Transnational orientations in a global media landscape: Youth, media, war and conflict

Abstract

This article reflects on the role of media in the re-imagination and reproduction (reconstruction) of Norwegian identities and communities with a particular focus on how young people within diasporas follow news on war and conflict in their (or their parents’) countries of origin. The research employs focus groups with young people from the Pakistani, Afghan, and Tamil Diasporas, and also online surveys. The three groups share the experience of trying to build a life in another country (Norway), while their family and friends in the “homeland” experience political violence and civil war. We identify a notable sense of frustration and skepticism towards Norwegian media. The informants actively use international media and media from the homeland, and often find these more reliable and providing more relevant information than Norwegian media. They also voice a strong critique of the ways in which the media react when “the others” are victims of violence, and several participants react negatively towards the neglect of positive reporting from their respective homelands, and to media hostility towards Muslims