Diaspora and Media in Digital Transition
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Description
Conventionally defined as media by and mainly for ethnic/racial minorities, ethnic media (or interchangeably diasporic media) such as the Defender (Chicago), the Eastern Eye (London), and the Caribbean Camera (Toronto) have played a vital organizational and representational role for minority communities. However, while such outlets remain an important voice, their role has been challenged by technological, social, and demographic transformations over the past few decades, including the digital media revolution, the post-George Floyd “racial reckoning,” and the COVID-19 pandemic. As an extension of the Digital Ethnic Media Hub (DEMH) project, this research program maps a cohort of ethnic media outlets (legacy and digital native), marketed towards two distinct minority populations (Black and Asian) and explores their digital transition, as well as their role in intercultural relations, in and across three global cities (Chicago, London, and Toronto) through interviews with media practitioners. This uniquely comparative and multi-method approach provides new insights into the continued significance, and changing role, of ethnic media in modern society.
Dr. Sherry S. Yu is Associate Professor in the Department of Arts, Culture and Media, with a graduate appointment in the Faculty of Information at the University of Toronto. Yu’s research broadly explores media and journalism in multicultural societies through critical, comparative, and collaborative perspectives. She is the author of Diasporic Media beyond the Diaspora (2018, UBC Press) and the co-editor of Ethnic Media in the Digital Age (2019, Routledge) and The Handbook of Ethnic Media in Canada (2023, McGill-Queen’s University Press).
Dr. E. James West is Lecturer in Interdisciplinary Societies and Cultures in the Department of Arts and Sciences at University College London. West’s research focuses primarily on the Black press in the United States. More broadly, he is interested in the connections between race, technology, media production, and identity formation across the Black diaspora. He is the author of three books, including A House for the Struggle (2022), which has received seven major book awards.
Contact Information: Katharine Bell, cdts.admin@utoronto.ca
