We Needed The Daily Show To Talk About Boko Haram

   

 Exactly 2 weeks ago, Jon Stewart of The Daily Show did a segment with South African comedian, Trevor Noah, on Boko Haram, "From time to time, we like to get an international perspective on current events, mainly to confirm that we really don't know anything about current events." Jon Stewart introduced the segment with this, which consisted of Trevor Noah talking about the lack of media coverage on Boko Haram despite their massacre at the Nigerian town of Baga at the same time period that the Charlie Hebdo attacks occurred. The difference? The Charlie Hebdo attacks were widely covered, Baga was not. This is mentioned in the video. "Sometimes, it just feels like Africa's the Vegas of Islamic terror. What happens in Africa stays in Africa." Though the audience laughed, Boko Haram's under-coverage in western media is anything but funny. However, the lack of contribution is not entirely to blame on western media. When the Baga town massacre happened, it was reported by local officials that the death toll may have been as high as 2,000. However, other sources say it could have only been a couple hundred. It's hard to tell for sure because of sometimes unreliable Nigerian militia in the area that even deny the massacre ever happened when questioned. Also, the town is in a remote war-zone area and the president, Goodluck Jonathan, did not comment when posed questions on the massacre. (Similar to his lack of response to the capture of the 200+ Nigerian school girls). In the video it is also mentioned that another reason that the Baga town massacre was barely covered is because the attack was not "a direct attack on western values, free speech and expression." However, "Boko Haram" literally means "western education is forbidden" in the Hausa language. The extremist group sees western education as a corruption to Muslims.
     When coverage of Nigeria and it's now controlled regions by Boko Haram are presented in the media, the results seem to be about the numbers. When casually reading western news on Boko Haram's killings, it's easy to find the extent of the atrocities the extremist group is committing. However, it seems as if one has to actively search for coverage that mentions the goals of Boko Haram and why they are committing the actions they are currently committing in Nigeria. A reason for the lack of mentions in the media of Boko Haram's purpose could be to secure North American security. The citizens don't want to suppose that Boko Haram is attacking western educational values or western anything. It seems as if Boko Haram's under-coverage is a way for North Americans to be able to distance themselves from the extremist group, so that they can feel it has nothing to do with them and that their lack of coverage is justified.
     In The Daily Show video, Boko Haram's previous action of abducting 200+ Nigerian schoolgirls was mentioned. Social media helped to bring this event to western media's attention through the twitter hash tag "#BringBackOurGirls," where donations where set up and even Ellen mentioned the trending hash tag on her show. The extent of how recognized this action became in order to bring light on Boko Haram showed how social media can help to spread international news and ultimately shape the identity of an extremist group in the media.

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart - Political Comedy | Comedy Central. (n.d.). Retrieved February 6, 2015, from http://thedailyshow.cc.com/