Chapter 13 Review Questions

One threat would be state regulation of the media. If the state is able to threaten to shut down, censor, or punish media outlets, the free discussion of public issues is imperiled. Without information and the capacity to talk about it, democracy could be stilted. Dependence of the media advertising could impel media outlets to cater to those doing the advertising, resulting in less information disclosure or slanted news coverage. Excessively concentrated ownership of media enterprises could limit the sources available to the public.

As creators and purveyors of images and information the media play a role in social learning, the process of acquiring knowledge, values and beliefs about the world and ourselves—a role shared with the family, schools, peer groups, and various formal and informal organizations to which one belongs. None of the other agents of social learning rival the impact of the media on the ideas and information we have about political life.

Brooks argues that commercial advertising conveys much more than the intended message. We are, in fact, urged to buy, period. Its effect is to create a high-consumption society comprised of consumers with a high-consumption mindset. It also creates stereotypes and images of the ideal individual. Brooks identifies some: the youthful, the slender, the muscular, the large-breasted, the materially successful, the extroverted, and the “cool.” Others are excluded from the advertiser’s message, such as the poor, visible minorities, and men and women who do not conform to the “ideal.” There are exceptions, of course, but by and large advertisers find it more profitable to appeal to conventional beliefs and prejudices and to very basic emotional needs and insecurities and fantasies.

Brooks suggests that the economic filter operates mainly through the influence that advertising and industry structure have on the media product. Media companies are in competition for the advertising patronage of business; therefore, media must be sensitive to their patrons’ needs and will tend to avoid reporting on programming that reduces their attractiveness in the eyes of advertisers. These commercial imperatives to which most media are subject are politically relevant in a couple of ways including the reduction of the likelihood that powerful economic interests will be portrayed in a negative light and the lucrative advertising slots are associated with entertainment programming.

The much larger American market enables US magazine publishers to produce a glossier product and pay better rates for articles at a lower cost than their small-market Canadian counterparts.

The CBC’s role, Brooks says, is to show Canadians what is distinctive about their society and culture. Far more than other broadcasters, the CBC has Canadianized the airwaves, particularly in its dramatic programming and during primetime viewing hours. Its main challenge is the budget cuts that began in the 1970s. This makes it difficult to rely on Canadian programming because increased revenue is more likely to come from showing non-Canadian programs.

Media content also is affected through federal and provincial laws dealing with obscenity, pornography and what is called hate speech. Issues of control over this type of content has been challenged by increased complexity and newer media of wireless communications and the Internet.

Television continues to be the medium relied on by most people for their knowledge of national and international events because of its visual characterization which lends itself to the personalization of reality, and emphasis on individuals and personalities at the expense of ideas and broad social forces that cannot be related or captured by a camera, a built in predisposition towards the personal, immediate and the concrete.

Two main findings: first, English-Canadian journalists tend to be more left-of-centre than the general public, and secondly, the left-leaning tendency of journalists affects the way news stories are reported.

The authority of conventional journalists is being threatened by blog sites and bloggers. Blogging and tweeting have very definitely affected the way mainstream journalists and their employers work, such that when it comes to reporting, the old distinction between “old” and “new” media is no longer particularly useful. The organizational filter affects the coverage of politics and public affairs in new ways, the dominant role of traditional news organizations will continue to be under pressure.

Brooks explains that information travels from political figures to news media that edit and package political news before it arrives at the viewer, thus it is third-hand instead of second-hand news.

The ‘fourth estate’ was a term coined in 18^th century Britain to describe the press as a key part of society. The existing three estates were the nobility, clergy, and common people, respectively.

Cruikshank says that news reporting tends to be highly skewed toward crime, natural disasters, and institutional stories resulting from press releases and press conferences. Less funding for news outlets means elimination of journalists’ positions, less reporting, and a sustained pressure to cover news and public affairs. There is also pressure from the competition of YouTube and other online rivals to more traditional news reporting.

Brooks notes that English- and French-speaking Canadians consume different media: they read different newspapers and magazines, listen to different radio programs, watch different television networks, and prefer different films; this is the result of different media available across languages. A similar phenomenon can be observed in Belgium, with its French- and Flemish-speaking populations, and Spain, with its Catalan and Castillian populations.

‘Infotainment’ uses celebrity reporters to present news in a ‘shallow and often sensational’ manner; this is the result of increased profitability of advertising, so networks devote more time to ads and less to serious news reporting.

To answer this question, you will want to begin by identifying the comments (or lack of comment) that would suggest a left-wing bias. For instance, interviewing NDP Members of Parliament significantly more often than Conservative and Liberal MPs might be an indicator of left-wing bias. Similarly, giving more air time to left-wing critics, rather than right-wing critics could be another indicator. Exaggerating certain issues could be yet another. “Armed” with these and other indicators, you can then review CBC news and current events programming. The same approach could be used with CTV, Global, and other networks. Then draw some conclusions from your findings.

In your answer, you can suggest that the media do not so much formulate our views as shape our consciousness, provide us with a framework that embraces certain interpretations and excludes others. Perhaps a good example is the repeated exclusion of Elizabeth May, the leader of the Green Party, from the federal leaders’ debates of the past two elections. Her exclusion keeps environmental thinking within the bounds set by the other parties. That framework would have been enlarged if Ms May had been able to participate.

Among the major Canadian newspapers are The Globe and Mail, National Post, Toronto Star, Le Devoir, La Presse, Ottawa Citizen, Winnipeg Free Press, and Edmonton Journal. Monitor these papers and others over a period of time, particularly their editorials, and note their particular “slants” on public issues. Does a newspaper demonstrate a consistent set of beliefs and prescriptions? Which newspapers tend to be left-leaning, right-leaning, and in the centre? What findings surprised you?

Your answer will vary based on the social media platforms you use, who you follow, and whether and how public figures you follow may influence you. You should think about the ideas being disseminated by these public figures and how these ideas impact you. Have you changed the way you think about a topic because of the information that has been presented about it on social media?

There are a number of ways you can choose to compare traditional media (ie. newspapers, radio, etc.) with new media (ie. social networking sites), based on information outlined in the textbook and also from your own prior knowledge or research you have conducted. For example, you may compare the decline in certain traditional media, like magazines and newspapers moving online, compared with several new media that continue to grow. Brooks also points out discrepancies in viewership: while Facebook has an estimated 17 million daily users, CBC and Radio Canada have viewership of 15 million per month.