Two recent studies offer rich insights on the state of Asian American media. Of particular interest are discussions regarding the role of English in its growth and development.
The New American Media estimates half a million regularly follow news from English-language publications that specifically target Asian Americans. I know this may be just a drop in the bucket in relation to the total U.S. market though still bound to increase exponentially with the emergence of this fastest growing ethnic group. Local areas with a high density of Asian Americans are already active targets of media attention. Moreover, worldwide interest on this particularly unique, and affluent, population is destined to take off.
Pew Research questions whether fluency in the English language helps or hurts Asian American media: Does mainstream media deliver enough to satisfy the needs of English-speaking Asian Americans, or is there a significant value in delivering highly targeted cultural news and information not available from mainstream providers? I support the notion that ethnic media possesses an innate character that cannot yet be sufficiently portrayed by mainstream media. Only ethnic media can offer the most credible portrayal of such character. Furthermore, I believe that it never will be lost in another language. In fact, with broader access to a wider English-speaking audience, that character itself will sustain our attention and enrich us all.
Take ethnic TV programming as an example. According to the New American Media study, what drives Asian Americans to watch ethnic television is that it provides viewers the ability to follow news coverage and information from the country of their background. I believe that there will always be the need to follow Asian American media—that is, at least until we cease to identity with own ethnicity (What a horrible thought!) And as younger generations of English-speaking, media-thirsty Asian Americans continue to seek news and information from the country of their background, ethnic media will remain viable and its use of the English language will become more relevant.
The New American Media estimates half a million regularly follow news from English-language publications that specifically target Asian Americans. I know this may be just a drop in the bucket in relation to the total U.S. market though still bound to increase exponentially with the emergence of this fastest growing ethnic group. Local areas with a high density of Asian Americans are already active targets of media attention. Moreover, worldwide interest on this particularly unique, and affluent, population is destined to take off.
Pew Research questions whether fluency in the English language helps or hurts Asian American media: Does mainstream media deliver enough to satisfy the needs of English-speaking Asian Americans, or is there a significant value in delivering highly targeted cultural news and information not available from mainstream providers? I support the notion that ethnic media possesses an innate character that cannot yet be sufficiently portrayed by mainstream media. Only ethnic media can offer the most credible portrayal of such character. Furthermore, I believe that it never will be lost in another language. In fact, with broader access to a wider English-speaking audience, that character itself will sustain our attention and enrich us all.
Take ethnic TV programming as an example. According to the New American Media study, what drives Asian Americans to watch ethnic television is that it provides viewers the ability to follow news coverage and information from the country of their background. I believe that there will always be the need to follow Asian American media—that is, at least until we cease to identity with own ethnicity (What a horrible thought!) And as younger generations of English-speaking, media-thirsty Asian Americans continue to seek news and information from the country of their background, ethnic media will remain viable and its use of the English language will become more relevant.
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