ABSTRACT

Current literature on diasporic media often focuses on its role in serving and representing diasporas, highlighting their characteristics while paying less attention to pattern of coverage. This paper tries to fill in the gap by examining how diasporic media differ from each other and from the media in their respective home countries when reporting a debatable issue. The article argues that journalistic operation of diasporic media is subjected to two forces of influence: the media system of the host country in which they operate and preferences of the diasporic community they address. Through content analysis (N = 395) of news coverage of Trinh Xuan Thanh issue by Vietnamese news outlets in Vietnam, Germany and the US, the author finds that public service mentality towards diasporic community is a powerful force guiding diasporic media’s journalistic choices. It is also suggestive that the connection diasporic media maintain with their homeland can be critical rather than complimentary.

摘要

当前关于散发性媒体的文献通常着重于其在服务和代表侨民中的作用，在强调其特征的同时较少关注报道模式。本文试图通过研究流散性媒体在报告有争议的问题时彼此之间以及与各自本国媒体之间的差异来填补这一空白。文章认为，流放媒体的新闻运作受到两方面的影响：它们在其所在国的媒体系统以及他们所关注的流放社区的偏好。通过内容分析（N = 395）越南，德国和美国的越南新闻机构对Trinh Xuan Thanh问题的新闻报道，作者发现，对侨民社区的公共服务心态是引导侨民媒体的新闻选择的强大力量。还暗示着，流散性媒体与家园之间的联系可能是至关重要的，而不是相互补充的。