Why Focus on the Ethnic Media?

As general news outlets focus more on the bottom line and look the other way when it comes to the public interest, ethnic media are winning the trust of more consumers and moving from the fringes of the media spectrum closer to the center. A 2005 New California Media study revealed that ethnic media reach one fourth of the U.S. adult population on a regular basis; of these more than one-half say ethnic media is their primary news source. Kaleidoscope seeks to keep journalists, journalism school instructors and journalism training centers abreast of what's happening as this trend continues to unfold, and we invite representatives of these groups to share with us their experiences, insights and plans in the realm of ethnic media.

Ethnic Media News Bites

The growth of the ethnic media often causes some people to ask whether this contributes to the fragmentation of American society. For example, in a Washington Post Op-Ed piece in 2000, writer Margaret Engel described the ethnic media as a "remarkable Tower of Babel" and asked, "…don't these outlets also threaten to erode our broader community of discussion, in fact the very underpinnings of our democracy?..."

But one landmark study, conducted by the Public Research Institute at San Francisco State University, points to quite the opposite. Funded by the Ford Foundation, the 2003 study surveyed residents of the San Francisco Bay Area to find out how they get news. Conducting a telephone survey in four languages-English, Cantonese, Mandarin and Spanish-the institute confirmed that immigrant and ethnic communities rely heavily on the in-language ethnic news media. The Bay Area is served by a rich mixture of ethnic newspapers, magazines and television and radio programs.

But more importantly, the study quashed the fear that the ethnic media contribute to the isolation of immigrants in so-called "closed communities."

"Ethnic media actually impel their groups into American public life," the study concluded. "The tendency of immigrants is to be quiet and to stay out of view. Ethnic media alert their audiences to real threats including scapegoating, discrimination, and anti-immigrant legislation. In this way, they mobilize members of their groups and help bring them into the American political system. Ethnic media do not isolate their audiences, quite the opposite-they contribute to their incorporation into American political life."

The research project was led by Prof. Rufus Browning. You can access the full report at http://pri.sfsu.edu/ethnicmedia.html.

A July Forbes article reported that the New York Times would be entering new territory when it launched a weekly in Gainesville, Florida targeted toward the African American population there. The Gainesville Guardian launched on August 24, but debates about the readership it's seeking have arisen. Charlotte Roy, now the paper's former editor, who was previously managing editor for Atlanta Daily World, claimed the Guardian would fill a void that has left Gainesville's black community underserved. Roy, however, was fired just days before the paper's debut. On the contrary, Times spokesman Toby Usnik told Forbes that they are not "characterizing it" as an African-American paper. Usnik said it's a paper for the entire East Gainesville population, which he says has as many white people as it does black. You can take a gander at the new paper and decide for yourself if you click here. And if you want to read a little more about why Roy was mysteriously fired, click here.

Although Judith Miller's hand is reportedly "worn out" from writing so much longhand, her list of supporters is not. In response to the jailing of the New York Times reporter who was sentenced to four months in jail in association with the Plame case for information she obtained but never printed, a roster of ethnic media outlets have signed a petition, which says ethnic media journalists oppose the imprisonment of Miller and calls for national shield law legislation that protects journalists from being forced to reveal their confidential sources.

Ethnic media reporters in Los Angeles are going blow-for-blow with the mainstream press in covering Black and Latino relations. Since last April, the Pacific News Service reports, there have been some major kinks in Black-Latino relations, including several recent major standoffs and accusations from both sides that have garnered media attention that seem to encourage the negative relationship. Reports of Latinos taking away jobs from African Americans and portraying the animosity between the two groups on a political level, not just a street level prevail. "The nightly news wants to show a black-Latino race riot," Andre Herndon, editor of The Wave Newspapers, told PNS. "We [the ethnic media] are less interested sensationalizing it than in trying to find ways to unify the community because they live together." Click here to read the full article.

Upcoming
If you want to know who's doing what to help future journalists gain awareness of the value and purpose of ethnic media, look no further than Kaleidoscope. Beginning next week, we'll feature our ongoing series of Ethnic Journalism 101: What America's Journalism and Communications schools are doing about ethnic media.

This blog is written and edited by Jon Funabiki and Kamilah Duggins