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.
"This comprehensive book offers a global overview. The rich data discussed and the activities proposed make a very good introductory text for ethnic media teaching. The organization of the material is excellent and the writing is particularly engaging and confident, and brings the subject to life."
"This is an excellent contribution to a growing body of important literature."
Understanding Ethnic Media: Producers, Consumers and Societies addresses important media outlets that are often absent from academia and professional discussions of mass media. In light of the momentous changes within today’s societies, and with the many challenges faced by governments unsure of multiculturalism, the need for this text at this time could not be greater. … This much-needed book offers a wonderful overview and identifies areas in need of further exploration.
This book is definitely a must-read for all teachers and students in the field of media and ethnic minorities or those professionals planning to play a role in ethnic media development.
The book offers a rich smorgasbord of discussion, covering immigrants’ media, minorities’ media, audience trends, ethnic media organizations, and policy development. … The book abounds in small, substantive nicities that would make it appealing to a wide base of readers. … Overall, it is a valuable textbook for the growing field of ethnic media studies.
The study of ethnic media is complex terrain. Matsaganis, Katz, and Baii-Rokeach's new book thankfully provides clear, sharp analysis of the processes that shape media produced by ethnic communities and for ethnic communities. It is a useful starting point for students, policy makers, media practitioners, and academics, one that is grounded in a thorough practical knowledge of newsroom mechanics, the tensions created by market competition and tight budgets, and wider technological shifts in production and consumption.
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".
Sage College Publishing
