The uses of news media in the context of acculturation A quantitative study among foreign-born in Sweden.

Abstract

News media are an important function in a democracy by providing news and information to the citizens and at the same time considered to facilitate adaptation and integration into society. Recent Official Reports of the Swedish Government have stressed concerns regarding the development showing that part of the population with a foreign background in Sweden does not use traditional news media. In this context, and by an increasing number of foreign-born in Sweden, the relevance of investigating the relationship between the use of news media and integration is actualized. In previous national research, there has been a predominance of studies investigating the relation between news media and foreign-born from media’s perspective, and there is a lack of research that focuses on how foreign-born in Sweden use news media. It has also been stressed that digital media offer complement to the traditional media, and that further research is needed on how digital media are being used by people with a foreign background in Sweden. The present study was carried out by using theories of acculturation, and the uses and gratifications theory as theoretical framework in order to further explore the relation between news use and acculturation from the users’ perspective. The purpose is to deepen the understanding of how Swedish news media are being used by foreign-born and to increase the knowledge of how it is related to the degree of acculturation. Data was collected by conducting a survey where a questionnaire available in Swedish, English, and Arabic, was distributed to 190 SFI students, Swedish for immigrants, at two schools in Gothenburg, Sweden. The subsequent data analysis was carried out in SPSS for statistical comparisons. The main findings show that the SFI students are using different acculturation strategies, and that maintaining the culture of origin is a clear element. The most common motives for using Swedish news among the SFI students, regardless of the degree of acculturation, are linked to acculturation purposes. Finally, clear correlations were found between the degree of acculturation and the use of both digital and traditional news.