The issue of the use of mass media by immigrants to sustain and develop special
identities in their new country of residence has been a growing field of investigation
over the past decade (see Riggins 1993, Gillespie 1993, Jakubowicz 1994, Gillespie
1995, Kolar-Panov 1997). In Australia, there has been work done on some immigrant
communities including the Greek, Italian, and Vietnamese, but almost nothing on the
Filipino community (see Bell et al. 1991, Young and Taylor 1985, Tenezakis 1984).
This study, therefore, is an attempt to determine how Filipinos in Australia,
particularly in Melbourne, use what might be called their ethnic newspaper, The
Philippine Times (referred to henceforth as TPT), in sustaining and maintaining their
cultural identity in relation to Australia's multicultural setting.