California's Japanese-language press, 1941-1942: voices of the uprooted minority

Includes bibliographical references (pages 189-191)This was a historical study which described the coverage and\ud editorial positions of the daily Japanese-language newspapers in\ud California during the period from July 24, 1941 up to May, 1942,\ud with regard to the pre-war tension between the United States and Japan,\ud the attack on Pearl Harbor, Executive Order 9066, and the mass evacuation order. Four Japanese-language dailies in. Ce,lifornia--the Nichi Bei (Japanese American News) and Shinsekai-Asahi (New World-Sun) of San Francisco, and the Rafu Shimpo (L.A. Japanese Daily News) and Kashu Mainichi (Japan-California Daily News)--were studied. This study found that the Japanese -language sections of all the newspapers showed a dual personality trait, with respect to their nationalistic sentiment, during the pre-war period under study. It was also discovered that throughout the period under study, the\ud English-language sections of all the newspapers carried. a campaign to\ud assert that the Nisei was a loyal American. During the post-Pearl Harbor period all the newspapers, except the\ud Shinsekai-Asahi which ceased publication soon after Pearl Harbor, cooperated\ud with U.S. officials and support U.S. defen3e programs. The\ud three newspapers cooperated with the U.S. Army's evacuation program,\ud hoping that the conduct of Japanese Americans during the war would\ud serve as their "Magna Charta" in future. 'I'he papers appeared to be influential factors in maintaining social cohesion in the Japanese American comrriunity, attempting to lift\ud the morale of Japanese Americans who were in such adverse circumstances