Swinburne Research Bank http://researchbank.swinburne.edu.au Author: Johansson, Clare; Battiston, Simone Title: Ethnic Print Media in Australia: Il Globo in the 1980s Year: 2014 Journal: Media History Volume: 20 Issue: 4 Pages: 416-430 URL: http://hdl.handle.net/1959.3/387840 Copyright: Copyright © 2014 Taylor and Francis. This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Media History on 28 August 2014, available online: http://www.tandfonline.co m/10.1080/13688804.2014.948826. This is the author’s version of the work, posted here with the permission of the publisher for your personal use. No further distribution is permitted. You may also be able to access the published version from your library. The definitive version is available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/13688804.2014.948826 Swinburne University of Technology | CRICOS Provider 00111D | swinburne.edu.au Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org) Ethnic Print Media in Australia: Il Globo in the 1980s Clare Johansson and Simone Battiston Abstract This paper investigates the content of the editorial commentary in the Melbourne-based commercial Italian-language newspaper Il Globo from 1979 to 1989 and argues that throughout the period under examination it consistently maintained a proactive role for, and on behalf of, the Italo- Australian community. A longitudinal study on selected editorials written by then editor-in-chief Nino Randazzo shows that the newspaper lobbied relevant authorities and Australian governments alike on issues that mattered most to the Italian community, especially those related to domestic politics, migrant settlement and immigration. Using a content analysis methodology, the editorials were categorised into commonly emerging themes, highlighting the extent to which the newspaper commented on issues that affected the rapidly changing Italo-Australian community which experienced an important demographic shift from being predominantly Italian-born to increasingly Australian-born. Keywords: Ethnic print media; Australia; Italian-language newspapers; Il Globo; editorial commentary; 1980s Introduction This paper analyses the community role of ethnic print media in Australia during the 1980s, using the Italian-language newspaper Il Globo as a case study. The aim is to determine the extent to which Il Globo played a proactive role for, and on behalf of, the wider Italo- Australian community which was concurrently undergoing significant demo- graphic and socio-economic changes. The Italo-Australian community became well established and involved in virtually all spheres of society, arguably becoming more ‘Australian’ and progressively less ‘Italian’. This occurred in the period after the Second World War and accelerated after the virtual cessation of mass Italian migration in the early to mid-1970s. There were both a rapid demographic increase in Australians of Italian ancestry and a transformation of Italian migrants and their descendants from a predominantly working- and peasant-class background into the upwardly mobile middle class. i Ultimately, this paper attempts to fill a gap in the literature on ethnic print media in Australiaii by addressing the dearth of scholarly works in this area and by diverging from previous studies which focused on the pivotal—though passive—role the ethnic press played in the process of integrating migrants. Rather, this paper focuses on the active role played by Il Globo in the issues that it perceived as important to the Italo-Australian community in the 1980s. Il Globo provides an excellent research case study for three reasons: first and foremost, it represents one of the longest-running foreign- language newspapers in Australia; second, by the late 1970s it had gained a virtual monopoly over the print media within the Italian- speaking community; and, third, for decades it served the largest community with a non-English-speaking background and the largest foreign-language- speaking community in Australia—only recently overtaken by the Chinese community (2006 census data). Il Globo continues a long-standing history of Italian-language papers which can be traced back to 1885.iii It was established in 1959 when Italians accounted for 20% of all incoming migrants. This influx of migrants was due to the Chifley Labor Government’s decision to adopt a policy of large-scale immigration in 1945—arguably the most important political compact in Australia’s historyiv—under which more than 288,000 Italians would migrate to Australia by 1971. Notwithstanding the dramatic changes to both migration flows and the print media sector, the ethnic press continues to play an important role by providing a means of communication to the ethnic communities scattered across Australia. Scholars argue that such papers aid the integration of migrant communities into mainstream society. v However, in the 1980s, with the roll-out of multicultural policy and the changing focus of immigration policy, the role that the Italian print media played in the Italian community is thought to have changed, because of the negligible number of new Italian immigrants (compared with the then recent past) and the ongoing integration of Italian migrants and their descendants in Australia. Previous research has shown the relevance of Italian newspapers such as Il Globo to the Italian community between 1959 and 1979.vi Throughout the 1980s the Italian community underwent significant change, becoming more established in the wider Australian community. vii Consequently, the newspaper’s content changed to reflect the deeper integration of the Italian community into Australian society. viii Indeed, Il Globo itself was a part of this transformation. By the 1980s, it seems Italians began to see themselves more as permanent, rather than temporary, residents of Australia. A pivotal figure at Il Globo and author of most of its editorials between 1979 and 1989 was its editor-in-chief, Antonino (‘Nino’) Randazzo. Randazzo’s many-sided character (journalist, editor, playwright, union organiser and, ultimately, politician) and trajectory in life (from journalism in Australia to politics in Italy) needs to be put into historical context the better to appreciate both his long-standing role as editor-in-chief and journalist and his political career—frustrated in his early years but fulfilled later in life. Born in 1932, Randazzo emigrated from the Aeolian Islands (Italy) at the age of 20. In 1957, he became an Australian citizen under the then prevalent policy of assimilation. His journalistic career began at a small Sicilian newspaperix and continued in Australia where he helped establish Il Globo in 1959. Starting as deputy editor, he became editor- in-chief in 1978. From 1959 to 2006, he wrote most of the paper’s editorials. x Randazzo’s career ambitions, however, were not confined to the media industry. In 1956, as a member of the Australian Labor Party and a union organiser, along with retired sea captain Giuseppe Di Salvo and left-wing activist Giovanni Sgrò, he helped establish the Italian- Australian Labour Council. xi In 1964, while still deputy editor of Il Globo but then as a member of the conservative Democratic Labor Party (DLP), Randazzo made his first attempt to enter politics by running on a DLP ticket for the Victorian State seat of Fitzroy, a seat which at that time numbered high concentrations of Italians. Despite the backing of prominent figures within the Italo-Australian community, of the newspaper he worked for (Il Globo), and of the DLP electoral machine, Randazzo’s attempt to enter State politics failed. xii His political career was frustrated, as British-Australian political scientist James Jupp once recalled, ‘to some extent by the widespread prejudice and hostility towards Italians, which characterised Australian life and about which he regularly protested’.xiii Not until 2006 could Randazzo—at 74 years of age and an influential figure in the Italian-Australian print media sector—fulfil his long-held political ambition by successfully contesting the newly created offshore Africa–Asia–Oceania–Antarctica seat in the Italian Senate, running as an overseas candidate in the Italian national elections for the centre- left coalition, L’Unione. Once elected, Randazzo resigned from Il Globo.xiv He contested, and won, two consecutive Italian elections (2006 and 2008) before retiring from politics and working life in 2013. One may argue that Randazzo’s multi-layered persona increased his status and influence within, and beyond, the Italo- Australian community, and that his lengthy tenure at Il Globo had, by the mid-2000s, helped him enter Italian national politics. The period from 1979 to 1989, albeit restricted from a research viewpoint, is the subject of study for this article. We begin by providing a background summary of the Italian print media in Australia, the project method and sampling, and the initial results. This is followed by a discussion in three areas that aim to open further inquiry into the role and function of Il Globo in the Italo-Australian community during the 1980s. The three areas chosen for discussion were centred on the discourse relating to the most dominant topics as identified by both content and discourse analyses of the editorial commentaries. Literature Review and Research Methodology Previous studies have concluded that the ethnic press provides an interpretive prism through which immigrants receive information and news about both their home and adopted countries.xv In Australia during the 1980s, the window through which most Italians were receiving information was narrow; for most drew upon a single source, Il Globo. When in 1978 Il Globo acquired its Sydney-based rival, La Fiamma, it virtually monopolised the Italian-language press nationally. xvi Given the resilience and success of Il Globo both as a newspaper and as a community institution, it may be argued that its owners and editorial office were always likely to become influential and play an important role, both in the Italian community and in the shaping of its identity. Research shows that successful ethnic press is supported by their communities.