While the majority of the outlets in the directory were established
within the past four decades, four outlets first began publishing in
the early 1900s:
North American Post
(1902), located in Seattle, WA, serving the Japanese American community
Rafu Shimpo (1903), located in Los Angeles,
CA, serving the Japanese American community
Asbarez (1908), located in Los Angeles,
CA, serving the Armenian American community
Hawaii Hochi (1912), located
in Honolulu, HI, serving the Japanese American community
Overall, the median founding year of the outlets is 2001, or 24
years ago.
This chart, which shows the year or approximate year each outlet began
publishing or broadcasting, is categorized by geographic region, based
on U.S. Census divisions. Not all outlets in the directory have a founding year that could be
identified.
Hover over a circle to see an outlet name and the year it started
publishing or broadcasting.
Some founding years are approximations. A founding year is given for 688 of the 694 outlets in the directory.
If a year is incorrect, please
email CCM. The U.S.
regions are based on
U.S. Census designations
(PDF).
To browse and learn more about AAPI outlets from previous decades and
centuries that no longer publish, visit Chronicling America, the Library of Congress’ database of historic newspapers.
Across the Country
Home to two of the oldest outlets in the directory, California also
boasts the largest number of AAPI-serving outlets at 225. In
the lighter shades on the map, New York follows with 116 outlets
and Washington state with 48. Together, these three states
account for
56% of the outlets in the directory. Meanwhile,
11 states have an outlet count in the double digits while 15 states have
no outlets serving AAPI audiences, as of 2023.
More than half of the outlets in the directory are based in California, New York or Washington.
States with no outlets in the directory
Additional outlet counts:
American Samoa (3), Guam (7), Palau (3), Samoa (9), Washington, D.C. (11), International (7)
A look at the AAPI Media Map shows
that the AAPI news ecosystem primarily serves urban news audiences. Even
in states that have dozens of outlets, including in those with growing
rural AAPI communities, most AAPI community media outlets tend to be
located in or near a major city, and almost all are in a metropolitan
area. Seen in the bubble chart below, under the selection of
, only two outlets across the 50 U.S. states are based outside of a
metropolitan area, as of 2023:
Kokoro Kara Magazine in Powell, Wyoming, and the Mississippi Delta Chinese Heritage Museum Newsletter
in Greenville, both of which are published by organizations dedicated to
commemorating specific chapters of isolation, displacement or oppression
in their communities’ histories.
Outside of the major cities, more than 200 municipalities are home to at
least one AAPI-serving publication or broadcast station. From New York
City to Fayetteville, North Carolina to Maui, Hawaii, and dozens of
others, these locations illustrate the broad geographic spectrum of
where AAPI outlets operate. While many of these outlets were founded in
and for residents living in major and historically significant AAPI
immigrant hubs, the digital era can and often does afford them an
audience, and even staff, not bound by location. As a growing number of
legacy newspapers beloved in historic AAPI immigrant enclaves pivot to
digital formats, these outlets can serve loyal customers as well as
growing suburban and exurban audiences outside of historic Chinatowns,
Koreatowns, Little Indias, Little Saigons, Little Tokyos, and more.
From the total 236
municipalities
large and small, AAPI media serve
58 U.S. metropolitan areas, which can be viewed by selecting the second button below, labeled
. For reference, go to a
map of all metropolitan areas in the U.S. and Puerto Rico. (Note that the AAPI Media Map shows only metro
areas with one or more AAPI outlets from the directory.) The table includes
an additional column for the Asian American, Native Hawaiian and other Pacific
Islander population in each metro area. Along with the number of AAPI outlets,
this column can help pinpoint areas with fewer or more outlets than expected
based on the local population.
All 236 Municipalities
Across the U.S., American Samoa, Guam, Palau and Samoa, 236 cities and towns are home to at least one AAPI-serving outlet.
In the visualization, hover over a circle to see a municipality and its
outlet count. The accompanying table displays the same information in list
form.
U.S. municipalities within a metro area
U.S. municipalities not within a metro area
Municipalities outside the 50 states
U.S. municipalities not within a metro area, marked in table
The directory also includes outlets in
8 international
locations. They serve diasporic AAPI communities in the U.S. but are not
included in the charts above.
The Many Dimensions of AAPI Media
The following bubble charts and tables further underscore the
diversity of the AAPI media ecosystem, this time through the lenses of communities, languages and
formats.
Community
The directory includes two community-related fields:
Primary community served: The main 1-2 communities covered
by an outlet. On the map, the
Community
filter searches by this field.
Community served: All communities covered by the outlet,
including those in
primary community served. These two fields may have the
same entry if the outlet does not serve additional or broader
regional communities.
The visualization focuses on the 49 primary communities. Within the list, you can find different types of communities:
Individual communities, such as Palauan, Arab American, Korean
American
Pan-Asian and cross-geographic, regional communities such as Pacific
Islander, South Asian American, or AAPI
The 49 Primary Communities
The primary communities include individual communities, as well as
pan-Asian and cross-geographic, regional communities. In the
visualization, hover over a circle to see a primary community and its
outlet count. The accompanying table displays the same information in
list form.
In the directory, an outlet may have one or more languages listed
under the Language field. When multiple are present, a language
may have varying degrees of prominence in the outlet – for example, while
English is the most common language in the directory, the extent of English-language
content varies, from outlets published entirely in English to outlets with
equally distributed bilingual content, and outlets with limited or minimal
English-language content.
See a breakdown of the 56 languages in the
bubble chart and table.
All 56 Languages
In the visualization, hover over a circle to see a language and the
number of outlets reporting in the language, whether as their main
language or a less prominent one. The accompanying table displays the
same information in list form.
The digital age not only expands the geographic boundaries of audience
reach, it also opens up new and diverse platforms for news delivery.
The outlets in the directory present their content in an overall total
of 16
formats. The standard and traditional media types – website, newspaper, TV,
radio and magazine – dominate but not far behind, in terms of outlet
count, are podcasts (59) and messaging apps (17). A number of outlets post extensively on social media or
on their own proprietary apps, as well, but the directory has limited
its list of media formats to those with the outlet’s most prominent
platforms.
As with the community category, format has two fields
in the directory:
Primary format: The main format used by an outlet to
present its news content. On the map, the
Format
filter searches using this field.
Format: All formats used by the outlet, including those in
the primary format field and any additional ones used. This
field may have the same entry as primary format if the outlet
does not use any additional formats.
The colors in the bubble chart distinguish between the formats used by
one or more outlets in the directory as a primary platform (the outlet
count also includes outlets that use the format as a secondary or
additional platform); and formats used only as a secondary or
additional medium. Could one of those platforms one day emerge as a
common primary format?
All 16 Formats
In this visualization of all formats listed in the directory, the
circles in the darker shade represent mediums that no outlet uses as
their primary platform. These formats are only used as a secondary or
additional platform. Hover over a circle to see a format and the
number of outlets that use it. The accompanying table displays the
same information in list form.
Formats used as a primary platform for one or more outlets, or a
secondary or additional platform for others
Formats used only as a non-primary platform
Formats used only as a non-primary platform, marked in table
To see a bar chart of the formats most used as a primary platform,
select the Format filter on the
map.
In early 2024, the Asian Media Initiative will release a report on the
state of AAPI community media. If you would like more details about the
report, or have questions or feedback about the directory and map,
please contact AMI Director Kavitha Rajagopalan at kavitha.rajagopalan@journalism.cuny.edu.
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