2005 Annual Report - Ethnic Media Content Analysis

Even considering the small scope of this study, the vastly different approaches and kinds of content we found shows that ethnic audiences are getting a complicated mix of news in their press. What exactly they are getting varies from ethnicity to ethnicity and outlet to outlet.

Different ethnicities, in effect, demand different things from ethnic media, even within the print medium in the same city.

Some papers, like the Pakistan Post and Sing Tao, both aimed at audiences from far-off regions, are publishing for people caught between two worlds, their new home and the country of their birth or ancestors.

Others, such as El Diario/La Prensa and Hoy, are more focused on linking the members of a specific local ethnic community together to share information about what's happening in their neighborhoods. And the Amsterdam News is not as much about topics or regions that aren't covered as it about the putting a different perspective on the news that readers are getting.

There is a common denominator, however. They are all, in a way, about covering what has fallen through fairly considerable - and even growing - cracks left by the mainstream press.

Each of these models serves a vital purpose for its audience. The larger question may be the role they play in shaping the world view - and the U.S. view-of those they reach. We'll discuss that more in the next section.