The Internet and the Australian Ethnic Press: How Spanish Print Newspapers and Online News Increase Knowledge of Public Affairs Issues

Abstract

The Australian ethnic press has historically performed a salient role in the process of integration between immigrants and the host country. Ethnic newspapers can become the voices of the ethnolinguistic community they represent. In a diaspora that is as ethnically diverse as the Spanish speaking community, these periodicals can potentially mediate a community's participation in the public sphere of the country they live in and their country of origin. They have shown to improve awareness of politics and other societal issues from their homeland and host country. The possible impact of internet technology to the Australian ethnic press, in this case the Spanish language press, is an area which has received little academic attention. There have been studies which examined the relationship between the internet and mainstream media, but thus far the ethnic press has been overlooked. In the digital era, the scope for ethnic media is greater than ever, and the cost for developing and sustaining ethnic media has decreased substantially worldwide since the emergence of the internet. This presentation will discuss whether Spanish print newspapers are more effective in increasing the overall number of societal issues than their online media counterparts.