Morality, television and Big Brother Nigeria

THE general belief is that mass media are significant but the particular belief is that they have effects on individuals, groups or organisations (McQuail, 2010). Among the mass media of communication, television is the most powerful and influential. It has the power to bend the minds of audiences. It has the power to launch/popularise an idea or destroy an idea. It is evidently seen as a powerful agent of socialisation in the study of the society. Aside its powerful influence, television is the most watched medium all over the world (Akbar, 2009).

The high following and viewership of the recently-concluded Big Brother Nigeria (BBN) by self-acclaimed religious youths is a manifestation of television power. “The Christians” condemned it because it had pornographic contents; hence, it was against the Bible. “The Muslims” criticised it because it was inhospitable to the spread of Sunnah among believers. “The moralists” wouldn’t want to see it because it was against Nigerian cultures and values. But I always argued that Nigerians should hinge their positions on Stamford University social psychologist Professor Leon Festinger’s cognitive dissonance theory; Elihu Katz’s uses & gratifications theory, and perception theory. In other words, I argued that no viewer of BBN should be condemned for his interest because there was something in it for him. Also, no TV content should be condemned in its wholeness because a certain segment of the audiences would always derive benefits from it.

The first premise for condemning BBN on social media, Facebook and Twitter in particular by Nigerian youths is that the reality show was staged and produced in South Africa, a foreign land, an economic rival of Nigeria, and a slaughter slab of helpless greener-pasture seeking Nigerians. Why should the show be produced in South Africa? Why can’t the sponsors produce it in Nigeria for Nigerians? After all, it is Big Brother Nigeria. As jingoistic as these arguments are, they don’t hold water to me and many other communication academics in view of the rising media imperialism, media globalisation and cultural globalisation.

Big Brother has continued to spread like California summer wild fires since its inception in the Netherlands as created by John de Mol in 1999. Today, the reality game show franchise is shown in over 54 franchise countries and regions. What a media and cultural imperialism, and media globalisation! The rising popularity of Big Brother has been aided by digital satellite television which has promoted pay TV all over the world. Nigerians saw the show exclusively on DSTV, a leading pay TV in Africa. Lest I forget, cable television like DSTV offers audiences various programmes based on “terms and conditions”. This is why regulation of pay TV and their contents is almost impossible unlike that of terrestrial television.

But on Sunday, I was not surprised when “the Christians”, “the Muslims” and “the Moralists” poured praises on organisers of the Western show for giving them weeks of fun. Their posts suggested they had been seeing the reality show for weeks in their private rooms. But they condemned it in public. What a double standard. They apparently regretted they were going to miss the guys, congratulating Efe, Bisola and Tboss. The reaction at the end of the show was cultic, singularly uniform. They surely would miss the contentious western programme.

At this juncture, it is imperative to ask these questions: What do Nigerians really want? Are we hypocrites? Watching a programme in a secret place, but condemning it in public is nothing short of hypocrisy. This can be likened to criticising corrupt politicians in public and going to them privately to share from their loots. Again, BBN should not be seen as antithetical to Nigerian cultural values because we are yet to define our cultures and values at the national level, coupled with the fact that our existing cultural values have been eroded by widespread corruption and disunity among ethnic groups. In terms of religion, most of us are only religious, but not godly, righteous or just.

In conclusion, the majority of Nigerians still lack media literacy which has been defined as audience’s ability to determine what the media are doing, framing, presenting and targeting; to understand media manipulations. BBN is all about propagating western life and styles among teeming Nigerian youths. Period! Last, the calls for the ban or regulation of BBN are empty. This is because it was shown on pay TV which is almost impossible to regulate by National Broadcasting Commission (NBC). Audiences pay per view on DSTV based on terms and conditions.

• Olajide writes in from Department of Mass Communication, MAPOLY, Abeokuta.