Sherry S. Yu, of the University of Toronto, asks how do ethnic media deal with the financial challenges of local news production. The author studied Korean media in Vancouver and Los Angeles doing 35 in-depth interviews with various Korean media outlets, asking about ownership, business models, and marketing strategies to online and cross-language advertising.

The findings highlight various business strategies that suggest structural and institutional challenges.

The media are heavily relied on advertising revenue from Korean enclave businesses or transnational corporations. The reliance has led to cutting the number of journalists and decreasing the scope of in-house production.

Many online strategies are employed. These include transfer to prioritize online news production and e-papers; other services such as a digital marketplace offered online; and online advertising.

Policy support for ethnic local media is important, the author states. Looking at intercultural strategies, ethnic media should reach out to find a wider audience. “There is more common ground beyond language and regions where people are from”, the study concludes.

The article “The Commercialization of Journalism” as published in Journalism Studies and is available online (abstract free).

Picture: untitled by Gabriel Santiago, licence CC0 1.0