My people of the same struggle. Accept warm greetings from
yours truly. It has been an uphill battle for the fight for a constructive
independent entertainment industry in English Cameroon, but the battle is yet
to be won. I do not write to bring havoc, but if havoc will lead to victory,
then here comes the bomb. If we have to destroy to build, then here comes the
sledge hammer.
Recently, our digital media has been flooded with digital charlatans
who call themselves entertainers. In a world where digital media has overtaken
traditional publicity avenues (television, radio, newspaper), we are continuously
bombarded with releases and fake publicity from digital celebrities who pride
themselves with electronic fame. Nowadays, it suffices for one to sit in his
room and record rubbish, post it on the net and boom! A CELEBRITY IS BORN.
Granted, the world is moving towards a more digital era, but
let us not forget the place of traditional media in our society when it comes
to publicity. Traditional media (television, radio, newspaper) feeds information
to new media (internet, phones etc) and not necessarily the other way round.
New media was not born to replace traditional media but rather to mass communicate
information provided by said medium.
Though the world is digital, how many people in our society are
connected? We all knew about Petit Pays when we watched him on Tv. EVERYONE saw
how good he was. His music sold itself. Why? ACCESSIBILITY. Even with no TVs, we squatted at our neighbours’
houses to get a glimpse of his splendour. How often do you borrow your
neighbour’s connection to download a track released by our digital celebrities?
Granted, celebrities have been born in the digital realm, but they have never
remained there.
Our Cameroonian movies, music and comedy will be much better
if the propagators desist from self proclamation on Facebook and Twitter, and
focus more on the traditional media in place. Come to think of it; how many cab
drivers, call box operators, bar owners and buyam sellams have Facebook
accounts? If we limit ourselves to interacting with THE SAME people we meet on
the internet EVERYDAY, then we will only manage to limit our publicity scope. Stop
the digital award shows. Stop the digital album releases. Strive to be
different. Embrace change, not mediocrity.
