Document Type
Thesis - Open Access
Award Date
1983
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department / School
Speech
Abstract
Historically, Chinese immigration to the United States began in around 1850, even though immigration statistics in the United States showed that forty Chinese had arrived before the news reached Hong Kong that gold had been discovered in California in the spring of 1848. As the gold rush tapered off in the early 1860s, the Chinese soon filled in as general laborers, domestic servants, cooks, and gardeners. However, they found opposition from the white laborers in the mining camps as early as 1852, and they were denied eligibility for citizenship. The need to be aided and protected was great. All of these factors led to the establishment of the "Chinatowns”. It should be noted, however, that their choice to gather in a limited area was not entirely involuntary. Early Chinese Americans, just like other Americans or British abroad, tended to establish their racial zones. Those Americans or British, especially in the East, "have their own schools, churches, clubs, newspapers…” said S. W. Kung in Chinese in American Life. The same things have taken place in the Chinese community. For instance, the first Chinese established their Chinese newspaper for the first time in 1891.The decrease in the number of Chinese dailies during 1946 and 1960 led S. W. Kung to assume that the younger generation of Americans of Chinese ancestry would gradually-lose their ability to speak and read the Chinese language. This assumption cannot be proved since there are no other studies completed concerning the relationship between the younger generation of Chinese Americans and the percentage they represented in the total readership of Chinese newspapers. It is also possible that the broadcast media had risen to be a more popular mass media in the Chinese community, and the popularity could have attracted audience which were originally the· readers of Chinese dailies. The purpose of this study is to trace the history of the radio and television stations in the United States that have been devoting airtime in broadcasting Chinese programs. Surveys were conducted throughout the country to investigate stations' histories and purposes of broadcasting Chinese programs, programming and program production, audience composition, ethnic identity of the station founders and program managers, and financial sponsorship.
Library of Congress Subject Headings
Radio stations -- United State
Television stations -- United State
Chinese language -- United States
South Dakota State University Theses
Format
application/pdf
Number of Pages
119
Publisher
South Dakota State University
Recommended Citation
Liang, Lin, "The Chinese Radio and Television Stations in the United States : A Historical Exploration" (1983). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 4381.
https://openprairie.sdstate.edu/etd/4381