Analysing the media repertoires that Swiss expatriates use to inform themselves about their heritage country

Abstract

For people who migrate, the media are an important source of information about their heritage country. However, we know little about which media expatriates from wealthy countries like Switzerland use to inform themselves about their heritage country. Using data from a readership survey of the Swiss Revue, the official publication of the Organisation of the Swiss Abroad (OSA), we investigate the media consumption of Swiss expatriates. We identify five distinct media repertoires of Swiss expatriates when they inform themselves about their heritage country. How strongly individuals are connected to Switzerland correlates with the intensity of media consumption. We show that the less connected individuals are to Switzerland, the less they use the media for information about their heritage country. Specifically, expatriates who are registered as Swiss voters more often consult the media to follow events in Switzerland than individuals who are not eligible to vote.