CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the study
In the
world today, there are many different factors that can change the way a person
feel or thinks. These external factors can cause a person to act in a certain
way that may even be out of the norm for their usual character traits. One such
factor is the media. The media can change the emotions that drive a person to
react and this is present in advertising, news broadcasts and even Hollywood
productions. These factors have changed nearly every aspect of the present way
of life and have caused what many would call a moral decline in the upcoming
generation, but in all truthfulness, this is not a new situation.
The
ancient world was not saturated by the media like the current world is, but
they did have the many of the same situations to deal with. When it came to
influencing people no one was more prominent than the clergy and a lot of time
they were corrupt in their way of life, focusing only on what would cause them
personal gain. Kings of old often manipulated the religious figures to best
suit his own needs and unfortunately this meant the general population, which
was predominantly illiterate and relied on the teaching of these religious
figures to know what the Bible said, would often find themselves in a state of
confusion. So the power to change the known world and what was acceptable and
unacceptable was often in the hands of the incompetent, which focused
ignorantly on personal gain. That sounds awfully familiar to the current state
of things in more than one nation. The illiteracy of the ancient world hindered
them from seeking out their own answers to more than life’s greatest questions,
it prevented them from bucking back at the authoritative figures in their
lives, which was exactly what the literate wanted. When education moved forward
of the back burners and more people were able to read and write, there was a
new surge in life itself. People were more able to be expressive and in that
more people were able to understand others mindsets. As the literary movement
took hold, so did a sense of wonder, majesty and self-identity. People began to
buck back to the people that were the sole source of knowledge in the past and
this sparked a whole new culture.
Since
the time known as the proto-literate period (3400-2900 BC), there has been some
form of media and as it is now the media was always bias to the powers of the
day. When a pharaoh had the hieroglyphs depicting his exploits made, they
usually seemed to make him out to be a godlike figure. With this type of
publicity, it was no wonder that people began to think of many rulers as being
divine. It is not much different in the present world with the way celebrities
are portrayed on television, tabloids and advertisements. When they make a
mistake it seems to be magnified, even if it is something that everyone already
does. The same is true for when they do something good. When things are
magnified and it seems like the entire nation is praising someone just for
doing a common good deed, the regular person that has gone out of their way and
truly given of him or herself may feel discouraged for getting little or no
recognition. Though it is true that good deeds are supposed to be just for the
greater good of humanity and not for personal recognition, it is nice to know
that what was done was appreciated. With the media putting such importance on
being recognized, it is no wonder why people shy away from helping others in
need and have become consumed with personal gain and image and frankly the
biggest influence in media is television.
With
the invention of photography media was better able to stimulate their audience.
Photography took the imagination out and provided a visual record. No longer
would the reader be required to challenge his or her mind to create the picture
to fit the story they were reading. Photography was a giant step for man’s
achievements, but it was on a stepping-stone for what would come next. Video
recording would replace still photos. Photos were able to capture single
moments in time, but video would push the boundary and capture entire memories.
In 1969, media completely changed the world as they broadcast live footage of
the first of mankind walking on an extraterrestrial planet. Neil Armstrong took
one small step from the landing craft, but he forever sealed it as a giant leap
for mankind. The video media has been a great asset in advancing the world, but
it is not always for the good. The Vietnam war was the first of its kind, sure
people living during WW1 and WW2 could have picked up a newspaper and read
about what was going on overseas and even see a picture or two, but Vietnam was
broadcasted into the living rooms of the American people. For the first time
ever the civilian word was watching as the troops sacrificed their time, lives
and mind to fight a vicious battle against a ruthless enemy. It was devastating
to America. It stirred more peace movements than ever and brought hate and
anger into the hearts of the general public. People who have never fought in
battle were crying out against it. This single event showed the entire world
what they needed to do to control the people and that was to control the media.
“Television is one of the most
powerful influences in the culture” (Stated by Albert Mohler in Popular Culture: Opposing Viewpoints,
Greenhaven Press of Thomas Gale, Farmington Hills, Michigan, 2005 Page 163).
With television being in nearly every home in America, it is no wonder why it
is so influential. The shift that culture has made in recent years can be
almost completely blamed on what was at one time, very appropriately called,
the tube. In the recent years there has been a major shift in the acceptance of
sinful acts and lifestyles. People are less concerned with meeting their to be
spouse as they are with meeting someone for a random sex encounter. Sex has
become so much a part of life that the age in which children begin to take a
role in pleasing the opposite sex has gone down. Many times children are
dressing inappropriately in general, but when their age is added to the equation,
there is only one question. What are their parents thinking, letting them dress
that way? This is not only limited to females, but males as well. The image of
what is considered to be sexy, hip and acceptable has become downright
ridicules. Girls dressing in revealing outfits with no sense of moral shame or
personal self worth and boys wearing clothes that are either so big that they
are falling off or so small that they appear to be wearing their little sisters
pants. These fads are influenced by what the idiots on television do. If it’s
on TV it must be cool.
There is a new openness to the
homosexual lifestyle that has all but destroyed the sanctity of marriage and
even the male to female relationship. In 2003 television took a turn towards
promoting homosexuality as an acceptable way of life. Shows like Ellen
DeGeneres, Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, Will and Grace and Queer as Folk
have spun the acceptance in a detestable sin to be a common way of life that
has to be accepted. Even now they are calling for equality in marriage and
demanding the right to be married and treated as equals in marriage. The issue
of homosexuality is not a new one, look at Sodom and Gomorrah or at Romans
1:27, “And likewise also the men, leaving
the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with
men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence
of their error which was meet” and even further back, Leviticus 18:22’ “Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with
womankind: it is abomination.” The issue is not new, but putting it in the
homes of everyone has changed the fight on it. Television has created the
ability to easily access anything that can be imagined and has downplayed the
Christian way of Life. God has been removed from most things that could cause a
person to feel convicted. Take for instance shows like Family Guy, Southpark
and GCB (first titled Good Christian Bitches then Good Christian Belles before
being shortened to GCB), these types of shows push the people out of the
churches and into the streets. The arms of atheism are there to try to scoop up
the Christians that get chased out of church and evangelicals should be overly
joyed that the so called, “new atheistic movement” has practically died with Christopher
Hitchens. These anti-God and anti-Semitic TV broadcasts have caused more people
to loose faith, by convincing them that there is no reasonable explanation for
serving God or even in the existence of God in general. The stage is set for
the antichrist and it was set by television.
1.2 Statement of the problem
It
cannot be over emphasized that the television media have taken a center stage
in our daily activities especially in the 21st Century with the
emergence and consolidation of different television stations and service
providers. It has been observed in cities that satellite and cable television
stations have a greater amount of audience than the local television stations.
Deviance
in behaviours of youths have been seen as an adverse effect of mass media
nowadays. So many things have accompanied the advent of ICT in the world. The
mass media has served and is still serving as a channel of propagating and
disseminating information around the globe through printed and non-printed
channels like Tv, radio, newspaper, magazines, etc. These channels carry lots
of information which the public access. Most of the information in the air
especially Tv are that of the western world due to civilization, these
information are aired without checking the kind of effect they will have on the
masses. Culture of a group of people can easily be altered as a result of the
kind of information the people watch and hear. The Yoruba culture and tradition
is a very unique and respected one in the history of Nigeria. This study tends
to examine the effect of mass media on Yoruba culture and tradition.
1.3 Objective of the study
The
main objective of this study is to examine the effects of mass media on Yoruba
culture and tradition using Erin Osun as a case study. The
study seeks to find out the level of extend exposure to programmes and adverts
on Tv, Radio and other forms of mass media have negative effect on Yoruba
culture and tradition. Also to find out if the improvement of local programmes
and adverts on Tv, radio and other forms of mass media will increase Yoruba
community’s preference for local media product.
1.4 Research Questions
1. To
what extent has exposure to programmes and adverts on Tv, radio and other forms
of mass media have negative effect on Yoruba culture and tradition?
2. To
what extent does the improvement on local programmes and adverts on Tv, radio
and other forms of media increase Yoruba community’s preference for local media
product?
1.5 Research hypotheses
HA1:
More
exposure to programmes and adverts on Tv, radio and other forms of mass media
will tend to identification of western stars as models.
HA2: The
improvement of local programmes and adverts on Tv, radio and other forms of
mass media will increase Yoruba community’s preference for local media product.
1.6 Significance of the study
This
study on the effects of mass media on Yoruba culture and tradition will be
relevant to the public especially to the Yoruba tribe because it will bring to
their knowledge the negative effect of the exposure to mass media on their
culture and tradition. It will also serve as a reference material to students
and scholars who may carryout research on this topic or related domain.
1.7 Scope of the study
This
study focuses on the effects of mass media on Yoruba culture and tradition in
Erin Osun, Osun State. The study tends to examine the extent the exposure to
programmes and adverts on Tv, radio and other mass media have negative effect
on Yoruba culture and tradition. The study is limited to youths of Erin Osun,
Osun State.
1.8 Limitation of the study
Finance,
time and availability of materials were the major constraints that the
researcher encountered while carrying out this study.
1.9 Definition of terms
Culture:
This is the total way of life of a people.
Tradition:
This is a belief or behavior passed
down within a group or society with symbolic meaning or special significance
with origins in the past.
Mass Media: A social institution created to perform, as
required by thesociety identifiable tasks of information,
interpretation, education and entertainment. In performance of those role. It
employs technologies of commutation such as radio, television, film telegraph,
newspapers and magazines e.tc. To comic ate message to a large, heterogeneous,
anonymous, scattered and transitory audience.