THE CHALLENGES OF WESTERN MEDIA CONTENTS ON THE NIGERIAN YOUTHS; A CASE STUDY OF BABCOCK STUDENTS

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Culture refers to the full range of learned, socially transmitted human behaviour patterns such as language, beliefs, values and norms, customs, dress, diet, roles, knowledge and skills, and all the other things that people learn that make up the ‘way of life’ of any society. It is a pattern of human activities and the symbols that give these activities significance. It is what people eat, how they dress, beliefs they hold and activities they engage in. Society was formed under an agreement would need a hold of morality that must be executed in a common life among members of the public. Consensus will be the rules of morality that will be done with a guide for all members of the community in conducting the various activities of life together. Rules of morality are embodied in the form of values and norms of society. In everyday life human interaction is guided by values and constrained by norms of social life. Norms and values at first birth was not accidental; because humans exist as social beings and must interact with the other.

Culture is a powerful human tool for survival passed on from one generation to the next through the process of socialisation. “The process of expanding culture has been under way for many centuries, but technologies have increased the speed and have also broadened the distribution of cultural elements beyond communities and nations’ territorial frontiers. (Nwegbu et al 2009). Each mass medium has unique characteristics, which places it at advantage over other media. Television, for instance, has a wide range of advantages over other media structures as a result of its audio visual component. In fact, despite the unprecedented development of so many new media technologies over the past decade, television remains the most global and powerful of all media. Undeniably, television content are encompassing nowadays – from sitcoms and soap operas to reality shows, from sporting events to music video countdowns, and from our favourite blockbusters to animal documentaries.

As anyone who knows a youth can attest, television is among the most powerful forces in adolescents’ lives today. It is an important medium of communication in the 21st century and is used for several reasons including information acquisition, education, preservation of cultural heritage, surveillance of the society, and entertainment as it provides millions with a constant stream of free leisure strategies and opportunities; family matters; messages about peers, relationships, gender, sex, violence, religion, food, values and cloths just to mention a few. In fact, besides (maybe) sleeping, a study by the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF, 2010) revealed that youths spend more time with media than with any other activity — an average of more than 7½ hours a day, seven days a week. Therefore, this study focuses on the challenges of Western media contents on the Nigerian Youths, using Babcock students as a case study.

1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

While it is true that viewers have indigenous alternatives, most Nigerians prefer foreign TV content. One of the reasons behind this could be the fact that local producers imitate their Western counterparts. Consequently the programmes become tattered; this in turn prompts the audience to develop enthusiasm for Western oriented programmes. In other words, while the local cultural values diminish, Western traits thrive – cultural imperialism. As a matter of fact, the researcher identified the following as reasons for the endemic effects of cultural imperialism in Nigerian societies today: · The avalanche of Western content invading our TV screens. · Inadequate policies by government and regulatory bodies like Nigeria Broadcast Corporation (NBC) to guard Nigerian youths from the negative effects of internalization of the media. · The imitation of Western cultures spearheaded by producers (TV and Film). · The unchallenged brainwashing of Nigerian youths through messages of crime, violence, sex and other social vices. These problems make it glaring that there is a need to carry out a study on the challenges of Western media contents on the Nigerian Youths, using Babcock students as a case study.