Nationalism and the Press
Nationalism is a feeling of loyalty and devotion a person has towards his country. It is a sense of national consciousness where an individual praises his country and places primary emphasis on the country's culture and interests as opposed to other nations. Nationalism can lead to uniformity of thoughts, actions and assumption among various individuals in a country. Nationalism is a major cultural defining factor in any state. It mainly depends on a country's ideology and way of life. The press, on the other hand, is an independent body that sensitizes the citizens on various aspects of life including news, advice and political opinion from different experts. The media plays a significant role in developing awareness and sharing information with the general population about their country's welfare and various ideologies that the state bases its existence. This paper looks at the relationship between media and nationalism of a country and explains the roles the media can play in developing ideas to citizens and promoting patriotism.
Deutsch's approach on nationalism aims at showing the correlation between social communication from media and the rise of a country's national consciousness (Mardin, 1961). To understand the relationship between the press and national consciousness, we will analyze the Ottoman Empire channel of communication. It consisted of two cultural worlds; one part involved orally transmitted literature while the other world was a world of polite culture where an elite group controlled media of communication. The second group used doctors of Islamic law and higher employees to control media communication. The media had a mandate of producing literature to the people and kept the flow of governmental and judiciary information circulation. The doctors of Islamic law were not taught on various aspects of writing, as they received favors and were awarded diploma certificates wrongly without actually undergoing a proper test and achieving passing grades. As a result of this move, many talented people are languishing in poverty and isolated from understanding Turkish literature. It is evident that media provides a platform for education and sensitization of the community, having a media that is corrupt and unskilled will have a bad influence on the society including poverty which hinders one's sense of nationalism towards his /her country.
Media platform provides sensitization of the ordinary people on government activities and laws. The print media introduced in Turkey faced significant opposition from Ulema, who feared that citizens would understand government dealings and may start asking questions on the various processes, and this threatened their existence. Mustafa Rakim later develops a simplified method of Calligraphy, and this gets a massive opposition from fellow calligraphers who do not want the idea to spread to the rest of the population through print media. Sensitization of the community through media will create a sense of national cohesion and integration which plays a major role in achieving nationalism. Various individuals should understand the government processes, and this is only achievable through media. Knowing the state process will boost citizens confident in government and limit corruption promoting common culture among citizens.
Media advocates for reforms that will improve nation building process. The first Ottoman text printed was meant to spark a feeling of change among the population (Mardin, 1961). It contained general propaganda of the citizens of Turkey. It is, therefore, clear that media can bring people together to demand reforms and changes in the system which promote equality and fairness in the governmental process. Through such changes, the country can shape in a proper fashion and promote national growth and shared goals among citizens. Individuals get a platform to raise the complaint, and the government provides solutions to the stated problems as a result promoting nationalism and a sense of belonging to a given country.
The press provides a platform for training of various individuals to acquire skills and competence in a particular area. Most of the people in Ottoman did not understand the Turkish language well, as a result, could not afford better jobs that would improve their living standards. Print media sources like the Arabic literature handbook was a simple text that aimed and training the community on achieving better reading and writing skills. Through acquiring skills these men would get better jobs that offer better pay and hence improve their living standards and reach a common goal of promoting the nation's culture. Through media sensitization and teaching, poverty levels will be significantly reduces promoting nationalism and a sense of belonging and satisfaction of one's country.
Fuad Pasa enlightens people through linguistic simplification and popularization. He establishes a simple official language that is understood by everybody and creates education institution for training employee on better service delivery. Government officials get proper training through the use of print media and can better their understanding of duties entrusted to them. Media provide a platform of informing the public of government processes in a simple way to that is understandable to every individual and as a result, many people will increase their trust on government issues, and this promotes nationalism as people come together in achieving a common goal that is nation building and development.
The press provides a sense of democracy and elimination of discrimination in the society which intern promotes national growth. Through media information is relayed to both the upper and lower classes of the society in a similar fashion. It further encourages civilization among all cultures in a country this helps the country grow in every aspect of life irrespective of the social status of the citizens. Through a democratic representation various individuals in the country will have common goals and cultures and as a result, promote nationalism. Democracy also promotes peaceful coexistence of among citizens, and this increases national cohesion and integration.
Newspapers like the official gazette in Turkey had an aim of informing the population on the important announcement from the government or globally (Mardin, 1961). Through such initiative, individuals can be advice on important ideologies that would promote nationalism. Since the newspaper is an independent body, it can be used to raise awareness on important issues that affect the country and provide measures of avoiding these calamities. It provides a platform for information sharing, and this plays a significant role in the development of common goals and practices.
The newspapers also provide both linguistic and political sensitization which promotes a sense of democracy. Through newspapers, the locals can get information about their government systems and understand important governmental issues that affect them. Also, the citizens can air their grievances to the media company which prints the issues, and appropriate action taken by the government. Newspapers provide an avenue for communication between the government, the world and the citizens of a given country. Important issues like constitutionalism and representative government can be put on front page of newspapers to indicate urgency among citizens and the need for the government to address these matters. Through communication, various issues affecting the citizens can be corrected boosting citizen's confidence in the governing system, and this promotes a sense of belonging to a nation.
Lastly, the press provides unity for citizens in a given country. It creates a bond of unity among citizens with similar ideas and grievances. This integration improves the national strength of citizens and as such the residents can work extra hard to realize achievement of the country's goal or vision. Unity is one of the fundamental pillars of nationalism in any society. Media platform has significant links with nationalism and cohesion of a country, but it also possesses an unmatchable influence on the society.
The conflicting interest on social media networks results from divergent opinions of different writers and journalist. A given journalist will strive to promote his/ her ideologies across their audience which maybe divergent with other persons idea. A common goal between these two parties cannot be realized as each of them will do everything to prove he/she is right on the issue under question. National differentiation is also another key aspect in creating conflict of interest in social media as various individuals from different areas have opposing needs and ideas hence cannot uniformly for a single unit. The divergent public opinion on a given media source prevents a unified stand on social media, various individuals will have divergent opinion on the press and this changes their attitude towards the given media causing conflicting opinion on the media rather than a common good .
Media can be used by various individuals to promote their selfish ideologies. Sinasi, a journalist in the text, uses the newspaper to promote his selfish political beliefs. He uses media to promote conspiracy against Ali pasa and boost his political agenda. The press should be an independent body and should respect the rule of law and protect the interests of its citizens and at no particular time should it be used to promote hatred and divide the citizens in a given country. Today media platform is filled with unwanted contents such as pornography and adult content hence; most people try to withhold from totally embracing the media as an inspirational tool in nationalism. Media is therefore both a weapon and a savior to the society; it will provide a platform where individuals can share ideas and unite as one promoting peaceful coexistence and a sense of loyalty to a country. On the other hand, media can be the greatest weapon to unity and peaceful coexistence of individuals in a given state.
Reference
Mardin, S. (1961). Some note on an early phase of the modernization of communications in Turkey. Comparative Studies in Society and History, 3(03), 250-271.
