Ethnic Media Audiences

PRESENTATION SESSION

Monday, October 10, 2:00 pm – 3:30 pm

Organized by Peter Pennekamp, executive director, Humboldt Area Foundation.

Presented by Mike Henry, CEO, Paragon Media Strategies; Hugo Morales, executive director, Radio Bilingue, Inc.

As the number of people of color in America continues to grow, media organizations (both public and private) must also respond by serving an increasingly diverse audience. LA Public Media (LAPM) has done extensive research on this changing demographic in Los Angeles and has launched a service geared specifically towards Latinos, African-Americans, and Asian Americans ages 25-40. Through focus groups, digital usability studies, and content testing, LAPM has uncovered unique information on what kinds of content needs to be created to attract this demo and how it should be made available to them. How do mainstream media organizations create programming for these diverse audiences without isolating their mainstream audiences? What are the new media opportunities to reach this demographic? How important is marketing in this effort?