ICT IN MULTICULTURAL SOCIETY.
THE DUTCH EXPERIENCE
Abstract
After a brief review of the existing literature from Europe and North America on ethnicity as a possible predictor of the
ownership and use of media, with the emphasis on new media, there follows a review of the most significant results from a
limited survey on the subject in the Netherlands. With this, the main focus is on a school survey in which “ethno-cultural
position” in comparison with the common socio-demographic characteristics such as gender, SES (Social Economic Status) and
education are tested on the extent to which they predict access to primarily new media at home and ownership in the bedroom
on the one hand and to media applications and functions on the other hand. In order to better understand a number of results
from the school survey that cannot be further interpreted, the results of in-depth interviews on media use and the forming and
perception of identity within young ethnic minority groups will be presented. It is the intention to create a so-called integration-
promoting, or rather homeland-oriented profile of media use, while keeping in mind four “types” of identity (religious, ethnic,
national and cultural) and
various patterns of media consumption (time spent, genre preferences, etc.) for the tested minority
groups. Finally, the most visible policy guidelines in current Dutch media and minority policy will be described.