The Production of Diasporic Identity Online: Case Studies of Kurdish and Iranian English-language News Sites

Theories of diaspora have shifted the discourse from notions of diasporic entities to that of diasporic practices (Brubaker 2005). This distinction calls for closer attention to specific cultural work done by potential small groups, which potentially have broader implications for the meanings and uses of diasporic identity on a global level. Previous research on diasporic media has tended to focus on audience analysis and content. In this project we begin to explore how the production norms (ex. establishing “beats,” deciding what is news, who contributes, etc.) of Middle Eastern diasporic media work to build international support, by producing a curated diasporic identity.
In this presentation we broach questions about the deliberate production of diasporic identity online by comparing English-language Iranian and Kurdish diasporic websites. We selected these two nationalities to begin our project because these groups are independently diverse, yet related, since some ethnic Kurds have roots in Iran. Furthermore, these groups are decidedly different because Kurds, unlike Iranians, are a stateless nation without a shared single country of origin. Because Kurds are, in part, an internal ethnic group within Iran, understanding how each reimagines itself as diasporic allows us to explore competing rhetorical moves made by those seeking to take a diasporic position. We selected to focus on English-language sites because although English non-native to both groups, it is the language of international diplomacy. By producing news in English, these sites are arguably better positioned to alter or interact with official diplomatic frames.
As data, we rely heavily on interviews with contributors to these diasporic websites. We selected interviews as our primary methodology because of their tendency to provide insight to individual motivations and interpretation. Secondary sources of data include the content and placement of articles on the diasporic websites.
In this presentation we will begin by explaining how theoretical context of diaspora as stance/practice lends itself well to studies of media production. Next we will compare the news production routines and lived experiences of the people we interviewed as well as how we see these themes reflected in content decisions. We conclude by discussing how both our method and findings might be applied to other Middle Eastern diasporas. We believe understanding more the production of diasporic media allows us to explore important questions about how experience, ideology, and training effect media content across diverse groups (Shoemaker & Reese, 1996).