This episode ‘Changing Focus’ looks at Ian Johnstone and his personal disappointment about the dreams of television helping world peace and education, calling it the ‘idiot box’.
Ian Johnstone visits Papua New Guinea, after five years of independence from Australia. Large scale broadcast television is soon to be brought to the island and the island is embarking on a new direction to close the technological gap. Fred, a cameraman accompanies him. School children learn the English language at school.
Tahiti is also looked at, where television has been installed since 1965. The very rich live alongside the very poor, and the Polynesian way of life is threatened by French culture. At Mururoa, nuclear tests are carried out. He looks at local television station FR3, and attends a production meeting, but doesn’t feel that they are covering serious topics. There is a 15 minute bulletin in Tahitian language, a recent addition to the program, which is in black and white. The majority of money though is spent on French programs rather than locally made product.
Back in New Zealand, Ian Johnstone illustrates how editing can change the focus and frame a story in different ways. He says the way to real power in our century is through television, and politicians will use this power. This is illustrated through doco-drama of an army officer talking over a political meeting and using television to send out his message.
In American Samoa television is used for education, a bold experiment in 1964. At first, the teacher was replaced by television and children gazed at the television all day, and now the teacher uses television to illustrate lessons. Television is mainly American. A local America Samoa says television is boring him to death, and it also brings new ideas to American Samoa about family and customs.
In Western Samoa, the government has said there will be no national television, and things like health are more important. But 38 hours of American television a day are picked up for free.
In Hawaii, Ian Johnstone talks about how the program Hawaii five-o has helped make the country rich. He comments on culture being packaged for tourism, calling it prostitution of culture. However, television news allows people the right to know what is going on in their community.
What worries Johnstone is over-dependence on foreign programs, and the Pacific Island countries not allowing their own voices on television. He states that foreign programs can become more potent than bibles and battleships as colonising tools.