CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, NORTHRIDGE THE MEDIA HABITS OF ) \ KOREAN-AMERICANS IN THE LOS ANGELES AREA A thesis submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Mass Communication by Dongshin Lee August, 1979 approved: California State University, Northridge TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABI.ES . ...••..••........•.........•.- ......... I • ABSTRACT . .........••.......•••........•.•••.•...•••. I •• CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 1 Statement o£ problem Lines o£ inquiry Significance of the problem Background information Korean press in Los Angeles Definition of terms Study limitations CHAPTER 2. REVIEW OF LITERATURE .•••••.•••••.••••••...... 12 Selection of sources Survey and description of previous studies Previous studies on methodology Summary and conclusions CHAPTER 3. METHODOLOGY •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••. 23 Survey method and telephone survey Sampling Analysis of data Basic research design Qualification of the researcher £or this study C:HAPTER 4. RESULTS . •.••••••••.•••.••••••.•••••••••••••.. 32 Demographic characteristics Medium preference and language preference Contents preference C:HAPTER 5. CONCLUSION •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 69 Summary Discussion: Findings of this study Suggestions for further studies BIBLIOGRAPHY . .........••....••••.••..•...•..•. , .•.•.•... 91 APPENDICES ...... " .•...•.•..•.•.•............•..•........ 94 Questionaire English version Questionaire Korean version ii LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Length of residence of Koreans in Los Angeles ...••... 4 2. Korean immigration to the United States •.•••••••••••. 6 J. 12 zip code areas of the heaviest concentration of Koreans . .••••..•..•••.••..•••.....•......•..••.•.. 6 4. Frequency distribution of sex ••••••••.•••.•••••••••. J2 5· Frequency distribution of age ••.••..•.••••••.•..•... JJ 6. Length of stay in the United States .•.•.•..•.•.•...• JJ 7· Frequency distribution of income .................... 34 8. Frequency distribution of education in Korea ••.•••.• J5 9· Frequency distribution of English fluency .•..•..•.•. J6 10. Frequency distribution of education in u.s .......... J6 11. Media preference for consumer-oriented information .. J7 12. Language preference for consumer-oriented information .....•......•..•••.•........•••.••...........•...... 3 9 1J. The media preference for international news •.••••••. 40 14. The language preference for international news ..••.. 41 15· The media preference for Korean community news ...... 4J 16. The language preference for Korean community news .•. 44 17. The media preference for entertainment .•.....••.•• ,.44 18. The language preference for entertainment ..••.•••••• 45 19. The media preference for editorial and comment .•.... 46 20. The language preference for editorial and comment .•. 47 21. The demographic variables that showed significant di- fference by Chi-square test ••..••.••.••••.•••..•• 49 22. The number of subscribers of Korean newspaper .•.•... 50 iii 23. The number of subscribers of each Korean newspaper •. 51 24. Preferred content of Korean newspapers .••••.••••••• 102 25. Subscription of American newspapers .•••••••••.•••••• 52 26. The number of subscribers of American newspaper ..•.. 53 27. Preference of contents of American newspaper ..•..•.. 54 28. The number of viewers of Korean television •.•.•...•• 55 29. Viewers of each Korean television station .•••••••••. 55 30. The preference of contents of Korean television .•••• 56 31. The number of viewers of American television ........ 57 32. The preference of American television stations ...•. 102 33· Preferred content of American te:i1evision •.••.•.••..• 59 34. The number of listeners of Korean radio •..•••••.••.• 59 35· The listeners of Korean radio .•••.••..•••.•••••••.•. 6o 36. The preferred content of Korean radio programs .•••.. 6o 37· The number of listeners of American radio ••••••••.•. 61 38. The preferred American radio stations .••••.•..•••.•. 62 39· The preferred content of American radio .••.••....•• 103 40. The number of subscribers of Korean magazine ..•...•• 63 41. Preferred Korean magazine •••••••••.••••.•••.•••.•••. 64 42. The content preference of Korean magazines ..•..•..•. 65 43. The number of subscribers of American magazine ..... 65 44. The preferred American magazines .••......••.••••.... 67 45. The preferred content of American magazine ..••..•... 67 46. The demographic variables that showed significant di­ fference by Chi-square test ..•.••••.•••..••..•••• 68 47. The most preferred media and the language for each purpose . ......................................... 7 3 iv 48. The audience penetration of each medium ••.••••••••... 78 49. The most preferred content of each medium •..•..•••... 79 v ABSTRACT THE MEDIA HABITS OF KOREAN~AMERICANS IN THE LOS ANGELES AREA by Dongshin Lee Master of Arts in Mass Communication This study examined the media habits of Korean-surnamed persons who live in the Los Angeles area. The mass media considered included American and Korean newspapers, tele- vision, radio, magazines. The research questions were: (l)Which media do they prefer, newspaper, television, radio, or any other medium? (2)Which language media do they prefer, Korean, American, or any other language medi­ um? (J)What are the relationships between their media habits and demographic variables? (4)What kind of content in each medium do they like best? In order to answer the above research questions, the // telephone su;rnys aboui;·279 Ko~ea.n.;.Americans were conduct- ........ ,. .... _.,.~~-.---·- \. '--.......__/ .. ' ed during the month of March, 1979· The respondents were vi randomly selected from the Korean Directory of Southern California(1979). A closed-ended questionnaire was provided to ask the Koreans about their media preference, contents preference, language preference and demographic elements. Basically, data analysis was done by relating the fre­ quency distribution of each answer-with the demographic variables; sex, income, age, education, language competence and length of stay in the United States. To find the sig­ nificant difference between the variables, Chi-square test was used. The major findings of this study are: (l)The respondents used different media and different languages for different purposes. They used newspapers for consumer-oriented information, Korean community news and editorials and comments, while they used television for international news and entertainment. And they used Korean language media for consumer-oriented information, Korean community news and editorials and comments, while they used English media for international news and enter­ tainment. (2)The media preference was most seriously affected by the respondents' education in the United States and the language preference was significantly affected by English fluency, age and education in the United States. (J)The rate of viewership of American television was highest, while the rate of subscription of Korean maga- vii zines was lowest. English and income were the two most significant factors that affected the media subscription. (4)News and entertainment were the two most preferred contents by the respondents. News was the most preferred content of the respondents who read Korean newspapers, American newspapers and American magazines. Entertainment was the most preferred content on Korean television, Ameri­ can television, Korean radio, American radio and in Korean magazines. The content preference was most seriously affected by education in Korea and the United States. viii CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION Statement of problem This study examined the media habits of Korean-surnamed persons who live in the Los Angeles area. The mass media considered included American and Korean newspapers, tele- vision, radio, magazines. The following research questions were answered through a closed-ended questionnaire provided for this study. 1. Which media do they prefer? Newspaper, television, radio or any other medium? 2. Which language media do they prefer? Korean, American or any other language medium? J. What are the relationships between their media habits and demographic variables? \4. 1rJhat kind of content in each medium do they like best? Lines of inquiry In order to answer the above research questions the following lines of inquiry were pursued: 1. Reviewed the lit.erature and saw what previous stu­ dies say about the media habits of Kore'an-Americans. 2. Conducted telephone surveys about Korean-Americans in the Los Angeles area randomly selected from the Korean Directory of Southern California(1972). 1 A closed-ended \_j questionnaire was provided to ask the Koreans about their 1 2 media preference, contents preference, language preference and demographic elements. Significance of the problem Several media habit studies dealing with minorities in the United States were completed recently by communication scholars and researchers. But only three studies (two dissertation and one brief study) trace the media habits of the Koreans living here~ Most Koreans in the country are first generation immi- grants who have lived here only briefly. The number of Koreans immigrating to the United States between 1965 and 1976 reported in the .1976 Annual Report of Immigration & Naturalization reached 177,966. Furthermore, these Koreans were scattered over the United States before they began to form their own communities in several major U.S. cities like Los Angeles, Chicago and New York. Therefore, it was impossible for scholars to reach these Koreans to conduct any