Cardiff School of Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies

PhD Research

Reaching out to diaspora in the global city. The Socio-Cultural, Public Relations and Ethnic Marketing Role of the Polish Diasporic Media in London after May 2004

Since Poland joined the European Union in May 2004, around 2 million primarily young Poles have emigrated to the old member states of the EU. The majority of them chose the United Kingdom as their new place of settlement. One of the consequences of the migratory process was the rapid development of the Polish diasporic media. This media was  predominantly made up of the press and its web equivalents, but also radio and TV stations. Most of the media has been based in London. Despite the fact that the Polish media in the UK has flourished, it still does  not seem to be an easy task for the British public and business organisations to communicate with Poles. The role of the Polish diasporic media in enhancing social integration, multiculturalism and citizenship is also not fully understood. Perhaps such a role has been underestimated by the public institutions, both central and local. Consequently, the Polish migrant community living in the United Kingdom is sometimes classified as living a ‘parallel life’. The social, cultural, political as well as the economic potential of the Polish community’s media remains undervalued.

The PhD research project is designed to closely investigate three dimensions of the Polish diasporic media operating in London. Firstly, it will explore the media’s role in enhancing social integration, multiculturalism and citizenship among the Polish migrant community living in the UK capital. It will investigate how the media helps the migrants to adapt to life in the diverse global city. Secondly, the relation between the British public institutions, both central and local, and the diasporic media will be researched. In this way, the role of the diasporic media in the transmitting of multicultural and citizenship initiatives of the public institutions will be explored. The role of the diasporic media in the public communication process will also be examined. Finally, given the fact that Poles in the UK constitute a substantial market niche, the research will attempt to check to what extent the media is recognised and used by business organisations, as channels of ethnic marketing.

The research will have an interdisciplinary character and will mainly draw on the theories from media, communication, public relations, ethnic marketing, migration studies and urban sociology. To accomplish the goals of the research, the mix-method approach will be employed. Both qualitative and quantitative research methods will be used. These include: online survey questionnaires and semi-structured face-to-face/telephone interviews, document and policy analysis as well as focus groups.

There has been no research on the Polish diasporic media in the UK. The findings of the project will help bring an understanding of the role of the Polish diasporic media operating in the country. Also, in the context of rising ethnic tensions within world cities as well as the rising political distrust in the politics of multiculturalism, the findings of the research will make a contribution to the debate on how to re-construct social cohesion, multiculturalism and citizenship, particularly in the perspective of the global city. The role the ethnic media is or could be within the process is discussed. The outcomes of the project will also provide practical usefulness for policymakers, governmental communications practitioners as well as journalists.

Supervisor: Dr Vercia Rupar

Research Interests

Ethnic media, public relations, political communication, multiculturalism, citizenship, urban sociology, international migrations.

Background

Michal worked as a NGO officer and local journalist in Poland. He was also a local civil society activist. Recently, he undertook a traineeship with the Directorate-General Communication of the European Commission gaining work experience in EU media relations.

Currently, he is PhD student in the Cardiff School of Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies. His research project is financed by Cardiff University which awarded him the President’s Research Scholarship, (Re)-Constructing Multiculturalism.He lives in London where he is conducting his project.