MEDIA CONSUMPTION BY THE GHANAIAN COMMUNITY IN ÖREBRO, SWEDEN

Abstract: The study examines the usage of media by the Ghanaian new migrants living in Örebro Sweden. It looks at how the new migrants keep abreast with what is happening in Sweden, their home country Ghana and the rest of the world. The findings show that, the growing numbers of migrants and the kind of diasporic media have significant implications for imagining multicultural Sweden and for participating in European societies and transnational communities. What is argued here is how the new migrants will make use of the diasporic media for their benefit. This study further investigates how the diaspora use the media, it is not to show that society is different or to make impulsive statements on the role of certain media in contributing to integration per se of the new migrants in their host countries. Through qualitative interviews, the study reveals that new migrants find it difficult to make use of the Swedish public sphere. The mainstream media is aloof in everything that interests and benefits new migrants. However alternatives like the internet have tended to close the information gap that the mainstream media has created among the new migrants. Sadly the internet does not play the role that the main stream media would have for new migrants into the Swedish public sphere because the information new migrants’ access is varied and there is no motivation to help them easily get into Swedish public sphere as would have been the case with Swedish mainstream media. Information analysed from the interviews conducted in Örebro indicates that new migrants rely more on the internet than Swedish mainstream media regardless of the length of stay in Sweden. The most affected are those who have lived in Sweden for less than two years and have not acclamatized themselves with the Swedish language which would have enabled them to read Swedish publications, listen to Swedish radio broadcasts and watch Swedish television broadcasts. This, coupled with programmes that help new migrants to make use of the Swedish public sphere would have made Sweden a truly multicultural society. Finally the study suggests areas of further study and research that can be explored in order to promote multiculturalism that Sweden strives to achieve through its policy. The limitations that the study points out only help a researcher to avoid situations that could limit the benefits of the study thereby accessing information that develops and promotes multiculturalism where it is lacking currently.