Swedish News for Koreans : A study on ethnic media for Koreans in Sweden

Abstract: This study investigates a Facebook page named Sŭweden nyusŭ, which stands as an example of ethnicmedia targeting Koreans living in Sweden. Having gatekeeping theory as the theoretical frameworkand using a quantitative-qualitative media content analysis, the study looks at what news topics andnews sources are most used by the page, whether and how the news are presented objectively orsubjectively, as well as how the page’s followers react to the page’s content and how the page’sadministrator deals with these reactions. The study found that news topics related to economy andpolitics are the most prevalent, while the daily Dagens Nyheter is the most cited news source. Some ofthe news stories are presented subjectively, and the followers’ reactions are in general positive butalso inquiring and occasionally even negative and critical. The administrator usually tries to cater forthe followers’ demands and questions, but sometimes ignores or even questions their remarks. As thestudy also has the general goal of getting insight into the Korean community in Sweden, the findingssuggest the following. Firstly, Sŭweden nyusŭ compensates for what the community’s few existingethnic media channels lack. Secondly, some Koreans in Sweden who lack Swedish language skillsmay even be considered poorly integrated into the Swedish majority society. However, as forKoreans’ level of integration into the Swedish majority society, further research is needed in order toconfirm what the actual state is. The study therefore recommends more research to be conducted onthis topic, as well as on the subject of ethic media in Sweden in general.