Racial/ethnic identity, community-oriented media initiatives, and transmedia storytelling

ABSTRACT

This study focuses on how racial minorities are actively adapting, resisting, and challenging the practices of mainstream media in a convergence era. Through collaborative, community-based, transmedia storytelling initiatives, racial minority groups are fostering new critical media literacies and active digital citizenship. This article focuses on two such initiatives: a fictional Web-based drama series (East Los High) and a transmedia participatory art initiative (Question Bridge). The analysis shows how racial minorities use transmedia projects to create alternative forms of mediated storytelling that are more inclusive and participatory.

KEYWORDS:

• Case studies
• community initiatives
• media literacies
• race/ethnicity
• transmedia storytelling

Acknowledgments

The author thanks Cara Wallis and Aya Yadlin-Segal for their input on previous versions of the article.