| dc.description.abstract | This study was carried out to establish the impact of globalization, on the Kenyan broadcast media and national identity. It attempted to establish on one hand whether the broadcast media content was in anyway influencing the way Kenyans view, identity and feel about themselves and whether the influence is positive or negative. And on the other hand to establish if the now liberalized media had promotion of the country's national identity on their agenda. The relationship between media exposure and behaviour is highly complex as many other forces come into play. This also applies to the national identity of a people. Thus, the study was more explorative, presenting the investigator with a forum to explore the concepts of globalization and culture and create more knowledge in this field.
National identity is defined as a claim made about the collective personality of a country's people. It is derived from their history and culture and is exhibited in nationally distinctive attitudes, values and forms of behaviour. The challenge in the development of a national identity in Kenya has been the presence of many different cultures, over 40 ethnic groups. Thus Kenya's sense of identity is not derived from culture but from sharing the same space and a common colonial history.
The study was carried out in Nairobi, thecapital city of Kenya. The city was selected due to the availability of a variety of television and radio stations as compared to other urban centres and rural areas in the country. Also as the capital city of Kenya, Nairobi is considered a melting pot for the over 40 different ethnic communities found in Kenya. The study focused on electronic media, the modern world's most celebrated and effective conveyors of ideology and articulators of social rules.
In terms of media access and use, the study ascertained that the electronic media and particularly television and radio are very important sources of information and entertainment for the people of Kenya and are widely accessible with all the respondents interviewed having access to the television which was also identified as the most preferred media. Majority of the respondents watched television everyday for at least three hours.
Majority of the people interviewed thought Kenyans did not have a strong national identity, seen as a pride and love for their country and a sense of belonging. Kenyans they said were disillusioned by a myriad of problems that plague the country such as corruption, poverty, unemployment and would grab the opportunity to leave the country and settle else where particularly in the West.
The study found out that for Kenyans, having a strong national identity was very important. Reasons given include, it will create a harmonious existence and tolerance among the different communities living in Kenya as well as create a sense of pride among Kenyans. A strong identity will also develop a love for the country and a willingness to develop it and solve the problems that exist other than running away to the west. The strong national identity will also guard against cultural imperialism.
Though the media clearly has an important role to play in promoting the national identity, the study found that this was not on the agenda of most of the media houses with the exception of Kenya Broadcasting Corporation, the public broadcaster. The stations still had a very high proportion of foreign programmes between 60 and 80%, even KBC, the public broadcaster. Watching these foreign programmes, most of the respondents of the study felt, had a negative impact on the national identity particularly among the young people, leading to a generation of young people that are totally lost. They also felt that the television stations tended to highlight all the negative things in this country.
The liberalization or" the airwaves has not had any significant impact on the programming in relation to increasing local productions and promoting a national identity. The effect has even been negative for some television stations. For instance on KBC, the public broadcaster that has had to introduce a lot of foreign programmes in an effort to attract the audiences.
The TV stations thus must increase the local content and the challenge here is to ensure that the programmes are of very high quantity to match the standards of the West in order for Kenyans to develop a taste for local productions. Existing quality local productions were well appreciated and rated higWy by the viewers showing there is a demand for good quality local productions. Also, they must strike a balance between keeping the government of the day accountable to the people by highlighting their misdeeds and highlight the positive things that Kenyans can be proud of.
The government should have a policy in place with quotas that define the proportion of local to foreign programmes. Having 60-80% foreign programming denies Kenyans chance to create and consume their own cultural products as well as to develop this industry. Thus the quotas will also enable the industry to grow, support the artist and in no time Kenya can also become an exporter of content. However, the production of local programmes is ten to fifteen times more expensive than foreign programmes. In this regard, the government should also subsidize the production and reduce taxes on the ftlrning equipments. | en |
