Understanding Ethnic Media
Producers, Consumers, and Societies
- Matthew D. Matsaganis - University at Albany, State University of New York, USA
- Vikki S. Katz - Rutgers University, USA, University of Southern California
- Sandra J. Ball-Rokeach - University of Southern California, USA
This is the first book to provide a comprehensive review and analysis of how media produced by ethnic communities, and for ethnic communities, affect identity and perceived lines of division between "us" and "others," as well as how the production and consumption of ethnic media affect the character of the larger media and societal landscapes.
Integrating key ethnic media studies with original research, this book makes a unique contribution by covering both consumers and producers of ethnic media, as well as the history of ethnic media, its role in ethnic communities, the effect of globalization, and the professional challenges faced by ethnic media journalists. A compelling discussion on the future of ethnic media concludes the book and points the way toward further research.
Key Features:
- A fresh viewpoint: The book focuses on how and why ethnic and racial minorities produce and consume media for themselves—not just how they are represented in or by the media.
- An ecological approach: The authors explore the growth of ethnic media in different socio-political contexts and approach ethnic media from the vantage points of both the audience and the media organization.
- An international focus: Provides readers with comparative examples from around the world.
- A conceptual and practical focus: Conceptual content is relevant, timely, and connected to readers' lived experiences through real-world case studies.
- A student-friendly presentation: In each chapter, introductory bullet points identify the main concepts and issues, key terms are defined, student projects are suggested, and discussion questions are provided.
A good, wide-ranging and well-written text suitable for later undergraduates and postgrads. Rather too focused on the US and Canada with its examples in places, however, and doesn't really discuss the differences between what is provided by different media types (eg ethnic radio and TV content vs newspaper or online). No text is perfect!
I chose several chapters from this book for a readings packet because they addressed topics that I was unable to find in other textbooks. This is a very good overview of ethnic media and works well as a companion to Sage's text entitled Understanding Community Media.
Useful for very specific topics, e.g. if focussing on specific cultural group one can find useful additional information about media usage within a certain cultural group
It’s the first book I found which covers the whole range of aspects of ethnic media and going in depth for aspects of media consumtion and production contextualizing the sector in society and the broader media landscape. For teaching the book is absolutely helpful as the authors offers a wide range of questions and tasks for students to work on. Examplens of ethnic media are shown from very different regions and also with a broad historical scope - that opens the possibility to enter the issue from very different perspectives and starting with practical cases.
I ordered the book for our library at Klagenfurt University and will use it with my lecture on "community media – diversity and social change".
I live and work in South Korea. I would like to see more in the book about migrant workers in Asia and other parts of the world who form online communities that serve their needs for local news that affects their lives. The book's principal treatment of online media is as an extension of media that exist in print or broadcast.
It is a well-written and researched book. It demonstrated the importance of ethnic media in the contemporary global landscape. My students love it.
Excellent for using with international students on community media and social enterprise modules
