American

Letters To The Editor

The American Television dilemma

Sir, In the December 1994 issue of Pacific Islands Monthly, I refer to the two cover story news reports: “Fiji’s television dilemma” and “Fiji’s Media.”

Fiji’s television: I quote three sentences from the news report. • “Meanwhile, other concerns have been raised about people being “force fed” an alien culture life style.” • “What we see on television is not

something everybody here can identify

with.” • “Even the advertisements indirectly hint that the lifestyle of the people in rural areas does not conform to normal

lifestyles elsewhere.”

The above three sentences describe much of the television fare in the United States. In the USA, most television drama, comedy and advertising show a white, middle class, or upper middle class,

household or style of living in a big city or suburbs of a big city. Such portrayals are completely alien to blacks who live in ghettos such as Harlem in New York City, to Hispanics, to rural USA, etc. Further, theme programmes on financial advice, exercise, travel, health, sports, diet, cook ing, politics, etc., are pitched toward urban middle and upper-middle classes as is also most advertising on TV.

Fiji’s Media: In referring to freedom of the press, someone (whose name escapes me) once said: Freedom of the press belongs to whoever owns the press.

Robert Silberstorf,

Apartado Aereo 065629, Medellin, Antioquia, Columbia.