Negative affects of the media in multicultural societies

Continuing on from my last post, I would just like to re-enforce with some examples the negative affect media can have upon people, nations and the globe.

Two Case Studies

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The Holocaust

Aryan children were fed propaganda in the form of a 'harmless' children's book, entitled 'The  Poisonous Mushroom', in which Jews were depicted as the mushrooms that could poison the children, and therefore - stay away. 

When we look back into the history books, no doubt we all find the German Nazi annihilation of the Jewish population of Europe during World War Two an utterly disgraceful and horrific stain on humanity.

What will also be present in the pages of those books are the various original posters, films and articles that we now know as ‘Propaganda’.  However, if we take ourselves back in time and imagine ourselves as a common, Aryan German young adult being bombarded with nothing but these media productions, what kind of affect would that have on the mind? How could all of these journalists and directors be lying to the German nation? 

While having full trust in the media, it is not surprising that such racist and derogatory mentalities were developed at that time in correspondence with Adolph Hitler’s crazed ideologies. 

It is undeniable that the media played a vital part in brainwashing the nation to believe these ludicrous claims and blindly follow the Nazis in their ‘final solution’ and the murder of over twelve million people. 

Artist portrait of the perfect Aryan family

Found in a German newspaper: on the left depicts a healthy, young German male who is working hard in the sun, while 'the

enemy' the Jew is making all the money. Notice also how is seen as fat and ugly compared to the German man.

Rwandan Genocide

The 1994 genocide in Rwanda is a common example of the role of media on conflict zones. The genocide is considered one of the most horrific catastrophes of the 20th century, and the media played a significant role both internally and internationally. Prior to the genocide, radio stations and newspapers were utilized by the perpetuators to dehumanise the impending victims, Rwanda's Tutsi minority.

"During the genocide, radio was used by the Hutu extremist conspirators to mobilise the Hutu majority, to coordinate the killings and to ensure that the plans for extermination were faithfully executed. While a series of terrible massacres of Tutsi were carried out and as the signs of ever-increasing violence grew, Rwanda was totally ignored by the international media. When the genocide came, the erratic media coverage largely conveyed the false notion of two 'tribes' of African 'savages' mindlessly slaughtering each other as they had done from time immemorial. As a result, there was little public pressure in the West for governments to intervene."                                     [Thompson, A, 2007, 'The role of Media in the Rwandan genocide', abstract]

What we must remember here, is that in both cases, the people of the nations did not consider these derogatory pieces of media as 'Propaganda'. To them, it was everyday news for the public to be exposed to.  Is this a suggestion that media itself  characterised the nature of the war and genocide in both cases? I'll leave that for you to decide. 

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Other examples may include the media coverage of the Sydney Gang rapes committed by four Australian-Lebanese men. Shortly after this occurred, there was hate-filled riot demonstration, dubbed 'The Cronulla Riots'. 

It could be suggested that this case, whether the media's fault or not, focused on the fact that these men were Muslim, and therefore I feel that this emphasis on the religion of the offenders played a vital role in the riots, and created, or perpetuated, an overall hatred, racist and fear of Muslim-Australians.

CRONULLA RIOTS: White Australians violently beating down on an innocent Muslim man.
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I believe it is safe to say that media has a strong impact on the minds of the readers. In such a multi-cultural country such as Australia it is important, as a journalist, to stay impartial and strive towards a racially-neutral article that does not suggest any favouritism or degrading of a particular race. This is vital if we are to to close the gap between races, culture and religion in order to live in an embracing multi-cultural, peaceful nation and make us all, regardless of background and beliefs, proud to be Australian.