MEDIA & DIASPORA

A diaspora (comes from the Greek word ‘diaspeirein’ which means ‘scattering of seeds’) is a scattered population with a common origin in a smaller geographic area. Diasporas are viewed as comprising members of ethnic, cultural, linguistic and religious groups who reside in a number of countries to which they or their ancestors migrated. The identities of these groups are formed over time by complex historical, social, and cultural relationships within the group and with other groups. It is characterized by practice of ancestral customs, language, religious practices and marriage patterns and ease of communication between various parts of the dispersed community.

Communities scattered around the world establish contact with each other and the homeland. Various modes of communication such as postal services, telephone, radio, email, internet, film, television etc have been used over time by diasporic members to keep in touch.

Ethnic Media – While some migrants lost touch with their homeland others almost completely assimilated into larger societies into which they settled. With the development of communication technology, even members of earlier generations who had lost touch with their diasporas now revived relations with the help of new media. Thus they maintained aspects of their ancestral customs and traditions, forms of music and art and at the same time began to integrate into their new settlements.

Newspapers are the most common form of ethnic media with large variations in the form, quality and frequency. Some have well established dailies that compete with mainstream papers; these print media usually have full-scale production facilities and strong advertising revenues.  A good example of this is Diasporic Chinese newspapers such as Ming Pao, Sing Tao and The World Journal. There are estimated to be 55 million ‘overseas Chinese’ living outside China and they are well served in Chinese languages by a variety of media, such as, newspapers, radio, television, film, music and the internet.

Satellite television provides remarkable opportunities for diasporic communities. Al Jazeera has in recent years turned out to be a popular transnational Arabic-language broadcaster. The commercial success of ‘Bollywood’ (Mumbai’s Film Industry) has become known for annually producing the largest number of films in the world. It has responded by including storylines and characters that reflect Indian diaspora. Strong diasporic subscriber bases exist for competing channels such as Zee, Sony, Star Plus and B4U, all of which carry material from ‘Bollywood’. Cable and satellite television providers around the world have realized the viability of ethnic channels and are making them an integral part of their services.

Internet based media suits the needs of diasporic communities the best. Apart from the increasing numbers of linguistic fonts that can be accommodated through developments in software, the structures of electronic systems are able to support ongoing communication in the widely-separated transnational groups. The contents of diasporic electronic communications largely consist of cultural heritage, genealogical, religious, and institutional information.

Thus we can say that print media, satellite television and the internet have provided unique opportunities for inter-continental communities to develop worldwide communication networks. Diasporic connections have become integral to the networks of transnational trade and thus become an intrinsic feature of contemporary international relations and key participants in the contemporary unfolding of modernity.

Reference: Media and Diaspora by Karim H. Karim in Media Studies by Eoin Devereux, Sage Publications Ltd,