides a good example of how the media reinforce the US government's image of an enemy state."
The report concludes that the reader is "left with the impression that either the �lite's neoliberal views represent the views and interests of Latin American people, or the latter's positions are simply irrelevant. Either way, voices of dissent or alternatives are silenced." This can be seen as a "continuation of an historical pattern for the USA of turning its attention to the South only during what are perceived as interest-threatening crises" (Vanderbush and Klak, 1996). One may wonder how a medium that gives so little attention to such a major, long-planned event in its own country should report on more distant stories - when there is obviously a lack of interest.
Taking the by far largest Latin American country as an example, the little media attention Brazil receives reflects the scale of interest. Silverstein lists the main topics covered: its foreign debt, corruption scandals, and the Amazon with a focus on its destruction, ignoring the underlying causes (Silverstein, 1994).


Children's Media

One important branch of the entertainment media is children's programmes, comics, films etc. Its four major players are all based in the United States (Thussu, 2000: 169). As innocent as the stories themselves may seem, they are never free from their creators' worldview. Van Ginneken supports with worrying illustrations his claim that "large parts of the new generation with a 'television education' derive their basic historical and geographical frames from Hollywood films, Disney comic strips and theme parks" (1998: 210).
Disney characters, perhaps the most popular and well-known across the globe, are described by a company executive as "local characters" for all children, always speaking local languages (in McChesney, 2000: 106). However, the stories do not change their setting to Asia, the nature and looks of the ducks and mice do not adjust to their African or Latin American audiences. Disney's Mickey Mouse has therefore been called a representative of cultural imperialism and an ambassador for American economic, religious and political values (Shionoiri, 2001).
Ariel Dorfman and Armand Mattelart show in their 1971 published book How to read Donald Duck how the Ducks' holiday trips turned into conquests in the course of time. Struck sums in her book review one of the authors' findings: "Donald, at home a wimp, uses his trips to primitive peoples - which undoubtedly represent less developed countries - in order to set himself up as their king" (2000; transl.). Since children do not read their comics in such a critical manner, a particular worldview is easily spread.
A globalized economy ruled by international capital - now known in the Third World as "neo-liberalism" - was foreshadowed by a September 1964 episode cited in How to Read Donald Duck: Talking to a witch doctor in Africa, Donald Duck says: "I see you're an up-to-date nation! Have you got telephones?" "All colors, all shapes," the African assures him. "Only trouble is, only one has wires! It's a hot line to the world loan bank" (Solomon, 1996).
It can therefore be concluded that even, or especially, children's programmes and publications carry a high degree of more or less hidden ideology, showing foreign places as perceived by their producers. Dorfman described in the early 1980s: "Although these stories are supposed merely to entertain us, they constantly give us a secret education. [...] We are taught, more than anything else, how not to rebel" (in Solomon, 1997). The attempt to reach a global market, however, "makes films less likely to portray Arabs or Asians in a racist manner that would undercut crucial markets" (McChesney 2000: 109). Sussman claims: "Entertainment media routinely portray a false picture of American society - perhaps far more damaging than the portraits of developing societies attributed to US news media" (1981). Perhaps, if this major source of bias against the USA were acknowledged more widely, the media would be more sensitive in presenting other countries.


Powerful Media and Alternatives

The first and most influential interpretations of an event tend to determine our opinion forming. Agence France Press, the US American Associated Press and the British Reuters, the three major world news agencies, have for reasons of resources, organization and distribution "a quasi-monopoly in providing prime definitions of breaking news in the world periphery" (v. Ginneken, 1998: 113). Similarly, the non-stop news channel CNN, part of the world's biggest media and entertainment conglomerate, has the "power to mould international public opinion. [...] Its version of world events is likely to define the worldview of millions of viewers around the globe" (Thussu, 2000: 159). These assertions would invalidate what Sussman claimed in 1981: "The great diversity of American media serves to correct error or distortion in the world-news media".
It is being claimed that developing countries should be more "self-confident" and overcome Western domination by providing the world with news from their own perspective. There certainly exist alternative media all around the world, but it has to be taken into consideration how well equipped they are in order to promote their views against big corporations, and who is able to make and access them. Do governments support or oppress them? Will advertisers invest in media which may not attract such a large audience? Perhaps the most crucial question for this analysis is however: are news agencies, editors and journalists from other countries and even within the country itself interested in using the alternative information?
The emerging internet is by many seen as the new medium for democracy, in which everybody can publish and access anything. It is true, there are an incredible number of sites out there covering many commonly ignored issues and showing very different sides of the story to the mainstream media's. But one must consider how limited the access to computers, let alone the internet, still is. Apart from the technological equipment, literacy and a certain amount of IT skills are required. The other problem is that one has to know what one is looking for on the web. Unlike spoon-fed news by papers or television, online information, which one may not even know it exists, has to be found first. Alternative media can be little effective as long as the majority of the population is not interested in seeking it.
The national news agency of the in terms of population small Sweden is continuously cutting down on its foreign correspondents for reasons of costs. Thomas H�jeberg from TT states his agency relies on only a few of the major agencies such as Reuters, AP, AFP and DPA. Although enough agencies in other parts of the world exist, it would be too expensive to subscribe to any more of them. And perhaps increase the workload as well, since H�jeberg wants "to be the first with all the news" (2002).
Boldt claims that editors of German mass media prefer to consult their archives instead of citing authentic viewpoints of their Third World colleagues, assuming that media in developing countries are permanently censored by the government or simply been made "unprofessionally" (2002). Thussu acknowledges that regional news agencies covering Africa (PANA), the Caribbean (CANA) and Asia-Pacific (OANA), or the Non-aligned News Agencies Pool have failed to make differences in global news flow, partly because they lack credibility (2000: 251). The InterPress Service (IPS), which aims to explain "how and why events occur" and to "anticipate crises before they strike and to understand their causes after the fact" (IPS, 2002), could not compete with transnational news agencies (Thussu, 2000).


Conclusion

Various factors such as the roles played by news agencies or transnational corporations, new technologies and a "neoliberal democracy", as described by McChesney (2000), as well as censorship and other limitations for journalists, or the implications of stereotyping have not been looked at in detail here, but should be taken into consideration in order to get the full picture. An examination of what is not being covered in the media also offers an interesting approach.
The main finding of this essay is that at present the image of the Third World as given to us by the mainstream media is often distorted. Stories always carry a certain ideology (intended or not) and tend to favour certain voices over others. Negative, short-term events are focussed on. What most people know about developing countries and what they base their opinion on has been mediated by European or US media. The "global village" that is being created through the "collapse of space, time and borders" (McLuhan, 1964) has still not become reality. "Not everyone can be a citizen. The global, professional �lite now faces low borders but billions of others find borders as high as ever" (United Nations Development Programme, 1999: 31).
A solution for a more balanced information flow could consist of two elements: the stronger reliance on local journalists and media and the encouraging of correspondents to work according to the ideals of the public journalism movement that arose in the 1990s in the US, acting "as if [the journalists] belonged where they were and cared about that place" (Merritt, 1995). The importance of cultural media diversity can be found in the words of Mahatma Gandhi (in Thussu, 2000: 223): "I want the culture of all the lands to be blown about my house as freely as possible. But I refuse to be blown off my feet by any".


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