Media and Politics in Canada

Pol Sci 220

St Francis Xavier University

February 2007

Media and Politics in Canada : Topics Covered

• Roles of the Media in politics• Structure of Canadian media industry• Economic factors• Legal and regulatory issues• The exploding impact of technology• Practical considerations about

newsgathering• The ideological impact of the media

Media’s role in politics

• Direct roles

– Reportage, news gathering and editing

– Investigative journalism

– Political and policy commentary

Media’s role in politics

• Indirect effects

– A self-appointed defender of democracy

– framing the public agenda

– a conservative institution reflecting dominant social values

– Shaping the message through the medium (technology) – major impact on the nature of political communication

The Structure of the Canadian Industry

– Concentrated ownership of TV and radio, with competition from cable and internet

– Major access for US based TV and radio, cable and internet news providers

– Concentrated ownership of newspapers through chains

– Dominance of “national” newspapers – Globe and Mail, National Post

– Important role of CBC / Radio Canada

Economic factors affecting the media industry

• Most media outlets need to turn a profit: and most are very profitable.

• Face a very rapid pace of technological change• Global convergence strategies: news and

entertainment• Role of public broadcasters: essential coverage

and competition in underserved markets• Advertising as driver of profitability -- influences

content?

Legal and Regulatory Issues

• Federal government regulates bandwidth, television signals

• The print media and broadcasting are largely self-regulated.

• The special mandate of the CBC

• Media as a protected cultural product

• Protecting culture through the media

Effects of technology

• Postman: TV as “instant therapy”, rise of the 30-second attention span

• Dependence of news and public affairs commentary on:– Action shots– Confrontation– Stereotypes

• New technologies: cellphones, ipods etc.– increasing access but dumbing down content ?

The pragmatics of news production

• Limited resources mean selective coverage

• News covers the predictable

• The “Lazy journalism” phenomenon

• News management as part of the art of politics

Ideological Impact

• Journalists are more cosmopolitan, and more progressive (left-wing) than the average Canadian

• But journalists work for orthodox businesses (except the CBC)

Media and Democracy

• Noam Chomsky – “manufacturing of consent”• Frank L Wright – “chewing gum of the mind” –

media as distraction• Oversimplification of complex issues –

dumping down effect of technology• Inaccessible to those without money or

“savvy”• Yet, continuing impact as a check on the

abuse of executive power