Credible, but Not for Me: Immigrant Folk Theories of News Trust in Chinese, Korean, and Filipino Communities in the US

ABSTRACT

This study examines how Asian immigrants in the United States navigate American news media and respond to misinformation. Drawing on theoretical discussions on public trust in news, relational journalism, and immigrant’s news experiences and ethnic media, we analyze the folk theories of news held by Asian immigrants from China, the Philippines, and Korea. The analysis of 22 interviews reveals their non-committal identity as members of the American public and the uniquely ambivalent attitudes that they hold towards US news. They see American news as credible yet propagandistic, biased yet innocent of misinformation, and accessible yet alienating. Consequently, they turn to alternative news sources that provide a sense of belonging, rather than relying on established and vetted mainstream news. We discuss the role of alternative ethnic intermediaries in providing Asian immigrants with their own news narratives, while recognizing the potential danger of exposing them to unvetted political messages. The findings call for enhancing relatability and balancing the functions of journalism in everyday life and political domains to integrate immigrant communities into the informed American public.

KEYWORDS:

• News trust
• media trust
• Asian American
• immigrant audience
• misinformation
• relational journalism
• ethnic news media
• folk theory of news

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 https://www.ameja.org/Media-Resource-Guide-for-Palestine-Israel (the Arab and Middle Eastern Journalists Association), https://nahj.org/2022/05/27/nahj-guidance-on-responsible-coverage-following-tragedy-in-uvalde/ (the National Association for Hispanic Journalists), https://www.aaja.org/2020/02/13/aaja-calls-on-news-organizations-to-exercise-care-in-coverage-of-the-coronavirus-outbreak/ (the Asian American Journalists Association)

2 https://caasf.org/press-release/caa-launches-chinese-language-fact-checking-website-piyaoba/ (the Chinese for Affirmative Action), https://iaimpact.org/action/combat-disinformation/ (the Indian American Impact Open), https://apiavote.org/initiatives/dis-and-misinformation-monitoring/ (APIAVote), https://www.tayohelp.com/en-us/articles/video-kalusugan-para-sa-lahat-uniting-against-covid-19-flu-and-rsv/ (Tayo Helpdesk)

Additional information

Funding

This article was supported by GSI Center for Narrative, Disinformation, and Strategic Influence at Arizona State University an internal grant from the first author’s university and an National Science Foundation [grant number 2210137]. Detailed information is not provided for the blind review purposes. The relevant information will be added upon acceptance.