The news, and a taste of home
Published: 24 Aug. 2009, 19:51
A panel of eight immigrants films a segment for “Immigrant Lifestyle Talk,” a new show coming to Migrants’ Network TV in September. Provided by MNTV
The network provides broadcasts of local Korean news, documentaries and Korean classes in 13 different languages. But the station’s operators say its true power lies in its ability to bring the migrant community together. And as the number of expatriates residing in Korea recently surpassed 1 million, MNTV has stepped up to inform them in their native tongues.
For some, MNTV not only provides news, but comfort as well.
An Uzbek woman sent a letter to the network thanking them for providing the news and telling them she was brought to tears at the sound of her native language, since she lived in a remote area that was disconnected from any other immigrants from her country.
Announcer Merlyn Yu prepares to film a news broadcast for the Filipino community at the MNTV studio in Garibong-dong, western Seoul. MNTV broadcasts news in 13 languages. Provided by MNTV
When the Korean Migrants’ Center opened in 2004, the proposition of a media network for migrant workers arose as a way to communicate with the foreign community directly. MNTV began broadcasting on May 1, 2005, but without a studio and in just three languages - Korean, Mandarin Chinese and English.
MNTV initially fully operated under government funds. But to preserve its identity as a foreign media network, the station has been working to gain its financial independence and, along with it, the freedom to provide programs that will more directly cater to the foreign community.
The station chooses its programs through a very eclectic process, taking online requests from the community itself, other support centers and government agencies. News topic requests are then filtered based on their level of necessity and importance to each community.
For the past two years, the station has been hosting media education classes in order to increase the participation of the foreign communities to which it broadcasts. The station hopes that foreign immigrants will have increasing opportunities to contribute to the station personally through filming and editing.
The company markets itself by distributing pamphlets and business cards when attending community gatherings or events, Chung said, and word of mouth is important to increase viewership within each migrant community.
Chung characterized the network not as discouraging assimilation into Korean culture, but instead just providing a little taste of home.
“A community in itself exists in order to supports its members through difficult times,” Chung said. “Though it differs for each individual, migrant workers and immigrant wives are being immersed in Korean culture and are making earnest efforts to learn the language and more about the country.”
One such hardworking woman is Merlyn Yu, a Filipino anchorwoman for MNTV who moved to Korea in 2000 upon marrying her Korean husband. She began working at the Korean Migrants’ Center in 2007.
Despite a lack of experience in broadcasting, Yu was intrigued when she heard about the center’s television station.
“Because I’m the overseer of the Filipino community here at the center, becoming an announcer was one more thing I could give, and that’s why I wanted to do it - for them,” Yu said.
Yu was first hired and still works as a consultant for Filipino immigrants who contact the migrants’ center. However, after joining the station as an announcer, her job began to involve additional duties, and rewards.
“MNTV gave me a challenge,” she said. “Broadcasting is not my normal field, and when I first started working at MNTV, it was only because it was a part of the center. But after doing the program for a while, I felt it was good for me because it improved my own language ability, in addition to helping my fellow Filipino people in Korea.”
The Filipino community is only one of many that MNTV has been able to reach out to through its weekly multilingual broadcasts. MNTV says the network’s dominant group of viewers is Vietnamese, but the numbers for other countries are gradually increasing.
“Korea is not usually a popular immigrant destination choice,” Chung said. “Recently, however, there has been a sharp increase in Nepalese and Sri Lankan immigrants - the reason being that, at the individual level, these foreigners are looking to work in a more advanced country with the intention to seek the ‘Korean dream’ and earn large sums of money.
“From a broader perspective, since Korea developed in such a short span of time, many are here with the desire to witness what they hope will be the future of their native countries.”
By Jackie Lho, Kayla Bensing Contributing Writers [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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