Abstract

Scholars (Gilson and Zubrzycki 1967; Ata and Ryan 1989; Kuo 2008, 2014) historically analyzed the Chinese, German, Greek, and Italian diasporic presses in Australia, yet, have overlooked the Spanish-language press. This article outlines the creation and role of Spanish social institutions and Spanish-language newspapers from the 1960s to the present, via historical archival analysis and interviews with diasporic press professionals. Social anthropological and archival historical evidence were analyzed using two theories: Benedict Anderson’s “Imagined Community” (1991) and Nancy Fraser’s (1991) revision of Jürgen Habermas' theory of “The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere” (1989). A structured timeline analysis demonstrates how two key migration waves—from Spain in the 1960s and Latin America in the 1970s—produced and transformed the press, which has been crucial in the production and transformation of Hispanic identity in a transnational sphere. This is a niche, as historical studies can enhance our understanding of this article’s interrelated questions: (1) How and why did the diasporic press emerge or fail?, (2) What functions did it perform? and, (3) How do diasporans maintain their identity via media?