Chinese-language digital news media in Australia: New narratives of hybrid identities

New migrants from the People's Republic of China now face a more fraught identity politics that is marked by an increasingly acute awareness of the racial, cultural, and ideological differences between themselves and 'mainstream' English-language-speaking Australians. Inhabiting a super-hybrid news and social media environment, many people in this cohort experience a degree of cognitive dissonance because of the frequent need to 'process' conflicting points of view and sentiments. Using as a case study Australia's most popular Chinese-language digital media outlet - Sydney Today - this article explores the cultural economy of hybridity. The analysis shows how this hybrid genre enables the Chinese-language digital media platforms to inform and orient this new migrant cohort by brokering news and information on their behalf. Taking a predominantly cultural-economic analysis approach but also acknowledging the sector's economics, regulatory framework, technological affordances, and content production strategies, the article uncovers a distinctive narrative format and discursive practice, as well as an expression of a new 'in-between' identity politics.

Automated summary

New migrants from China in Australia are experiencing a tense identity politics, navigating cognitive dissonance in a super-hybrid news and social media environment. Chinese-language digital media platforms play a crucial role in informing and orienting this new migrant cohort.