In the global research literature, ‘ethnic media’ is generally used to refer to a diff e- rent type of media than some of the most vocal and popular outlets on Ethiopia’s media scene. ‘Ethnic media’ is a category which denotes media outlets targeting immigrant communities in societies where such groups stand out as a minority vis-à-vis the rest of the population (Deuze, 2006; Matsaganis et al., 2011). The term is mostly used to describe immigrant media cultures in the US and Western Europe, and has given birth to a distinct reporting style, ‘ethnic journalism’ (Yu, 2019).
It is a rather blameless activity that comes out of the need to share information and maintain cultural cohesion among people who have settled in a foreign country. Salon Ethiopia, a bi-weekly newspaper published in Amharic for Ethiopia- community in Seattle, would thus qualify as ‘ethnic media’. Diaspora media aimed at audiences back home, on the other hand, are of a diff e- rent category and would not be regarded 1 BroadcasƟ ng Service ProclamaƟ on No. 533/2007 as ethnic media. ESAT, for example, which was established as a diaspora channel with studios in Amsterdam, London, and Washington DC, aspired to oppose the Ethiopian- government’s official narratives through satellite broadcasts reaching local audiences back in Ethiopia and had a global distribution. The station has never had the limited geographical outreach which is typically associated with ethnic media.
On this basis, we prefer not to use ‘ethnic media’ to point to the current media channels operating in Ethiopia, even if they are clearly propagating ethnic interests. Preferred terms are descriptive phrases such as ‘‘ethnically affiliated, “ethnically-based media’, and so forth. ’State media’ vs. ’public media’ Further on terminology, we use ‘state media’ instead of ‘public media’, even if the latter is the correct term to describe the official Ethiopian media according to existing media legislation.
Click for more: The ethnification of the Ethiopian media
