An Interview with Chinua Achebe - Most Meaningful Takeaway

The media is rife in our society, as we live in a world that has thrived for innovative technological advances. The media is the main outlet of mass communication, and with such can emit news that has the potential to deceive a myriad of individuals worldwide. Chinua Achebe deprecates that the “media coverage of Africa is one-sided,” and merely “focuses on the famines, social unrest, and political violence.” Yet, those who are responsible for these media outlets bestow their societies as the epitome of success in comparison to weaker powers. The stories are a result of cynical intentions, “those who win tell the story, those who are defeated are not heard.” Chinua Achebe is referring to colonization, as a big part of Africa was colonized by white power, who exploited their land for resources. The colonizers or oppressors are the winners who tell the story in this case. The skewed coverage of Africa displays the rudimentary aspects of their values, and disregards their felicitous folklore. This is a direct example of a one-sided story, whereby only the fruitless qualities of Africa are revealed to the general public. A subliminal bias against Africa is formed, as often times the number of ideologies that juxtapose what is presented by the media is infinitesimal.

Society’s paradigm of bigotry against Africa is similar to the discrimination towards Arabs. As an Arab I can tell you that the media disseminates a one-sided story surrounding our values. The idea of violence, aggression and terrorism is often associated with Arabs. Yes, there may be some people who fit the generalized standard that the media displays, however there is much more that has been shunned. There may be individuals from all cohorts that fit this tawdry standard. This deplorable representation of Arabs as merely wrongdoers begets pernicious consequences. Individuals “who only hear one side of the story… have no understanding” of the truth that lies behind the curtain. The media cunningly paints all Arabs with a single brush. When in reality with everything bad comes something good, thus it is feckless to simply consider the fallacious side of the story. Arabs have unique customs and traditions that are truly representative of their values. It is imperative to live in a society with “a balance of stories where every people will be able to contribute to a definition of themselves, where we are not victims of other people's accounts.”

The media is like a human body, whereby if not all its organs work collectively, bodily mechanisms and functions will distort. In context of the media, if not all stories are told, the news articulated will be corrupt. With that being said, I was able to appreciate the cultural context in Things Fall Apart, as I was able to recognize that Africa is more than bruised representations the media displays.