Exploratory study of the University of Fort Hare students' perception of the role of global television in cultural homogenisation

• Main Author: Moyo, Rachel
• Format: Others
• Language: English
• Published: University of Fort Hare 2013
• Subjects: University of Fort Hare; Globalization > South Africa > Eastern Cape; Mass media > South Africa > Eastern Cape; Television viewers > South Africa > Eastern Cape; Television broadcasting > Social aspects
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/d1005988

The implications of globalisation in African societies raise an interesting debate and also pose a challenge to 21st century scholars of media/cultural tradition. While the media/cultural imperialism theory views global media as perpetuating cultural imperialism, revisionist theories of the media such as the audience reception theory argue against this, saying that media texts can be negotiated with. Both sides have always provided facts to argue their cases and the argument between them remains fluid. This study, which is a quantitative survey of some University of Fort Hare students’ perception of the role of global television in cultural homogenisation, has adopted the second phase of revisionism which is a counter to the audience reception theory, arguing that in the process of interaction with media texts, there may be transference of cultural values. This study used the media imperialism theory and the cultivation theory in exploring respondents’ perceptions of whether global television is perpetuating cultural imperialism and consequently cultural homogenisation among receiving cultures. The study adopted the quantitative methodology and a self-administered questionnaire structured according to the Likert Scale of measurement was used to gather data. Four cultural products of language, music, dress and religion were used as the measurable indicators to determine perceptions of global television consumption’s influence in cultural imperialism. The study used the case of University of Fort Hare students since they are a heterogeneous group and because there is not much research done concerning the influence of technological advancement, especially on the youth in remote areas such as Alice town where Fort Hare is situated. Although there were problems in the sampling process, most respondents did seem to perceive the notion that global television consumption does perpetuate cultural imperialism and that this is consequently leading to cultural homogenisation to a certain extent. According to the sampled group, the measure of the extent of homogenisation caused by global television consumption was 67.69%, falling behind by 27.31% from the anticipated standard of 95%. The difference between the anticipated standard and the realised standard was attributed to the dialectical debates emanating from the study findings which were also reiterated in the literature review. Importantly, the respondents indicated their preference for local media productions while at the same time agreeing that they were often unavailable, which leaves them without much choice but to watch those Western programmes that are readily available on both local media stations and on global television. To this end, most students denied that their own cultural values have deteriorated.