Ethnic Media As The Giant Hidden In Plain Sight.

Amidst sweeping changes in America’s media landscape, ethnic media are emerging as the giant hidden in plain sight.

The first-ever comprehensive survey of ethnic American adults on their media usage reveals that ethnic media reach 51 million ethnic Americans – almost a quarter of all (or one in four) American adults. Of these media consumers. 29 million ethnic American adults, or 13 percent of all adult Americans, not only use ethnic media regularly but prefer ethnic media to its mainstream media counterparts.

The study was commissioned by New California Media in partnership with the Center for American Progress (CAP) and the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights Education Fund (LCCR). The poll surveyed 1850 Hispanic, African American, Asian American, Arab American and Native American adults, representing 64 million ethnic and racial minorities overall. The interviews were conducted in 10 languages.

“This poll is the first step in mapping a vast media landscape that’s been largely invisible because it’s not in English or references different cultures,” said Sandy Close, Executive Director of NCM. “The poll is a call to action to all of us in communications to leverage ethnic media more effectively — whether we’re advertisers who target a fraction of the $145 billion spent annually on advertising and marketing on ethnic media, or government and social marketing agencies who haven’t even included ethnic media in our press rooms or communiqués.”

While the anecdotal evidence of the booming ethnic media is evident in many cities like Los Angeles and New York, this is the first survey that maps the rise of this media nationwide, both in its reach and as a trusted intermediary. Pollster Sergio Bendixen, whose firm conducted the survey, says it confirms “the striking impact ethnic media are making in the United States. Spanish language and Arab language television, African American radio, Asian American and Native American newspapers clearly reach a substantial majority of their markets.”

Already one in four Californians are foreign born, and Census figures show that in the last decade states like Nevada and Georgia had their foreign born populations grow by over 100 percent. This tremendous demographic spread poses new challenges to those trying to bring voices from this new America to the public discourse.

“The Center for American Progress sees this historic study as a vital step towards building more inclusive communications in our increasingly fragmented society,” said CAP President and CEO John D. Podesta, a cosponsor of the poll. “These findings will change the way we’ve come to think about the influence ethnic media have on their audiences.”

Just as African American media was instrumental in the push for civil rights, this poll shows ethnic media is taking on the role of becoming trusted voices for communities often voiceless in the public forum. Wade Henderson, counselor to LCCREF and executive director of the

Leadership Conference on Civil Rights said, “The findings of this groundbreaking report are of enormous significance to the civil rights coalition. At a time when our survival and success depend more than ever upon an informed public, this report will help us better target our outreach to the constituencies most affected by the upcoming reauthorization of the Voting Rights Act, efforts to adopt harsh and restrictive immigration policies, and the confirmation of right wing judges who would roll back civil rights, among other critical issues.”

MAJOR FINDINGS

1. 29 MILLION ETHNIC ADULTS ARE “PRIMARY CONSUMERS” OF ETHNIC MEDIA

The study reveals the striking impact of ethnic media in the United States. Fortyfive percent of all African American, Hispanic, Asian American, Native American and Arab American adults prefer ethnic television, radio or newspapers to their mainstream counterparts. These “primary consumers” also indicated that they access ethnic media frequently. This means that a staggering 29 million adults (45 percent of the 64 million ethnic adults studied), or a full 13 percent of the entire adult population of the United States, prefer ethnic media to mainstream television, radio or newspapers. More than half of all Hispanic adults are primary consumers of ethnic media. Approximately two-fifths of African Americans and Arab Americans and a fourth of Asian Americans and Native Americans prefer ethnic media to mainstream media.

2. ETHNIC MEDIA REACH 51 MILLION ADULTS – ONE FOURTH – OF THE ENTIRE U.S. POPULATION

In addition to the 29 million people classified as “primary consumers,” ethnic media reaches another 22 million ethnic adults on a regular basis. These adults prefer mainstream media, but they also access ethnic television, radio or newspapers on a regular basis. Therefore, our study indicates that the overwhelming majority (80 percent) of the ethnic populations studied (64 million adults) are reached by ethnic media on a regular basis. The 51 million Americans reached by ethnic media represent about a quarter of the entire U.S. adult population.

3. GROUPS SURVEYED SHOW DIFFERENT CHARACTERISTICS IN ETHNIC MEDIA CONSUMPTION

Hispanics:

The reach of Spanish-language media is almost universal in Hispanic America. Eighty-seven percent of all Hispanic adults access Spanish-language television, radio or newspapers on a regular basis. The success of the major television networks (Univision and Telemundo) is well documented but this study also indicates that Spanish-language radio and newspapers are rapidly increasing their penetration in this market. For example, more than a quarter (29 percent) of Hispanic adults report that they now prefer Spanish-language newspapers to their English-language counterparts. There are only small variations in the media usage of the Hispanic groups studied but the poll indicates that Cubans watch Spanish-language television and listen to Spanish-language radio more often than the other Hispanic groups studied while a higher percentage of South Americans read Spanish-language newspapers. This study also reveals that Hispanics have very low access (24 percent) to the Internet.

African Americans:

African American radio – stations that focus on African American themes and content – is the most popular ethnic medium among Blacks in the United States. A substantial majority of African American adults listen to ethnic radio stations on a regular basis. African Americans that are 40 years of age or older and those with annual incomes above $30,000 listen to ethnic radio more often than those that are younger or poorer. It should also be noted that the reach of African American newspapers is impressive. Even though African Americans read mainstream daily newspapers more often, African American newspapers – mostly weeklies – reach 57 percent of all African Americans. Almost half (49 percent) of African American adults have access to the Internet.

Asian Americans:

Asian American newspapers reach a substantial percentage of the nine million Asian American adults in the United States. Approximately 80 percent of all Korean, Chinese and Vietnamese adults read an ethnic newspaper on a regular basis. The reach of Asian Indian, Filipino and Japanese newspapers is smaller but still impressive – more than half of the adults in these groups read an ethnic newspaper a few times a month or more. The poll also indicates that Korean and Chinese television stations are rapidly increasing in popularity – a quarter of those interviewed reported watching Korean and Chinese-language television more often than English-language television. Access to the Internet is very high (67 percent) among all Asian Americans and half of them prefer ethnic websites to mainstream websites. Asian Indian adults access the Internet more often than other Asians.

Arab Americans:

The Arabic media reaches three-quarters of all Arab Americans. Television is the preferred medium. Internet access among Arab Americans is higher than it is for any other ethnic group studied. Three-quarters of all Arab American adults have access to the Internet and a majority of them visit Arabic websites.

Native Americans:

Approximately one quarter (23 percent) of all Native Americans are primary consumers of ethnic newspapers. They read tribal newspapers more often than their mainstream counterparts. Native American television and radio stations have much smaller audiences. Nearly half of the Native American adult population has access to the Internet and 16 percent access websites with a focus on Native American issues.

4. ETHNIC MEDIA AUDIENCES LOOK TO MAINSTREAM MEDIA FOR COVERAGE OF POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

The survey finds that while the ethnic populations studied tend to rely on the ethnic media for information about their communities and countries of origin, when it comes to information about politics and the U. S. government most turn to the mainstream media.

To view presentation CLICK below (Adobe Acrobat Reader required):

http://www.ncmonline.com/polls/NCMEthnicMediaSurvey.pdf