Douglas Todd: Ethnic media reveals harsh reality in migrant communities – Vancouver Sun Achi-News

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Canada could prevent foreign influence and terror by monitoring the country’s growing ethnic media, according to a new report.

Hundreds of foreign-language newspapers, radio shows and television stations in Canada offer revealing insights into the hopes and tensions experienced by more than eight million immigrants and their children, says a study called Diaspora Dynamics : Ethnic Media and Foreign Conflict in Multicultural Canada.

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Canada’s ethnic media is “the canary in the mine,” offering warnings about everything from foreign interference to psychological stress on newcomers, whether from Iran, China, Russia, India, South Korea, the Middle East or beyond. , said Andrés Machalski, president of Multilingual International Media Research (MIREMS).

But governments are not taking advantage of the fertile resource. Their lack of understanding of the powerful role played by ethnic media has “enabled Chinese and Indian agents to (influence) public opinion… and provided an open door to a homeland subversion of Canadian democracy,” Machalski said.

The 54 page MIREMS report claims that the media is invaluable for understanding what is happening in scores of diaspora communities.

The report goes so far as to suggest that many new arrivals suffer from anxiety and depression related to “complex PTSD” as they try to navigate news and views from their home country with their new lives in Canada.

While many of the views expressed in the ethnic media are predictable, there is some diversity of opinion, says the report by MIREMS, which tracks more than 800 media in 30 languages ​​in Canada and around the world.

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The discussion paper includes special sections on what the ethnic media is saying about China, the Russian-Ukraine war, the murder of a Sikh militant in BC, and the Israel-Hamas war.

Here are some highlights:

Beijing’s infiltration of Chinese-language media in Canada

Jonathan Manthorpe, author of Claws Of The Panda: Beijing’s Influence Campaign and Threat in Canada, wrote last week in The Vancouver Sun that one of the most “toxic” activities of the Chinese Communist Party is the way it controls “virtually all Chinese- language media” in Canada.

“The result of this is most contemptuous among new Canadians from Mainland China. This stricture blocks their exposure to Canadian society and values, and maintains CCP control over their lives,” Manthorpe wrote.

The MIREMS report does not go that far. But it captures how Chinese-language newspapers and broadcast outlets, aimed at 1.7 million Chinese-Canadians, more often than not follow the Communist Party’s line on human rights abuses in Xinjiang, protests in favor of Hong Kong democracy, retained Huawei CEO Meng. Wanzhou, and China’s interference in Canadian elections.

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Because many ethnic Chinese writers and editors in Canada fear being spied on by agents from Mainland China, the report says they often “shun controversial topics to protect their interests.” However, MIREMS suggests that some independent reports can be found.

Russian-Canadian media is silent on the war against Ukraine

While the government-controlled media in Russia is actively promoting the devastating attack on Ukraine, Machalski says that is not the case in the Russian-language media in Canada. “It’s largely quiet.”

Russian-Canadian media are much more “balanced” than those in the homeland – and sometimes even sympathize with Ukraine, the report said.

Russian, Ukrainian, Latvian and Polish media outlets in Canada serve a potential audience of more than two million people. If Ottawa had been learning from them, Machalski said, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau would likely have avoided the embarrassment of inviting a Ukrainian veteran who had fought for the Nazis to be honoured. by the visiting prime minister of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky.

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Less emphasis on “World War III” in Canadian Jewish and Arab media

The mainstream media in Canada is generally more fair and nuanced than the expatriate media in covering most issues, including the Israel-Hamas war, the report said. But there can be surprises.

While Jewish-Canadian and Arab-Canadian outlets largely contribute to polarization over the war in Gaza, Machalski, who is from Argentina, says there is at least not much talk about “how this is starting”. r World War III” – a theme that can emerge when mainstream outlets cover angry street protests.

South Asian media more open, and fierce

A range of views have long been expressed in the various multilingual outlets that serve South Asian-Canadians, a potential audience of nearly two million.

Whether serving the country’s large Sikh or Hindu populations, the media is now fixated on how Canada’s diplomatic relations with India were affected by last year’s assassination in BC of Khalistani separatist Hardip Singh Nijjar.

Sikh-oriented media largely condemn the Indian government, supporting Trudeau’s claim that Indian agents may have been involved. On the other hand, Hindu outlets tend to accuse Trudeau of attacking Sikh militants.

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Overall, the MIREMS report concludes with the insightful hypothesis that it is psychologically jarring for members of Canada’s significant dispersed populations, many of whom experience dual identities, to be buffeted by contrasting messages from different media.

“The constant exposure to homeland conflict through ethnic media on one hand, and mainstream media on the other, can be traumatic for immigrants, who are caught between their past and present lives,” he says. the report.

“The exposure to ongoing conflicts such as those in Ukraine, India and the Middle East could trigger symptoms similar to Complex PTSD, where the stress is prolonged and repetitive.

“This type of psychological stress is compounded by immigrants’ efforts to integrate into Canadian society while maintaining ties to their country of origin, leading to a unique set of mental health challenges.”

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