Researchers at Mount Royal University want to know how immigrants use and consume news to better understand how media can influence accuracy, trust and politics. The study includes first and second-generation immigrants and the so-called 1.5-generation — people born in one country and move to a new country during childhood or early adolescence.
Dr. Ran Ju, a professor of Public Relations at Mount Royal University, said that study will build on past research which looked at how Chinese immigrants use the social media platform WeChat.
Ju explained that the new undertaking will recruit immigrants from multiple backgrounds and generations to do two surveys over six months. The objective is to determine how people use news outlets and social media and, in turn, how that usage may impact their views on politics in Canada.
“We don’t think that there are too many studies that focus on immigrants’ news consumption, their political views because they’re also a very important part of society,” Ju said in an interview with the Calgary Journal.
Ju said social media platforms can help immigrants maintain their connections with language and culture. However, that can also create barriers with Canadian society as a whole. As such, by assessing different generations, this research intends to explore how new Canadians view the media and news from a wider perspective.
“We wanted to have a very good understanding about how immigrants consume news based on their different generations, and how their consumption behaviour, frequency, or pattern impacts their political participation in Canada,” Ju said.
Since misinformation and disinformation are not the focus of the study, Ju said being aware of how immigrants consume news is key before seeing how false information can be used on social media.
“At the beginning, you may not believe it because you think it is so fake. But then, when you read the comments, lots of people are saying this is so true. This would alter people’s perception of misinformation and disinformation,” Ju said.
Ju notes the project is timely, as the number of immigrants entering Canada is increasing and there’s a current debate over how much Canadians should rely on social media.
She added the study intends to find ways that help policy-makers understand how ethics in media for immigrant communities explain why they continue to stay informed.
“I would hope for the policy-maker to see the critical role that ethical media plays in immigrants’ socio-political, economic or cultural life here in Canada.”