The Commercialization of Journalism

Abstract

Ethnic media’s dual role of delivering news about both “here”, the country of settlement, and “there”, the country of origin, is well known. While ethnic media studies generally confirm an integrative role of ethnic media, concerns over their leaning toward “there” rather than “here”, as seen in the significantly higher coverage of “there”, have been simultaneously raised, considering the potential civil society role of ethnic media within and across communities “here”. But is the number of news stories an appropriate indicator for ethnic media’s editorial orientation? This study examines ethnic media as business ventures in order to understand the impact of the commercialization of the news industry on ethnic media, especially in their role as media for less-desirable audience segments in the advertiser-driven market. The focus is on the media logic behind local news production and how ethnic media deal with financial challenges in pursuing local news production. The findings from a case study of Korean media in Vancouver and Los Angeles suggest various cost-cutting and revenue-generating strategies that affect local news production.