Pro- and Anti-Immigrant Sentiment in a Meatpacking Town: A Content Analysis

Sandra C. Burke, Iowa State University

Pro- and Anti-Immigrant Sentiment in a Meatpacking Town: A Content Analysis Residents in a community experiencing new and rapid demographic change develop opinions and feelings about the transition they and their town are experiencing. These opinions and attitudes find their way into the community’s newspaper through letters and opinions that residents express. This research is a content analysis of the pro-and anti-immigrant sentiment in a Midwestern meatpacking town newspaper. The analysis examines opinion pieces, letters to the editor, and the comments published from an anonymous call-in phone line. The substantive content of the opinions will be examined as well as change over time. The analysis will give some insight into the role that a newspaper may play in the process of community demographic change as well as the balance or lack of balance in what publishers and editors choose to print.