Arab-American Media Bring News to Diverse and Growing Community
At a time of major news developments in the Middle East and North Africa, the Arab-American media’s efforts to meet the demands of its audience have been complicated by declining ad revenue, new technology, and growing competition from Arab outlets in the Middle East and North Africa, according to a new studyby the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism.
This report examines the state of the Arab-American news media as it seeks to serve a growing and diverse population. In 2011 the U.S. Census Bureau reported that there were close to 1.8 million Arab-Americans living within the United States, an approximately 47% increase in population size from 2000. This estimate however, is believed by some to be a significant undercount. Arab-Americans are of varying religious backgrounds and have complex historical, cultural, and political ties to nearly two dozen nations.
If it were just a matter of population growth, the story of the Arab-American media would be a simple tale of opportunity. Over the last decade, Arab Americans have become one of the fastest growing ethnic groups in the United States.
But the story of the media trying to serve that audience is more complicated than that: The Arab-American population across the United States is ethnically diverse. Arab-American media are being buffeted by the same technology and economic trends as the news media generally, as well as a more challenging advertising market. And, advancements in technology have brought new competition from Arab outlets located in the Middle East and North Africa.
Overall, the current Arab-American news media are relatively young. Newspapers and news websites are currently the most prominent sector, with much of the coverage focused on community news and events. There is also coverage at the national level, though, and recently, the Arab uprisings have given rise to more international coverage of news from “back home.”
While there is little solid data for this media sector, PEJ’s independent research, content audits and numerous interviews reveal clear trends in Arab-American news media.
A number of papers are seeing rising circulation. Some new publications have even launched. However, most papers are still struggling to recover financially from the economic recession of 2007 and at the same time keep up with the trends in digital technology and social media.
The story is more challenging for radio. Overall, radio programming aimed at Arab Americans is declining in the face of even more limited advertising revenue. For one radio program, sponsorship from a few individuals within the Arab-American community is enabling market expansion, but it is unclear if this is an industry-wide solution. Other outlets are increasing their audio content online, averting the high costs of broadcasting on air altogether.
Arab-American television news remains almost nonexistent. And now, interested viewers can turn to satellite programming and online television from Arab countries.
The recent uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa have created some new opportunities for Arab-American media, particularly as attention to that subject by the mainstream media faded.
Social media also played an important part in the uprisings. New research suggests that the primary role was in spreading news outside of the region, connecting a global audience to the events through tools such as Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube. This has not been entirely positive for Arab-American news media, as their audiences are now presented with an abundance of alternative sources of information online.
Arab-American Population Growth
Though there is debate about the exact numbers, the Arab-American population is clearly on the rise. In the 2011 American Community Survey, the U.S. Census Bureau reported there were close to 1.8 million Arab Americans living within the United States, an approximately 47% increase in population size from 2000. Some believe, moreover, that this dramatically undercounts the population. According to the Arab American Institute, for instance, the number of Arab-Americans is increasing at an even greater rate, with a total population closer to 3.7 million.
Regardless of the exact size, the community is enormously diverse. The Arab-American population has ancestral ties to 22 countries, varying religious backgrounds, and complex historical, cultural, and political identities. The U.S. population is concentrated in five markets-the Detroit/Dearborn area, Los Angeles, New York/New Jersey, Chicago, and Washington D.C., but segments of the population live in all 50 states.
Print Media
Trends across most print outlets point to a shift toward online and the importance of maintaining community news coverage, even while trying to increase coverage of the Middle East and North Africa. And for the most part, Arab-American newspapers are offering both Arabic and English content to their changing readership.
The Arab-American print industry in the United States dates back to the late 19th century. Most of those original papers are now out of print and newer publications have stepped in. Suzanne Manneh, national media coordinator and Arab-American media monitor for the ethnic media coalition, New America Media, places the current number of newspapers around 40. Six papers publish weekly, according to Manneh, while most others come out either every other week or monthly.
In general, Arab-American newspapers are suffering from a significant drop in advertising revenue, which is a major source of funding for the papers. Most are free if picked up at a newsstand or store, though there is usually a fee attached to having a newspaper home delivered. Subscriptions range from $20-to-$30 annually for quarterly papers, to $75-to-$150 for some weeklies.
As more young Arab Americans do not read Arabic, an increasing number of outlets are also publishing in English, according to Manneh. Whether an Arab-American paper remains entirely in Arabic or incorporates English depends in part on the market. “It would behoove the media outlets to at least have some kind of English [content], and I think a lot of people are slowly catching on to that,” said Manneh. That trend, she noted, affects other bilingual media as well.
To read the full report, click <a href=”http://galesburgplanet.com/posts/21264″>here.</a>
Pew Research Center