News media blind to story that hits below the belt

Web-posted: Friday, January 31, 1997

o much happens in the world each day that many fascinating stories never make it into the mainstream newspapers or on the network news shows.

There are several reasons for this. One is limited news space or broadcast time. Another is the growing belief in newsrooms that stories should have "relevance'' or "significance.'' There also is a nervousness that certain stories might offend some readers.

The following story, transmitted by Reuters News Service, falls into one of those categories. The story came from the Reuters bureau in the African nation of Ghana.

"Mobs have beaten to death at least 12 sorcerers in Ghana for allegedly making penises shrink or vanish, Ghanaian newspapers reported on Monday.

"The death toll now stands at 12, up by five since Friday, a headline in the Ghanaian Times said, evoking a subject that has gripped the West African nation since last Thursday.

"Victims say sorcerers simply touch them and make their penises shrink or vanish by witchcraft to extort cash in return for a cure. Police dismiss the phenomenon as a ploy by thieves to cause a crowd to form and then rob people.

"Most of the deaths have been in the capital Accra, but in a sign the crisis was spreading, newspapers reported police opening fire in the second town of Kumasi to save one man from lynching. Police prevented seven other attempted lynchings nationwide, they said.

"Some newspapers said that women had started reporting shrinking genitals and that witches were to blame.

"Ghanaian residents attribute the scale of the crisis to the fact that genitals are used in certain voodoo rituals.

"Police armed with automatic rifles have been patrolling markets and bus stations in the former British colony's capital.

"Medical experts have appeared on state television, explaining in detail why penises increase and decrease in size. One doctor linked the phenomenon to fear.

"Such reports are not uncommon in West Africa, with purported victims often blaming handshakes with sorcerers.

"Residents recall a similar scare in Accra in the early 1980s.''

So the question is why this unusual story was widely ignored by the American news media.

It can't be that it lacks significance. It is significant because it tells us that our efforts to export Western democratic values to developing Third World nations might be a more difficult job than some think.

It also tells us that our notions of what concerns people in countries such as Ghana might be distorted, shaped by the stuffy stuff we see on CNN and the other networks.

When we hear about countries such as Ghana, the news usually concerns a military coup, a change in government or some such event that requires an update to the nation's encyclopedia entry.

But here we learn that many Ghanaians are all worked up because someone came up to them on the street, touched them on the arm and said: "Ha, ha. I have just made your wallowando (a friend from Ghana assures me that is the correct translation) vanish completely.''

"Why do you want to do that?''

"To make you pay me a reward to restore your wallowando.''

"How much is the reward?''

"Everything you've got.''

"Too much. Keep my wallowando.''

Of course, many people in Ghana don't react that way, which is why so many of the sorcerers or confidence men have been lynched by angry crowds who fear the loss of their wallowandos.

And can we blame them? How would you feel if you were standing at a commuter station or a bus stop and some eerie stranger walked up to you, gave you a tap on the arm and said: "Surprise! Guess what body part you just lost?''

Just remember the intense public interest that was stirred by the temporary loss suffered by John Bobbitt at the hand of his angry wife.

That was only one man in a big country. In Ghana, a small society with a population only a fraction of ours, the threat of shrinkage or total loss has been happening all over the place.

Of course, that couldn't happen here because we are a much more stable society and take to the streets to act wild and crazy only when something truly important happens such as a hometown team winning a sports championship.

Also, we are more inclined toward doing things in an orderly, business-like manner.

So if there ever is a threat to shrink or make the wallowandos of American men disappear, it would not come from some haphazard collection of wackos running around the streets.

No, it would be the result of some resolution passed at the next convention of the National Organization for Women.

I wonder -- does NOW have a branch office in Ghana?

© 1996 Chicago Tribune