Role and function of New Zealand Croation immigrant press 1899-1916 : quantitative and qualitative study of the content

Abstract

The focus of the present study is on role and functions that Croatian immigrant press played in interaction with its readership and the host society. The study combines the methods of quantitative and qualitative content analysis. Firstly, it establishes detailed composition of the content of these papers. The relative contribution of different categories of content in the composition of each paper is then used as a basis for an assessment of the editorial policies and the role and functions of each paper. Apart from the investigation of the proportion of space that has a bearing on some or all of the components of the cultural identity it also investigated the tone and the intent of such items. In general all papers under investigation, to more or less extent, served the dual role by providing information about the host society while at the same time encouraged loyalty to the homeland. They also showed some of the typical characteristic of immigrant press, which in contrast to the ordinary paper had to satisfy a much wider range of unanticipated social, political and emotional needs. In that respect they functioned as educational agencies, channels for local news or an instrument of social control.