Media under the microscope

Communications

A Pacific seminar will look at the alienating affect of ‘media imperialism’

on Pacific communities.

By Eileen Tugum

THE IMPACT of modern communication technologies on Pacific cultures is causing grave concern among church leaders and communicators in the region.

At a seminar titled “Faith, Culture

and Communication”, sponsored by

the World Association for Christian Communication Pacific (WACC-PAC) in Goroka last month, 18 participants from Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Vanuatu, Tonga, New Zealand and Australia expressed concern that rapid growth in satellite communication and increasing commercial communication monopolies have made it increasingly difficult for small (or large) island states to control the flow of information, much of which has been found

to be culturally alienating.

Graham Tnomas, an Australian broadcaster with many years of experience in Pacific communiations, told the seminar that one of the major

challenges facing the region is “find-

ing ways to use communication tech-

nologies without letting them destroy

cultural integrity and identity.”

The video and television revolution, participants agreed, has had a drama tic impact on the pattern of daily life, rivalled only by the impact of educa tion and the removal of young people

from agriculture, fishing and house

work to the classroom. Video and tele vision place the entire village in front of the screen for up to eight hours (in American Samoa, research shows up to 14) out of every 24, replacing activi ties vital to cultural continuity, However, Mr Thomas warned that it must be recognised that cultures are

not static; white they are continually

evolving, very rapid change can be

destructive. As Sister Maria Burke of the Melanesian Institute of PNG said of television at the 1986 Waigani Seminar, “education for awareness

building and general entertainment

the media can provide, but only if the material fits the people and if the means are available to the majority of

people. However, if the content of

programming is totally foreign we will

nave cultural alienation.”

The impact of satellite-delivered television, for example over which recipients have little or no control has oeen cause for concern in a num ber of traditional societies. But island nations are researching ways of allow ing communities local control over in coming satellite services and the estab lishment of a direct input and produc tion facility in both video and audio.

As a step in this direction, the Paci fic region has opted to look at the

WACC-sponsored Manila Congress

from a cultural perspective.

The seminar, to be held from Octo ber 15-19 this year, involves discussion highlighting the impact of modern communications technology on Pacific cultures, addressing the question of how those technologies could be used to the advantage of the community, and how the island nations could con trol the flow of information. □