A new study is lifting the veil off a thriving industry that seems to have appeared out of thin air: ethnic media.

According to the survey by New California Media, a consortium of more than 400 ethnic media outlets, which reach 84 percent of the three largest minority groups in California - Asian Americans, Latinos and blacks, found 43 percent of those surveyed prefer broadcasts in their own language, rather than English.

For Sandy Close, director of New California Media, these emerging media are the most important forces in American journalism today. Close compares the future of these ethnic papers to the alternative media of the 1960s.

"The issues raised by the alternative media in the 1960s - race, gender, civil rights and the environment - are mainstream issues today," Close says. Likewise, the topics that dominate the pages of ethnic media will eventually merge into the mainstream press as well, she said.

Yet these media outlets and their loyal readers existed long before the study was conducted.  The survey simply shines a light on a fertile, dark corner of the media industry for the corporate and mainstream worlds.

"It's not that corporate America doesn't understand these new demographics or don't know that they exist," Close said. "It's just that they don't understand effective ways to reach it."

Yet according to the study, a majority of nonwhite Californians said they are more likely to pay attention to advertising in ethnic media rather than mainstream outlets. Latinos demonstrated the strongest "advertising loyalty," followed by Asians.

Close essentially sees ethnic media as a bridge to understanding the concerns of ethnic communities. As such, she said mainstream newspapers and TV stations need to collaborate more with these small but vital media to get the full flavor of American perspectives.

According to the survey, Asians use the Internet and read newspapers more than other groups, while Latinos watch Spanish-language TV giants such as Telemundo and Univision more than they read publications or listen to the radio, the study found. Blacks were fondest of ethnic-oriented radio stations.

Rather than showing signs of abating as immigrants assimilate into American culture, these emerging media outlets have been gaining momentum over the past few decades.

"I remember 20 years ago everyone was saying Spanish language TV in the United States would be gone by now," said Sergio Bendixen, president of Miami-based Bendixen & Associates, which conducted the study.

Instead, the influence of these focused media has extended into the sphere of second generation Americans. "The melting pot model is gone. It's okay for kids today to be proud of who they are, and they're interested in news from the countries where their parents are from," he said. 

Bendixen notes that the future of ethnic media hinges largely on immigration patterns and the ability of these media outlets to remain relevant to second generation Americans.  But, for now, he says that ethnic media will continue to give voice to groups that are often invisible to the mainstream press.