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Nixon, Ron

Page history last edited by gareen.darakjian.30@csun.edu 15 years, 11 months ago

 

Author Ron Nixon is associate editor of Southern Exposure, a magazine located in South Carolina, and director of the Investigative Action Fund of the Institute for Southern Studies (Southern Exposure Magazine), (Southern Studies).

Does positive reinforcement of widely known evil in the media persuade a community to change their views with utter disregard of historical fact? In the article by Ron Nixon titled “Divide and Confuse: Selling Nigeria to American Blacks,” the author analyzes the explicit agenda of the Nigerian government to elevate their name and reputation in the eyes of their American diaspora and fellow blacks. The most disturbing element of this practice is the use of advertorials to get their message across.

The introduction of the article discusses an eight-page advertorial insert in a “local black newspaper” that essentially advertises the notoriously nefarious nation. What is even more surprising is the fact that the Nigerian press, so riddled with censorship, elected an American print publication to announce their message. Possibly the most shocking aspect of the advertorial is the portrayal of Nigeria and their free press and struggle for democracy. The analysis of the author focuses on the following: “Their aim, says Melvin Foote of the Constituency for Africa, a Washington advocacy group, is ‘to create doubt’ about Nigeria in the minds of African Americans” (Nixon, 1996). Nixon states that the advertorial is most definitely a product of US advertising, which creates more curiosity in the reader’s mind.

Maurice Dawkins, a black conservative and former Senate hopeful, is a prime suspect in this campaign, aided by Symms, Lehn & Associates where he is an associate. Unfortunately, as the author comes to realize, Mr. Dawkins is a no-name among those who he claims to have worked with or had ties with.  Nixon analyzes Dawkins’ media strategy: “Dawkins employs a two-pronged strategy: promoting racial solidarity by accusing the U.S. media and government of racism, and creating doubt about the motives and credibility of Ken Saro-Wiwa and Nigerian pro-democracy groups” (Nixon). After much research, the author comes to realize that Dawkins has no personal ties to Nigeria, but is finding economic opportunity in the promotion of the nation. Because Americans are not extensively familiar with the goings on in Nigeria, they believe the only information that is fed to them via the images in the media. This exploitation of American ignorance is the driving force behind Dawkins’ agenda.

The prime negotiator in this effort is N.N.P.A., which “represents more than 200 black newspapers with 11 million readers across the country” (Nixon), (NNPA). Nixon turns to Dawkins’ critics, who state that his perspective of Nigeria and the Nigerian government is skewed because of the special treatment he received while there. Of course, the financiers of this operation were a part of the nefarious oil industry.

Another observer, Mel Foote of the Constituency for Africa, who, according to Nixon, “visited the country with another delegation on a fact-finding trip,” asserted what the general American public already knows about Nigeria: that there are severe human rights issues, economic turmoil and repression (Nixon), (Constituency For Africa). Nixon continues to speculate the motives behind the N.N.P.A.’s sponsorship of such messages in their publications. Due to the failing editorial/publishing industry, there has been much loss in financial support from advertisers. With the support of the Nigerian government and their ad placement, the black publications would be generating tens of thousands of dollars in ad revenue. Nixon explains that, “The inserts cost anywhere from $50 to $80 per thousand, depending on circulation” (Nixon). Critic Randy Echols asserts that the money offered by the Nigerian government and the advertorials placed in widely read black publications only harms the reputation of black press and ethnic media among those who realize what is really happening.

The main focus of the article revolves around the issue that the Nigerian government seemingly sponsored the propagation of their goodwill and innocence to Americans via an ethnic media source which would ensure the communication of their message. They exploited an oblivious audience and tarnished their reputation along with the reputation of all black media. With the help of Maurice Dawkins, who turns out to be anonymous in the general Nigeria/America milieu, the topic takes a comical turn, as it is obvious that financial gain was the driving force behind the whole operation. The author failed to provide background information about his research and could have included statistical information about the influence that the advertorials had on the black community in which areas. It would have been beneficial to know in which region these advertorials were being displayed and in which black publications. Readers could have also gained from the insight of Mr. Nixon as to which communities were most affected by the advertorials.

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