The article dealing with media coverage of two countries participating in the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC), Azerbaijan and Sweden, by Rashad Mammadov from University of Mississippi, utilized Media Influences Theory and textual analysis, and analyzed visual symbology for differences in coverage of a Western and non-Western participant. The contest was held in Azerbaijan in 2012 after their victory in 2011.
Sweden and Azerbaijan are not only quite far apart geographically, but they also could not be more different as countries, both when it comes to culture and their politics. The ESC emerged from complex post-War Europe in 1956 and has subsequently widened in the amount of participants, as all countries in the European Broadcasting Union are eligible (and as an exception, Australia too – stemming from a joke about similarity to Austria in names and the high popularity of the event there).
In non-Western countries, Eurovision has a role in fostering national identity, and in many cases, these new Eurovision countries take the contest more seriously – although Sweden famously is very Eurovision-obsessed country, takes the contest seriously, and consequently has done very well.
This study posits that Eurocentrism has an effect on the media representations. In doing so, it is at the intersection of cross-cultural communication, Eurocentric bias, and the representation of Eastern European and post-Soviet nations in international media events like the ESC.
Eurocentrism presents a theory of European uniqueness and superiority, which can influence micro-level decisions of media practitioners. Thus, it perpetuates power imbalances and hinders inclusive discourses. This research then seeks to address these concerns and examine them.
There is a hypothesis here that Sweden is presented in positive light, and the ‘Eastern’ Azerbaijan in negative. Eurocentrism is hypothesized to cause this discrepancy. The research questions focus on visual languages, media influence, and valence of coverage. Online content including but not limited to The Times, Bloomberg, The Guardian, BBC, and Spiegel were analyzed from 2012 to 2012. The sample was 215 for Azerbaijan and 188 for Sweden.
For Azerbaijan, the winners Ell and Nikki holding the crystal microphone were contrasted with a protester holding the Azerbaijan flag. According to Barthes (1977), one of the six procedures to analyze images, trick effect is created by altering the image or combining visual elements that create a contrast, as seen here. Even without text, the contrasting facial expressions create the trick effect.
In the case of Sweden, other contestants were used in the images – like Bonnie Tyler of the UK. Thus, the coverage of Sweden was far less political and more about the contest itself – in contrast to Eurovision-Azerbaijan, where contestant’s pictures were used far less. Instead, the visual symbols signified oppression.
The contrast in facial expressions was stark: while the coverage of Sweden emphasized happy Eurovision fans, the coverage of Azerbaijan included scowling Azeri police officers, linking the image of the country to authoritarianism.
Quantitatively, the majority of articles about Azerbaijan were negative or at least neutral, while neutrality dominated the coverage of Sweden – and it had more positive mentions than Azerbaijan.
The selective portrayal of the two countries not only sends a strong message to the society but also potentially fuels the cultural conflict between Eastern and Western civilizations in Europe. The author notes that entrenched Eurocentric ideas may prime journalists to scrutinize ‘non-Western’ hosts like Azerbaijan more critically.
Being historically and culturally rich, the Eurovision Song Contest offers a unique lens to analyze media biases and also reveals the biases shaping media narratives and by extension, public perceptions. While the findings are specific to ESC, they serve as a testament to the power of Eurocentric biases in intercultural communication.
The article “Eurovision through an intercultural lens: Navigating Eurocentric cultural bias in visual profiling of Azerbaijan and Sweden” by Rashad Mammadov is in Global Media and Communication. (Free abstract).
Picture: Baku Cityscape with Flame Towers by Lloyd Alozie.
License Unsplash.
