This paper argues that ethnic media such as the Chinese-language press in the U.S., are often treated as homogeneous categories, rendering a general picture of media’s role in immigrants’ assimilation/acculturation processes. The great differences however in both ethnic media outlets and immigrant audience groups strongly affect message construal and comprehension and reader identity construction. This paper explores in particular how major Chinese-language newspapers affect the daily lives of Chinese immigrant working-class women in the area of the San Francisco Bay.