World

2nd: It shows you a different picture from the one we areused to…That programme you showed us proves it, thosepeople were just like us, ordinary working people.(Retired, Glasgow)This does indicate that this type of programme, withits focus on ‘everyday life’, can surprise and informpeople. As one commented, ‘it shows you a differentpicture from the one we are used to’, and that Chinesepeople are ‘just like us’ (Retired, London).D.2.3. Group DiscussionsD.2.3.1. IntroductionThe developing world was perceived very negatively inalmost all of the groups. Most of the respondents usedwords like ‘poverty’, ‘famine’, ‘drought’, ‘wars’ and‘disasters’ in relation to the third world and beganinitially to speak about Africa.Most people said that their impressions came fromthe media (though school children said libraries andschool were more relevant to them). A small number ofpeople had been in developing world countries either onholiday, to live or work for extended periods of time.There were differences in the attitudes of those who hadexperienced different cultures first hand. Those who hadbeen on holiday (independent holidays as opposed to apackage holiday) had a desire to ‘experience’ differentcultures and had watched relevant programmes and readabout the countries they were planning to visit.Respondents were less clear how to define ‘developingworld’. On a number of occasions it had to be statedwhich countries were deemed to be part of the‘developing world’. Those respondents with an activeinterest in international development (most notably agroup of 26-30 year-olds and a group of active tradeunion members) were people who joined organisationssuch as Amnesty International and Greenpeace. Thesewere the only groups who spontaneously discussedissues about world economies, debt, and bothinternational and environmental politics. When askedwhere they would get information on development, all ofthe 15 year-olds said the library or the Internet. Only asmall number stated that they would intentionally watcha television news bulletin or documentary to gaininformation and very few claimed to be interested indevelopment issues.Respondents said that television coverage enhancednotions which they held about certain problems being‘too far away’ to be concerned about. This was reflectedin a number of areas from natural disasters to wars.Television in general was not seen as offering enoughinsights into the outside world. While described as a‘window on the world’ there was agreement within mostof the groups that in-depth contextualisation ofsituations did not really exist. In general television wasseen as being dominated by certain programme types –most commonly soap-operas, sport and game shows. Tosome extent this coloured respondents attitudes totelevision viewing. It was not commonly seen asperforming well as a vehicle for information or education(at least in main-stream programming). Respondents onthe whole claimed that television was not helping themto understand complex issues. While it may presentcertain information on ‘what was going on at the minute’it did not offer fuller explanations of why certain eventshad taken place. The vast majority of respondents statedthat they would go to a newspaper first if they wanted tounderstand a particular issue more fully. There wasgeneral consensus that television could offer betterprogrammes for audiences if it tried.Most respondents watched at least one televisionnews bulletin a day. Television news was seen as a majorsource of information on certain aspects of thedeveloping world – most notably on wars, famines,droughts, political unrest or natural disasters. It wasgenerally agreed that in relation to the developing world,news was predominantly ‘negative’, highlightingproblems and tragedies. The early evening bulletins onBBC1 or ITN were seen as being too short and treatingthe viewer as though they had some backgroundknowledge of an issue. On the whole it was agreed that ifpeople wanted full explanations of any given issue fromthe news they had to watch Channel 4 News or BBC2’sNewsnight. A number of respondents referred to theusefulness of BBC1’s Newsround as a way of gettingsimple background information on issues. Thisprogramme was seen as offering the viewer anexplanation that did not assume background knowledgeof an issue. The ‘5 points’ bullet system of Channel FiveNews was also commented on favourably.The majority of respondents believed thatdocumentaries could be both informative andinteresting but there was not enough of theseprogrammes. Dislike of documentaries centred on how‘dry’ or ‘boring’ their presentation could be, anddiscussion centred on how formats could be altered tomake programmes more watchable. Some suggestionswere offered such as mixing political situations with thereality of that situation for ‘normal’ people. Voice-overson programmes were seen as ‘getting in the way’. Therewas interest in allowing local people to speak and infeaturing their ‘normal lives’. But documentaries werealso criticised in the same way as news for being too136 DFID – July 2000