Emerging communities, emerging media: the case of a Zimbabwean nurse in the British Big Brother show

Abstract

Research on media and diasporic communities has often either focused on representations of ethnic minorities in mainstream media or looked at the use of media by diasporic communities. By exclusively focusing on media coverage, the first approach has denied agency to how those represented in mainstream media interpret, accept or challenge representations of themselves. The second approach constructs its object of study as diasporic media and hereby neglects the way in which these interact with and respond to mainstream media. This article argues that a combination of these two approaches is fruitful as it allows for a more interactive and dynamic approach to mainstream and diasporic media which highlights the way in which one shapes the other. This argument is illustrated through an analysis of debates among diasporic Zimbabweans in Internet chatrooms about the participation of Zimbabwean nurse Makosi Musambasi in the British Big Brother 6 series broadcast on Channel Four in 2005.

Keywords:

• Big Brother
• diasporic media and the Internet
• mainstream media and ethnic minorities
• virtual communities
• Zimbabwe

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Winston Mano

Winston Mano, Communication and Media Research Institute (CAMRI), University of Westminster

Wendy Willems

Wendy Willems, Centre for Media and Film Studies, School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London