Dr Toynbee & Dr Ikeda engaging in their dialoge
Dr Toynbee & Dr Ikeda enjoying their afternoon walk
Allow me to share with you a story about Dr Arnold Toynbee who visited Turkey to report on the events that was happening in Turkey. These events were never published in the news paper, .
This essay was written by Dr Daisaku Ikeda; president of Soka Gakkai (Value Creating) International. It is entitled: “Another way of seeing things”. A short film was made base on the essay show casing Dr Toynbee’s courageous action as a journalist and his wished to “listen to the other side”. We will discuss how influential the media was and the various media theory that play a part in the Greco – Turkish war.
Dr Arnold Toynbee a British historian (1889 – 1975) visited Turkey in 1921, when he was 32 years old. He had gone to observe the Greco-Turkish war that had been raging for two years. He first observed the conditions from the Greek side, then from the Turkish. For Toynbee, guided as he was by Saint Augustine’s injunction “Audi alteram partem” (Hear the other side), this was absolutely crucial. And he placed particular importance on listening to the side that was “the more in danger of not being given a fair hearing”:
If one was to see straight, one must also see things from the mute party’s point of view… In the present conflict and controversy between the Greeks and Turks, the Greeks were the vocal party once again. The Greeks and the ear of the West, and the west was in ascendant in the world. I was familiar with the Greeks’ ease; I felt that it could take care of itself; the Turks case was the one that I must take pains to understand.
Toynbee traveled to a town where Turkish civilians has been massacred. He witnessed the suffering of Turkish refugees, and was outrage that these atrocities went completely unreported in the west. Writing down the facts exactly as he had seen them, he wired these to the Manchester Guardian, a leading British newspaper. The editor of the paper courageously published the full text of Toynbee’s reports.
Why “courageously”?
For centuries the Turks had been portrayed in the west as uncivilized savages. To make matters worse, the horrors of the 1915 Armenian Massacre carried out by the Ottoman Turks were still fresh in people’s memories. And indeed, when the articles appeared, the newspaper was besieged by a storm of criticism. People attack it for shamelessly publishing articles sympathetic to the “unspeakable Turks.” But the paper’s admirable stance of refusing to bend to what Toynbee saw as prejudice against Muslims shines to this day.
At the other end of the spectrum, the article made a deep impression on the Turks. They were astonished that a young Englishman had visited a Turkish refugee camp, that he had impartially recorded what he had seen, and that a British newspaper had actually published it.
It was the first time their side of the story had been conveyed to the world. Years later Toynbee animatedly recounted how Turkish people gathered round the newspaper, their faces flushed with excitement as they read his article.
Relying only on information from the west – viewing things always from the western perspective – does not provide a true picture of the world. There is an African view of the world, a world seen from the Middle East, from Latin America, through the eyes of various ethnic minorities. There is more to international society than just war.
On his homeward journey by train from Istanbul, Toynbee began to outline what would become his lifework, A Study of History. Based on those notes, he later developed the groundbreaking historical theory – written from a truly global perspective – that was his great gift to humankind.
Shortly after his return to Britain, Toynbee was forced to resign from London University over what was seen as his support for the Turks. He told me (Dr Daisaku Ikeda) that for the next 33 years, he made his living writing reports on international issues for the Royal Institute of International Affairs, an independent research organization.
The young Toynbee knew it was wrong to stereotype and thus dehumanized people as the Turks has been. It was necessary to get to know individual Turks. He put this conviction into practice, learning Turkish and making friends with Turkish people. “When one become personally acquainted with a fellow human being, of whatever religion, nationality, or race, one cannot fail to recognize that he is human like oneself…”
After reading this essay, what is your view? Will you believe those reports that were in favour to the Greeks without finding out the truth from the Turk? Are you swayed by the malicious report?
This also reminds me about the Iraq war lead by the Bush administration. Have the media actually published the suffering of the innocent people, the atrocities of the soldiers who tortured & killed the prisons of war and worst of all rape and murder. You might say a few of these cases were being published, but I am sure there were many more of such cases which were not published at all. Media has become so influential that we are sometime deceived by it.
From the essay, you can identify very strongly the Agenda Setting Function – this is where the media has the ability through repeated new coverage, to raise the importance of an issue in the public mind. Whatever that were reported may not be the truth!
- The media portray that the Turks were uncivilized savages.
- The Greeks were the “pitiful ones”
Second, Media Hegemony – the media represent the view of the power elite; it is influence by those who hold economic and political power.
- The West who were ascendant in the world.
Thirdly, Media Determinism – where medium is more important then the message.
Fourthly, Spiral of Silence – People who disagree with the message broadcast by the media often refuse to voice criticisms for fear of being socially isolated.
- The suffering of Turkish refugees, which was completely unreported in the west.
- The prejudice against Muslims
Lastly, Cultivation Theory – Media do not influence audience attitudes directly, but cultivated indirectly.
- The media play such important role in influencing the audience, for centuries they believes that Turks were uncivilized savages.
- Stereotyping people – viewing things always from the western perspective.
The above five media theories mentions fall under the moderate effects models where the media still has the ability to influence its audience. As citizens we must seek to identify the truth rather then being swayed by malicious reports and start to stereotype. In closing, let us be a more humanistic person who will take the conscious efforts to care for the people around us.