Page - 163 - in Media – Migration – Integration - European and North American Perspectives

Augie Fleras | Ethnic and Aboriginal Media in Canada 163 available for ethnic media nationwide, nevertheless, a study in the state of California estimated that 84 percent of Asian Americans, Blacks, and Latinos were exposed to ethnic media, more than half indicated a preference for ethnic broadcasts or publications over English language sources, and 40 percent said they paid more attention to ads in ethnic publications than to those in mainstream media (Briggs 2005). With ethnic minority audiences now accounting for nearly a third of the purchasing power in America, advertisers no longer dismiss this demographic as too small or too poor, but are pitching to these niches as vigorously as they do to the mainstream (Lieberman 2006). 4.2 Aboriginal and Ethnic Publications The centrality of ethnic newsmedia in Canada cannot be denied. Ethnic newspapers are no stranger to Canada’s mediascape - from the first ethnic papers written in German in Halifax at the end of the 18th century (Die Neuschottlaendishe Kalendar 1787) to the publication in 1835 of Waterloo Region’s Das Museum Canada, followed by the emergence of the black papers of the 1850s (including the Provincial Freeman and The Voice of the Fugitive). Estimates at present suggest up to 350 ethnic papers (including about 200 third language publications) that cater to their audiences on a daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, or bi-annual basis. Most of these paper are local or regional in scope, but a few are national including the Chinese language version of Canada’s national newsmagazine (Macleans). In British Columbia the Indo-Canadian Punjabi Times competes with three English-language weeklies and four Punjabi weeklies that address Indo-Canadian issues, while in Southern Ontario there are seven Punjabi weeklies and a twice-monthly English newspaper targeted to the same audience.Their collective impact is immeasurable argues Ben Viccari (2007), President of the Canadian Ethnic Journalists and Writers Club: “These media keep their readers and audiences informed about Canada as well as providing a vehicle for expression of freedom of thought that many editors and broadcasters never found in their country of origins”. 4.3 Aboriginal and Ethnic Broadcasting No less significant are ethnic and aboriginal broadcasting – both radio and television. In contrast to the ethnic print media that are relatively free to come and go as they please, ethnic and aboriginal broadcasting is tightly micromanaged. On the assumption that airwaves belong to the public and must serve public interests, Canadians Broadcasting Acts (1991) not only