The importance of ethnic media in New Zealand
New Zealand is a nation built upon immigration, with increasingly diverse migrant communities being able to come and live in Aotearoa and it more diverse and multicultural in the process.
Multiculturalism, ethnic diversity, migrants and ethnic media have become common features of New Zealand society, like many other societies of the world.
Many experts concur that Auckland – New Zealand’s largest city boasts of cultural diversity more than that of cities like London.
According to the last census 2018, the Asian ethnic population has increased by almost 7.3 per cent, forming the third largest ethnic group (15.1 per cent) behind the European/Pakeha (70 per cent) and Maori ethnic population (16.5 per cent).
Chinese and Indian population forms the two largest group of Asian ethnic population in New Zealand with a population count of 231,387 and 221,916 respectively on the census night March 6, 2018, which is around 5 per cent each of NZ’s population.
Evidence shows that mainstream media in New Zealand does not fully address the communication needs of these ethnic migrant communities, nor does it represent them in a balanced way.
One of the most pressing and existential needs of ethnic migrant communities is to remain connected with their cultural heritage, country of origin from where they have migrated, deal with the supremely important question of redefining their core identity after immigration into a new country, social cohesion in their new chosen homes (host country) and still remain connected to a perceived transnational community.
Clearly, New Zealand’s mainstream media, which is, unfortunately, a largely homogenised media with a traditional “Euro-Centric worldview”, would not be able to meet the altogether different communication needs of ethnic migrant communities.
This is where ethnic, migrant, diaspora media play an important and supporting role by providing an alternative to an increasingly homogenised mainstream media, simultaneously giving them a strong sense of identity while fulfilling their all-other communication needs of living a dignified life in New Zealand.
Unlike mainstream media, ethnic diasporic media plays a fundamental role in being the repository of critical information required by every new migrant to assist in their gradual settlement and integration with the rest of Kiwi society.
Every new migrant relies on the range of credible information around employment, jobs, housing needs, along with social, emotional and cultural security presented only by ethnic migrant media platforms and their associated social and community networks.
Their contribution in abetting the process of integration for every migrant in this country with the rest of Kiwi society is phenomenal.
Many experts agree that while ethnic media help preserve migrant’s cultural heritage, relive feelings of nostalgia and strengthen the sense of intra-group solidarity, they also play an important role in providing a ‘safe place for these ethnic cultures to thrive, whilst at the same time providing an entrée for newly arrived immigrants who wish to adapt to their new environment’.
The Indian Weekender – The pulse of the Kiwi-Indian community
The Indian Weekender is one of the prominent players within the rich Indian media space of New Zealand that includes several radio stations, print newspapers, television stations and emergent digital media platforms.
This newspaper started 12 years ago in 2009 with a primary raison d'etre of combating any negative profiling of the Indian community in New Zealand and since then have been publishing print edition every week, without fail.
Most importantly, the Indian Weekender has been the only surviving Indian weekly newspaper after the Covid disruptions of last year that had almost wiped out the predominant advertisement revenue – the lifeline of free to distribute ethnic newspapers – forcing many longstanding players to wind back operations and stop the printing of the newspaper.
Obviously, this has not been easy, and without our share of revenue-bleeding and downsizing of the team, yet we are still holding the forte as a service to the Kiwi-Indian community we serve.
Over the years, the vision and mission of the Indian Weekender have evolved to incorporate the goals of self-preservation and to inculcate a sense of belonging within the Kiwi-Indian community; however, combating any negative profiling and developing a sense of self-respect within the members of the Kiwi-Indian community remains the number one priority for this media-house.
The Indian Weekender is involved in covering the news, views, opinions, and events to keep the Indian community in New Zealand informed and connected.
Given that the Indian diaspora in New Zealand is a reflection of the panorama of multi-lingual, multi-ethnic, multi-religious Indian society, with many diverse cultural groups (like Sikhs, Tamils, Telugus, Malayalis, Fiji-Indians etc.), the Indian Weekender covers the events and news of every sub-group within the Indian diaspora.
IWK covers a lot of diverse events and activities within the Kiwi Indian community, such as Tamil/Telugu/Malayali new year, Diwali/Holi celebrations, Girmit Day event of the Fiji-Indian community (Girmit is the foundational identity of the Fiji-Indian community), along with concerts and Bollywood events.
The Indian Weekender's coverage also celebrates the elements that highlighted the common connection between "Kiwi" and "Indian" – cricket, commonwealth, Sir Edmund Hillary and English language, along with the occasional emphasis on the connection between India and New Zealand as part of the ANZAC's at Gallipoli in WW2.
In the last many years, while working diligently to deepen the connection with the growing size of the Kiwi-Indian community in New Zealand, the Indian Weekender has also been ahead of the curve, thinking and planning ahead for some of the existential challenges experienced in the traditional media-landscape including dwindling readership and advertisement revenue by investing and building digital news platforms.
Following the lead from the global media players on how to navigate through an increasingly digitalised world, the Indian Weekender had been building a news website and cultivating digital readership on social media platforms to remain connected with a growing audience within the Kiwi-Indian community, which was also increasingly younger and consuming media on their cell-phones instead of more traditional platforms.
It was a result of this vision and commitment in the preceding years that when our world was suddenly brought to a halt on March 28, 2020, and the country was put under an Alert Level 4 Lockdown and the country's life came to a standstill, the Indian Weekender stood tall and remain connected with the members of the Kiwi-Indian community, providing them the credible information in every aspect of their day to day lives.
Having said that, there is an absolute clarity that supporting and empowering our migrant communities is a work in progress, and the Indian Weekender is resolutely committed to this ever-continuing project.
New Zealand is a nation built upon immigration, with increasingly diverse migrant communities being able to come and live in Aotearoa and it more diverse and multicultural in the process.
Multiculturalism, ethnic diversity, migrants and ethnic media have become common features of New Zealand...
New Zealand is a nation built upon immigration, with increasingly diverse migrant communities being able to come and live in Aotearoa and it more diverse and multicultural in the process.
Multiculturalism, ethnic diversity, migrants and ethnic media have become common features of New Zealand society, like many other societies of the world.
Many experts concur that Auckland – New Zealand’s largest city boasts of cultural diversity more than that of cities like London.
According to the last census 2018, the Asian ethnic population has increased by almost 7.3 per cent, forming the third largest ethnic group (15.1 per cent) behind the European/Pakeha (70 per cent) and Maori ethnic population (16.5 per cent).
Chinese and Indian population forms the two largest group of Asian ethnic population in New Zealand with a population count of 231,387 and 221,916 respectively on the census night March 6, 2018, which is around 5 per cent each of NZ’s population.
Evidence shows that mainstream media in New Zealand does not fully address the communication needs of these ethnic migrant communities, nor does it represent them in a balanced way.
One of the most pressing and existential needs of ethnic migrant communities is to remain connected with their cultural heritage, country of origin from where they have migrated, deal with the supremely important question of redefining their core identity after immigration into a new country, social cohesion in their new chosen homes (host country) and still remain connected to a perceived transnational community.
Clearly, New Zealand’s mainstream media, which is, unfortunately, a largely homogenised media with a traditional “Euro-Centric worldview”, would not be able to meet the altogether different communication needs of ethnic migrant communities.
This is where ethnic, migrant, diaspora media play an important and supporting role by providing an alternative to an increasingly homogenised mainstream media, simultaneously giving them a strong sense of identity while fulfilling their all-other communication needs of living a dignified life in New Zealand.
Unlike mainstream media, ethnic diasporic media plays a fundamental role in being the repository of critical information required by every new migrant to assist in their gradual settlement and integration with the rest of Kiwi society.
Every new migrant relies on the range of credible information around employment, jobs, housing needs, along with social, emotional and cultural security presented only by ethnic migrant media platforms and their associated social and community networks.
Their contribution in abetting the process of integration for every migrant in this country with the rest of Kiwi society is phenomenal.
Many experts agree that while ethnic media help preserve migrant’s cultural heritage, relive feelings of nostalgia and strengthen the sense of intra-group solidarity, they also play an important role in providing a ‘safe place for these ethnic cultures to thrive, whilst at the same time providing an entrée for newly arrived immigrants who wish to adapt to their new environment’.
The Indian Weekender – The pulse of the Kiwi-Indian community
The Indian Weekender is one of the prominent players within the rich Indian media space of New Zealand that includes several radio stations, print newspapers, television stations and emergent digital media platforms.
This newspaper started 12 years ago in 2009 with a primary raison d'etre of combating any negative profiling of the Indian community in New Zealand and since then have been publishing print edition every week, without fail.
Most importantly, the Indian Weekender has been the only surviving Indian weekly newspaper after the Covid disruptions of last year that had almost wiped out the predominant advertisement revenue – the lifeline of free to distribute ethnic newspapers – forcing many longstanding players to wind back operations and stop the printing of the newspaper.
Obviously, this has not been easy, and without our share of revenue-bleeding and downsizing of the team, yet we are still holding the forte as a service to the Kiwi-Indian community we serve.
Over the years, the vision and mission of the Indian Weekender have evolved to incorporate the goals of self-preservation and to inculcate a sense of belonging within the Kiwi-Indian community; however, combating any negative profiling and developing a sense of self-respect within the members of the Kiwi-Indian community remains the number one priority for this media-house.
The Indian Weekender is involved in covering the news, views, opinions, and events to keep the Indian community in New Zealand informed and connected.
Given that the Indian diaspora in New Zealand is a reflection of the panorama of multi-lingual, multi-ethnic, multi-religious Indian society, with many diverse cultural groups (like Sikhs, Tamils, Telugus, Malayalis, Fiji-Indians etc.), the Indian Weekender covers the events and news of every sub-group within the Indian diaspora.
IWK covers a lot of diverse events and activities within the Kiwi Indian community, such as Tamil/Telugu/Malayali new year, Diwali/Holi celebrations, Girmit Day event of the Fiji-Indian community (Girmit is the foundational identity of the Fiji-Indian community), along with concerts and Bollywood events.
The Indian Weekender's coverage also celebrates the elements that highlighted the common connection between "Kiwi" and "Indian" – cricket, commonwealth, Sir Edmund Hillary and English language, along with the occasional emphasis on the connection between India and New Zealand as part of the ANZAC's at Gallipoli in WW2.
In the last many years, while working diligently to deepen the connection with the growing size of the Kiwi-Indian community in New Zealand, the Indian Weekender has also been ahead of the curve, thinking and planning ahead for some of the existential challenges experienced in the traditional media-landscape including dwindling readership and advertisement revenue by investing and building digital news platforms.
Following the lead from the global media players on how to navigate through an increasingly digitalised world, the Indian Weekender had been building a news website and cultivating digital readership on social media platforms to remain connected with a growing audience within the Kiwi-Indian community, which was also increasingly younger and consuming media on their cell-phones instead of more traditional platforms.
It was a result of this vision and commitment in the preceding years that when our world was suddenly brought to a halt on March 28, 2020, and the country was put under an Alert Level 4 Lockdown and the country's life came to a standstill, the Indian Weekender stood tall and remain connected with the members of the Kiwi-Indian community, providing them the credible information in every aspect of their day to day lives.
Having said that, there is an absolute clarity that supporting and empowering our migrant communities is a work in progress, and the Indian Weekender is resolutely committed to this ever-continuing project.
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