These three countries give an opportunity to look at the different roles of the media in underdeveloped countries. Go to the following sites for Nigeria, Iran and Mexico and answer the following prompts:
1. Compare and contrast the ways the media affects political culture in each of the countries.
2. Analyze how the history of each of the countries is reflected in the nature of media coverage.
3. What do you believe is the "formative event" in shaping the political culture in each of these countries? Explain your reasoning.
Mexico and Nigeria are very interesting. Usually when we talk about issues with the media it has to do with government censorship and propaganda, but for these countries there is also an issue of gangs and terrorists. Its intresting how a a number of small groups that may not even be connected can influence media rather than governments.
ReplyDeleteFor Iran the strong controlling government now has to deal with the internet which can be seen as both a friend and foe to the government. At the same time the current restrictions on media is not being enforced in some cases. It just makes the situation complicated.
DeleteCompare and contrast the ways the media affects political culture in each of the countries.
ReplyDeleteNigerians media is vast with many outlets, however there is corruption and crime associated, also seems problematic that foreign media is not allowed. Facebook is used. Many private state owned companies, intend to keep it that way.
Iran also has the policy that foreign Chanel's are banned, social networking is banned such as Facebook. Many state owned companies and plan to keep it that way.
Mexican media is more diverse and seems to cater to the people more with news that caters to different political backgrounds. Mexico allows the use of Facebook and it is the largest social networking site.
2. Analyze how the history of each of the countries is reflected in the nature of media coverage.
The history of Nigeria is very affected by media coverage, as the outside world is not close within reach due to media restriction, which also leaves the outside world slightly in the dark about Nigeria as well.
Iran is affected as they are only exposed to media the government feels is okay.
"All broadcasting from Iranian soil is controlled by the state and reflects official ideology"
Mexico's history violence and corruption I believe tends to let the media have more power, as there is something to report and various ideologies
3. What do you believe is the "formative event" in shaping the political culture in each of these countries? Explain your reasoning.
Nigeria may be the poverty, in which richer state owned media can do what it wants without being challenged seriously
Iran may be the influence is Islam and the strong ties to that within the country
Mexico may be the corruption and violence that led the media to have more power than many other countries. However corruption among government or the media sources themselves can play a crucial role.
The media is most influential to politics, culture in Nigeria, where it has the oat freedom from governments control. In Mexico, the historically PRI dominated media is gaining independence from its constraints. In Iran, the state controls the media to a greater extent than the other nations. Nigeria's provinces each have at least one radio station which allows it to have a relatively prosperous means of transferring information (not without its flaws of course). Mexico's dominance by the political group PRI is the most historically significant factor that determines the media's place in Mexican society. Iran's historical Islamism is most influential to its media, as the state feels it must keep their theocratic leadership strong.
ReplyDeleteIt seems that every one of these countries lacks access to credible information. While Nigeria has to deal with some state imposed censorship like Iran but far less severe they still have few distributors of information. The case in Mexico deals les with state enforcement and more with the fact that there is a sort of monopoly on information which forces the people of Mexico to sift through the news they are handed and figure out what is completely biased and what, if anything is not.
ReplyDeleteEach of the countries has a different political culture which matches the types of media they possess. Iran has very restrictive media which is state controlled. This reflects the theocratic nature of the state where religion plays a large role. The media also portrays this aspect of the Iranian political culture. Mexico has some openness in their media however there is continuing violence against reporters and journalists. This also reflects on medicos current political culture which consists of increasing violence especially in regards to drug cartels. In Nigeria there are many different news stations however there are still problems with the integrity of the news stations this also mirrors the political culture in which a democracy is resent however it is illiberal and not advanced.
ReplyDeleteIran had a history if a revolution against a US backed Shah. This causes them to be wary of most American ideals and having a free press is encompassed in that. Mexico faces violence and the violence over spills into the press as well. Nigeria was until recently an imperial possession. Tis has not given it time to fully delve and take advantage of its resources in the media.
In Iran, I think the revolution was a key event in shaping the countries. For Nigeria, the history of colonialism has impact they country in a major way. In Mexico, the lack of a stable government even after freedom from Spanish rule has propagated the current situation.
1. The media has little influence on political culture in Mexico, as many journalists are murdered or imprisoned. Sensationalist media sells better, which doesn't have much of a political impact.
ReplyDeleteIn Iran, the media is run by the state, so the media is reflective of the political culture as put out by the government. However, when the government isn't jailing dissenters, they are able to use the media very effectively to spread their ideas and organize protests.
In Nigeria, the media plays a huge role in day-to-day life, with the main outlet being radio rather than television or the Internet . However, the integrity of the media is threatened by Boko Haram and other militant groups that assault and kill journalists "almost daily."
2. In Iran, the staunch control of the media by the government is reflective of the staunch control the government has had over its people. Mexico and Nigeria are similar, as both suffer from problems of corruption and inability to enforce rule of law, making things difficult for journalists to express their ideas freely.
3. The formative event that has shaped the political culture of Iran is the Iranian Revolution. By establishing a strong theocracy that rejects any kind of dissent, Iran set their political culture to be whatever the government wants it to be.
In Mexico, the political culture is defined by the drug war and corruption. It is difficult for the government to do their job properly when there are so many corrupt officials and violence is rampant.
In Nigeria, political culture has been defined by oil. Who controls it and where the money goes is at the center of Nigerian politics.
1. Both Iran and Nigerialimit the ability of their citizen to watch foreign news, which forces their citizens to use the internet to learn about the news happening around the world that their governments do not want them to know. This emphasies a represive political culture. However, Nigeria does seem to have more domestic press freedom than Iran, as is evidenced by private cable companies like Galaxy and Silver Bird TV. In mexico instead of the government limiting press freedom, drug cartels are responsible for limiting the press.
ReplyDelete2. A history of ethnic clashes in Nigeria is respomsible for broadcasts that appeal to or target one ethnic group. The Iranian Revolution isnresponsible for the media in Iran as it is today. Religion and an theocrtic and oppressive government control the media and as a result, not all informtion is allowed to be seen or reported through media. mexico is on a free and democratic continent generally speaking somit would hve a more free press than iran and nigeria.
3. The most formative event in Iran would be the 1979 Revolution becausemafter it religion controlled the state.
1) Radio plays a major role in media coverage for both Mexico and Nigeria. Newspapers provide mostly differentiating political views for each of the countries, however are more targeted towards ethic interests and tabloids. Out of the three countries, Iran faces a more strict government controlled media. Nigeria, Iran, and Mexico are mostly provided with media information through the Internet through outlets such as Facebook, Twitter, and blogs.
ReplyDelete2) The two "democratic" countries, Nigeria and Mexico have a lenient media and no government influence. Where as Iran, all sources of media are filtered by government officials.
3) Iran: Islamist ideals
Mexico: drug war
Nigeria: new democracy and oil
Nigeria appears to mainly use the radio as its media outlet and Iran uses television as theirs while Mexico uses a mixture of both types. Facebook also appears to be very popular in Mexico and Nigeria, yet is banned in Iran. All three of these countries are also known to be some of the most dangerous countries for journalists, with various murders and crimes made against them. Out of the 3 countries, Iran's media appears to be controlled by the government the most, followed by Nigeria and Mexico. All of Iran's outlets are controlled by the state with various sites blocked off. Nigeria also prevents the airing of foreign broadcasts with some outlets controlled by the government. However, they still have some private stations. Mexico's "Televisa" group also had a firm monopoly over the media and was also linked to the PRI, giving it political motives, however, it is still more lenient than that of Iran.
ReplyDeleteBecause of the strong hold the gov't has over the media in Iran, it would make sense that much of the information that is broadcasted would follow much of the state ideology and make them look better. However, the same can be said for all 3 of these countries because of the fact the state still has a strong influence in the media.
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ReplyDelete1. Compare and contrast the ways the media affects political culture in each of the countries.
ReplyDeleteNigeria: focuses their political culture through radio broadcasting.
Iran: focuses political culture through foreign television because most domestic tv is banned.
Mexico: due to the consistent corruption and crime in Mexico, Mexico has less restrictions on media unlike Nigeria and Iran.
2. Analyze how the history of each of the countries is reflected in the nature of media coverage.
Since a majority of "news" is covered by either radio or the tv, and the Internet, their perspective often becomes one sided due to their reliance of one primary source.
3. What do you believe is the "formative event" in shaping the political culture in each of these countries? Explain your reasoning.
Nigeria is defined by its oil.
Iran is defined by the Iranian revolution and thus why they have such a restrictive government now.
Mexico is defined by its corruption of drugs and cartel that takes place in the country.
In all of the three countries freer media is taking place on the Internet than in newspapers or the rad this is primarily because of consistent threats of violence, abductions and state domination of traditional media sources.
ReplyDeleteIran seems to have the most control over Its media. Their State dominated news drowns out traditional sources of media. They have also blocked more websites than any of the 2 other nations. Irans history is reflected because Iran is a totalitarian state which is rebelling against the previous western domination. Iran's s regime seeks to protect their religious domination.
Nigeria has a lot of different sources of news, but because of the inchoate state of the democracy and It's general illiberalness free press is hard to come by. Nigeria has also blocked I many foreign news sources. Nigeria has historically always been very diverse so it makes sense for theirs to be at plethora of news sources
Mexico's news is caught in the drug war, which leads to many deaths of journalists. It is dominated by Televisa, and an oligarch of other large companies. Mexico's resources have always been dominated by a few interests, and that trend has continued in the Media.
The three countries are very similar in that there is not as much free media as the government wants the public to think. While people are allowed to use sites such as Facebook, many journalists get arrested every day because of the lack of free speech they have in Nigeria. In Iran, they are allowed to watch foreign shows but there is a ban on the satellite equipment. In Mexico, they have a more free media, but there is a huge threat by drug cartels and gang members. The Islamic Revolution shaped Iran by implementing a stricter control from the government. Colonialism in Nigeria allows many sources of news but yet keeps a rather strict control as far as what they can or cannot say. In Mexico, the PRI lead to a stronger crime rate with drug cartels and gang members.
ReplyDeleteNigeria: Because a lot of people cannot afford Tvs, the radio is a key source for all types of media. The radio influences everyone because people are able to hear it. The internet has also been important among the younger crowds which use social networking site such as facebook to their advantage. The press usually critics the government which shows how the government is the "watchdog" of the government.
ReplyDeleteIran: television is the most popular form of media in Iran, about 80% of Iranians watch T.V. Even though most of them watch T.V., the channels are state sponsored and state-runned. Iran has a ban on satellite equipments which hinders the connections with the outside world. Even though Iranians are allowed to use the internet, some social-networking sites like facebook, Twitter, Myspace, and Youtube are blocked. The governments ways to block some sites is their ways to maintain their legitimacy.
Mexico: Compared with Iranians and Nigerians, Mexicans have a lot more freedoms when expressing themselves. The press in Mexico frequently talks about all types of liberal subjects and do not try to hide anything that is going on in the country. Mexicans have one of the highest internet user percentages in Latin America which shows how much they communicate and share knowledge with each other.
The media has been influenced by the types of government and the history that the country has gone through. For example, Nigeria's poverty levels are really low so something that would usually be in the news deals with poverty and the corruption of the government because of poverty. On the other hand, Iran is somewhat wealthier but heavily influenced by Islam which makes the media stay focused around that. Thirdly, Mexico faces corruption due to the violence brought by the drug war which is something that the news focuses on.
DeleteMedia is also influenced by the people so the media represents the people because they choose what they watch.