Diasporic Media beyond the Diaspora

Korean Media in Vancouver and Los Angeles

Media for diasporic communities have emerged in major cities, such as Vancouver and Los Angeles, and reflect a multicultural, multiethnic, and multilingual reality. Both conventional media and increasingly prevalent digital spaces link migrants locally in their new homes and globally with their old homes. But do these media serve their respective communities exclusively, or are they available and accessible to members of greater society at large? Diasporic Media beyond the Diaspora explores structural and institutional challenges and opportunities for these media and suggests policy directions with the aim of fostering broader intercultural dialogue. Using case studies of Korean media in Vancouver and Los Angeles, Sherry Yu examines the potential of an intercultural media system for culturally, ethnically, and linguistically diverse societies. She reveals the structural and institutional conditions that promote or hinder broader availability and accessibility of diasporic media, which would improve cultural literacy, intercultural dialogue, and civic engagement. This is the first book to explore the potential of diasporic communicative spaces as being open to people outside of specific diasporic communities, and their further potential to establish an infrastructure that facilitates conversation and contributes to building an interculturally engaging and inclusive media system.