WSU communication prof. Oshagan comments on ethnic media outlets and New Michigan Media...
Bridge Michigan
"Ethnic media alliance pushes stories of success, provides community leadership"
by Dana Hollowell
Michigan is home to a variety of ethnic media outlets: the Jewish News, the Latino Press, the Michigan Chronicle among them. Hayg Oshagan, a professor at Wayne State University, looked at the outlets and had a vision: What would happen if they were brought together? So, in 2005, he met with editors from the News, Press and Chronicle - and the Korean Weekly and the Arab American News. Together, they are now New Michigan Media. Oshagan's goal was to make issues and concerns of ethnic and minority communities more visible to the surrounding community - to make minority communities more visible to one another and to promote their contributions to the region. "Minority interests have been largely ignored by mainstream media," said Oshagan. "The collaboration aims to change the existing narrative by bringing to light issues as a group - and making people see the economic, social, moral argument of immigration to this nation and region."