Media representations of ethnic diversity in times of ‘crisis’: exploring factors shaping translingual and transmodal journalistic practices in German youth radio’s station image building

Professional media function as evaluative public voices, and how they portray ethnic diversity has implications for social cohesion. German broadcasters have a remit to foster social cohesion but are frequently criticised for their negative coverage of ethnic diversity. While previous studies focus on evaluating media content, the factors shaping journalists' translingual/transmodal practices behind the scenes and what a meaningful engagement with difference means for journalists are not given sufficient attention. Through linguistic ethnography at a German youth radio station and interviews with journalists, this paper investigates these factors and the challenges journalists face when engaging with ethnic diversity in their image-building.