Is global media a necessary evil in Zimbabwe?

Is the global media a necessary evil in Zimbabwe? Take note that the assertion that already exist here is that global media is bad. But what remains unanswered is if we truly need global media in Zimbabwe as bad as it. It is therefore in this moment that l try to bring out to you the woes and blessings of globally media in our country.

 This has been an itchy debate with some scholars like Ojo and Hickman arguing that global media presents massive threats on culture. However other scholars argue that with the lack of civilisation and the poor economic status of developing and underdeveloped countries, global media is an essential tool that seeks to help the communication processes of these third world countries from the government to the global masses. Thompson for instance argues how the global media has helped third world countries be noticeable in the global map, giving the example of the case of Rwanda genocide.

 

Take note that we live in an era of globalisation where this theory has made it difficult to classify news as foreign or domestic. Some things that may be foreign do affect us largely as Zimbabwe.Therefore some issues are difficult to place them in the foreign-domestic dichotomy.For instance think about the fall and rise of the US$, the news is foreign as the US$ is an American currency but it also becomes a domestic issue as it will also affect the Zimbabweans who also use the foreign currency.Therefore global media creates a bridge where it is difficult to classify news as either domestic or foreign.

Now think of a country that you have never been to yet you can tell the next person information and sites about it as if you have been there. You can actually relate with that country as if it is your own. It may feel lyk you live in carlifonia while you are in Harare.Its all the works of the global media helping us communicate with the world in just an instance or click of the fingers. Think of it in terms of the global village.

Global media also gives us that side of the story that we have not heard about in our contry, that angle the story which is hidden. As we speak most Zimbabweans are still not informed about what happened in the Gukurahundi era neither is there much documentation of the massacres. The global media came in hand by documenting and archiving some of the atrocities that took place. 

However not all is rosy with global media in Zimbabwe, it has negative effects and disadvantages that make it unfavourable and unnecessary in our motherland. Global media is very discriminatory in nature. When it comes to reporting issues in African countries, Zimbabwe included, it is as if Africa as a whole is another world so far away from the first world countries such that they can only imagine how we seize to exist in such a backward continent. Looking at how issues to do with HIV/AIDS are reported it is as if they affect third world countries only. 

The other problem about the global media is that they are more concerned with making profits and money. Serving the needs of Zimbabweansis secondary and will therefore do anything to maximise their profits. If our needs are not are priority then thaycant play the watchdog role.

destruction of settlements

This misrepresentation and bias really prevails in the global media They give what l would term half-baked stories lacking mostly the historical background or the reasons for that particular action. Reporting on operation Murambatsvina in Zimbabwe, the global media simply concentrated on the implications of the actions which led to the mutual perception that the president was a heartless man who left many Zimbabweans homeless and jobless. But they ‘forgot’ to mention that those were illegal settlements.

Keep in mind again the stiff and unfair competition created by the global media for our local media. Firms constituting the global media have more than enough funds, technology and expertise which is more than what l can say for my country. With all these weapons of competition our local media does not stand a chance. The performance of the Zimbabwe television cannot in any sense be compared with that of CNN and BBC.

 These are just but are few woes caused by the global media. Now do you really think we need the global media to create such a mess in our country for the good of recognition and global communication? Food for thought. Till next time my friends stay true.