You Don’t Say He was Kidnapped! Vietnamese Diasporic Media’s Coverage of Trinh Xuan Thanh Issue

Abstract

Current literature on diasporic media often focuses on its role in serving and representing diasporas, highlighting their characteristics while paying less attention to pattern of coverage. This paper tries to fill in the gap by examining how diasporic media differ from each other and from the media in their respective home countries when reporting a debatable issue. The article argues that journalistic operation of diasporic media is subjected to two forces of influence: the media system of the host country in which they operate and preferences of the diasporic community they address. Through content analysis (N = 395) of news coverage of Trinh Xuan Thanh issue by Vietnamese news outlets in Vietnam, Germany and the US, the author finds that public service mentality towards diasporic community is a powerful force guiding diasporic media’s journalistic choices. It is also suggestive that the connection diasporic media maintain with their homeland can be critical rather than complimentary.