Cultural Identity, Hybridity and Minority Media: Community Access Radio and Migrants in New Zealand Netra Timilsina A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Media and Communication University of Canterbury January 2019 Dedication To my beautiful wife Sangeeta a source of inspiration and encouragement ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This work would not have been completed without the generous support that I received from many people and organisations. If I mention all the names here the list would be so long. I would particularly like to thank all the members of the Nepalese, the Filipino and Iranian communities who participated in this research. Similar thanks go to the community organisations: Nepal New Zealand Friendship Society of Canterbury Inc. (NNZFSC); Philippine Culture and Migrants Services (PCMS), and University of Canterbury Iranian Society (UCIS), their executives and all the programme producers and presenters from these three communities, who supported me during the whole research process. With special mention to Nicki Reece, station-manager, and Laura Gartner, programme coordinator, I would like to thank the entire Plains FM family and its community broadcasters. In addition, I would like to thank my senior supervisor, Dr Zita Joyce, who guided me through this exciting journey with academic excellence. I would like to thank Dr Linda Jean Kenix for providing constructive feedback as an associate supervisor in my PhD journey. This thesis is the result of all of your generous support and constructive feedback. I would also like to acknowledge all the department academicians and postgrad colleagues for your support and guidelines. I am grateful to my family, especially my wife Sangeeta, who made many sacrifices to support my PhD. I would also like to remember all my relatives and friends from both New Zealand and Nepal, for your encouragement and support throughout my media and academic journey. Namaste! Page | ii Abstract This thesis analyses three Christchurch-based migrant communities – Filipino, Nepalese and Iranian – and their radio programmes on Access Radio station Plains FM. It argues that these radio programmes are participatory media platforms. These communities have easy access to structures of feedback and participation which provide opportunities to become involved in the content production and decision-making processes of the radio programmes. The participatory practices place these programmes close to an ideal of alternative media where boundaries between producers and audiences are blurred and audiences emerge as co-creators or prosumers of the content. The research investigates how migrant communities value their local radio programmes in this digital era where media platforms are increasingly becoming transnational, and technology has facilitated diasporic populations to receive media content from their countries of origin in any host society. Migrants prefer radio programmes in their native language as a source of news, information and entertainment. Although those audience segments can easily receive information from mainstream media, they find their own radio programmes more authentic and intimate. The thesis finds that the radio programmes connect and provide orientation between migrants, their countries of origin and New Zealand society. The radio programmes are the platform where migrants can practice their cultures and languages and transfer those cultural practices and languages to future generations. The programmes also support migrant populations’ integration in the host society, by providing local information useful for their everyday life. The research traces the memories of migrants by employing in-depth interviews and focus-group discussions to understand these radio programmes’ role in building a sense of community during disasters in their countries of origin. The community radio programmes work as influential platforms for the migrant communities to practice their community public spheres and to negotiate their cultural identities in an increasingly multicultural New Zealand. Page | iii List of acronyms and abbreviations ACAB Association of Community Access Broadcaster ACMA Australian Communications and Media Authority ACORAB Association of Community Radio Broadcasters Nepal AGM Annual General Meeting AIR Access Internet Radio AIR All India Radio AM Amplitude Modulation AMARC World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters AMDI African Media Development Initiatives BBC British Broadcasting Corporation CIMA Centre for International Media Assistance CINCH Community Information Christchurch CIS Cities-in-Schools CMFR Centre for Media Freedom and Responsibility CNR China National Radio CR Community Radio CRSC Community Radio Support Centre CRI China Radio International CRTC Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission DANIDA Danish International Development Agency DAB Digital Audio Broadcasting dB Decibel DPNet Disaster Preparedness Network–Nepal DRM Digital Radio Mondiale IBOC In-Band-On-Channel Page | iv IRTC Independent Radio and Television Commission IOM International Organization for Migration IRIB Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting FAO Food and Agricultural Organization FCC Federal Communication Commission FM Frequency Modulation FSC Filipino Sports and Culture GUL General User License GURL General User Radio License LPFM Low Power Frequency Modulation EIRP Equivalent Isotropic Radiated Power MBIE Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment, New Zealand MCIT Ministry of Communication and Information Technology, Nepal MED Ministry of Economic Development MELAA Middle Eastern/Latin American/African MoHA Ministry of Home Affairs, Nepal NEFEJ Nepal Forum of Environmental Journalists NIRT National Iranian Radio and Television NNZFSC Nepal New Zealand Friendship Society of Canterbury Inc NPRT National Pacific Radio Trust NZME New Zealand Media and Entertainment NZOA New Zealand On Air OECD Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development PCS Philippines Culture and Sports PMN Pacific Media Network RSF Reporters Without Borders (Reporters Sans Frontieres) SCR Samoan Capital Radio Page | v SNS Social Network Site PMC Population Media Centre SLBC Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation TCRP Tambuli Community Radio Project UCIS University of Canterbury Iranian Society UNDP United Nations Development Programme UNESCO United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization UNHCR United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees USAID United States Agency for International Development VIRI Voice of the Islamic Republic of Iran WAR Wellington Access Radio Page | vi Table of contents Dedication _______________________________________________________________ i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS _________________________________________________ ii Abstract ________________________________________________________________ iii List of acronyms and abbreviations __________________________________________ iv Table of contents _________________________________________________________ vii List of table and figures ____________________________________________________ xii CHAPTER ONE: Introduction..............................................................1 1.1. Positioning my research _________________________________________________ 1 1.2. Immigration policies and migrants _________________________________________ 5 1.2.1. The Filipino community in New Zealand ............................................................... 10 1.2.2. The Nepalese community in New Zealand ........................................................ 12 1.2.3. The Iranian community in New Zealand ................................................................ 12 1.3. Deregulated media market and access radio ________________________________ 15 1.3.1. Other ethnic radio broadcasting in New Zealand ................................................... 19 1.3.2. Plains FM ................................................................................................................ 21 1.3.2.1. Radio programmes in detail............................................................................. 22 1.3.2.1.1. Mabuhay Radio Filipino .................................................................................................. 23 1.3.2.1.2. Namaste Nepal ................................................................................................................. 23 1.3.2.1.3. Toranj ............................................................................................................................... 23 1.4. Aims and research questions ____________________________________________ 24 1.5. Outline of the thesis chapters ____________________________________________ 26 CHAPTER TWO: Community and alternative media and frameworks of analysis ............................................................................................28 Page | vii 2.1. Introduction _________________________________________________________ 28 2.2. Alternative media as an alternative to mainstream media ______________________ 29 2.3. Defining community radio ______________________________________________ 32 2.4. Community radio as a platform for participation _____________________________ 35 2.4.1. Serving a community .............................................................................................. 38 2.5. Community radio and media ‘prosumer’ ___________________________________ 41 2.6. Public sphere ________________________________________________________ 44 2.7. Spiral of silence ______________________________________________________