194 PACIFIC JOURNALISM REVIEW 17 (1) 2011 INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM Searching for home: Explorations in new media and the Burmese diaspora in New Zealand This study examines the place of new media in the maintance of Burmese diasporic identities. Political oppression in Burma, the experience of exile and the importance of opposition movements in the borderlands make the Burmese diaspora a unique and complex group. This study uses tapoetetha- kot, an indigenous Karen research methodology, to explore aspects of new media use and identity among a group of Burmese refugees in Auckland, New Zealand. Common among all participants was a twin desire to share stories of suffering and to have that pain recognised. Participants in this project try to maintain their language and cultural practices, with the intent of returning to a democratic Burma in the future. New media supports this, by providing participants with access to opposition news reports of human rights abuses and suffering; through making cultural and linguistic artifacts accessible, and through providing an easy means of communication with friends and family in Burma and the borderlands. Keywords: Burma, Karen, refugee, diaspora, indigenous, political activism, new media, tapotaethakot VIOLET CHO Asian Journalism Fellow 2009, Pacifc Media Centre T HIS ARTICLE is about the use of new media in making and main- taining Burmese 1 cultural, social, political, national and ethnic iden- tities in Auckland, New Zealand. The use of new media among the Burmese diaspora is a means of sustaining bonds with the home country and ABSTRACT Articles brought to you by CORE View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk provided by Pacific Journalism Review (Pacific Media Centre, School...