Showing papers in "Canadian journal of communication in 2009"

Networked Publics: The Double Articulation of Code and Politics on Facebook

Abstract: Through three case studies of online political activism on Facebook, this article conceptualizes the deployment of issue publics (Lippmann, 1993; Marres, 2005) on Facebook. We argue that issue publics on Facebook come into being through a specific set of double articulations of code and politics that link and reshape informational processes, communicational constraints and possibilities, and political practices in different and sometimes contradictory ways. Using Maurizio Lazzarato’s exploration of immaterial labour (2004), we demonstrate the need to further understand the networking of publics and their issues by considering how online platforms provide the material, communicational, and social means for a public to exist and therefore define the parameters for assembling issues and publics and circumscribe a horizon of political agency. Resume : Au travers de trois analyses d’exemples d’activisme politique en ligne sur Facebook, cet article offre une conceptualisation du developpement de problemes d’interet general et de leurs publics sur Facebook (Lippmann, 1922; Marres, 2005). Nous demontrons que les problemes d’interet general et leurs publics sur Facebook sont crees au travers d’une serie de double articulations du code et du politique qui lient et refaconnent les processus informationnels, les possibilites et contraintes communicationnelles et les pratiques politiques de manieres differentes et parfois contradictoires. En se referant aux travaux de Maurizio Lazzarato sur le travail immateriel (2004), nous demontrons le besoin d’analyser le processus de reseautage des problemes d’interet general et de leurs publics. Ceci inclut une nouvelle approche envers les plates-formes en ligne comme fournissant les moyens materiels, communicationnels et sociaux pour qu’un public puisse exister, et comme definissant par la meme un horizon d’activite politique et les parametres selon lesquels des problemes d’interet general et leurs publics peuvent etre assembles.

Looking at Shirley, the Ultimate Norm: Colour Balance, Image Technologies, and Cognitive Equity

Abstract: Until recently, due to a light-skin bias embedded in colour film stock emulsions and digital camera design, the rendering of non-Caucasian skin tones was highly deficient and required the development of compensatory practices and technology improvements to redress its shortcomings. Using the emblematic “Shirley” norm reference card as a central metaphor reflecting the changing state of race relations/aesthetics, this essay analytically traces the colour adjustment processes in the industries of visual representation and identifies some prototypical changes in the field. The author contextualizes the history of these changes using three theoretical categories: the ‘technological unconscious’ (Vaccari, 1981), ‘dysconsciousness’ (King, 2001), and an original concept of ‘cognitive equity,’ which is proposed as an intelligent strategy for creating and promoting equity by inscribing a wider dynamic range of skin tones into image technologies, products, and emergent practices in the visual industries. Resume : Jusqu’a recemment, en raison d’un prejuge favorisant la peau claire dans les films couleurs et dans la conception des cameras numeriques, la reproduction des couleurs de peaux non-caucasiennes a ete tres deficiente, exigeant le developpement de diverses techniques de compensation et d’amelioration. Utilisant la carte de reference normative « Shirley » comme metaphore pour refleter l'evolution des rapports entre les races et leurs pratiques esthetiques, cet essai analyse les processus d’ajustement de la couleur dans les industries de la representation visuelle et identifie certains prototypes de changements dans le domaine. L’auteur situe ces changements historiquement en se rapportant a trois concepts theoriques : « l’inconscient technologique » (Vaccari, 1981), la « dysconscience » (« dysconsciousness » – King, 2001), et un concept original, « l’equite cognitive », propose comme strategie intelligente pour creer et promouvoir l'equite en inscrivant un plus grand eventail de couleurs de peau dans les technologies et produits de l'image et dans les pratiques emergeantes des industries visuelles.

Healthy Food Looks Serious: How Children Interpret Packaged Food Products

Abstract: : Fun food is an overlooked, but increasingly significant, category of food targeted to children in the supermarket. These supermarket products emphasize foods’ play factor, interactivity, artificiality, and general distance from “regular” foods: food is positioned as “fun” and eating as “entertainment.” Using a series of focus groups, this study examined how children (segmented by age and gender) interpret these packaged appeals and how the thematic of fun connects with their understanding of health and nutrition. The study revealed that children are highly attuned to fun foods and its packaging, offering savvy, if flawed, interpretations of how to determine the healthfulness of a packaged good. I argue that the symbolic positioning of children’s food as fun and fake creates several roadblocks in the quest to promote wholesome food habits in children, and that the thematic of fun has unintended consequences that require careful consideration. Resume : Au supermarche, les aliments amusants sont une categorie de nourriture negligee – mais de plus en plus importante – qui cible les enfants. De tels produits mettent l’accent sur l’aspect ludique, interactif et artificiel de la nourriture ainsi que sur leur distance par rapport a la nourriture « normale »; ainsi, ces aliments sont qualifies d’amusants et manger est un divertissement. Cette etude se fonde sur une serie de groupes de discussion pour examiner comment les enfants (divises par âge et sexe) interpretent ce conditionnement des aliments et comment la thematique du plaisir influence leur comprehension de ce qui est sain et nutritif. L’etude revele que les enfants sont tres sensibles aux nourritures amusantes et a leur presentation, et offrent des interpretations astucieuses mais defectueuses de leur valeur nutritive. Je soutiens que le positionnement symbolique de la nourriture pour enfants dans le domaine du plaisir et de l’artifice cree de nombreux obstacles pour la promotion de bonnes habitudes alimentaires chez les enfants, et que la thematique du plaisir a des consequences non intentionnelles qui requierent une attention toute particuliere.

Dangerous Shortcuts: Representations of Sexual Minority Refugees in the Post-9/11 Canadian Press

Abstract: : Canadian newspapers are a principal source of information on refugees claiming asylum in Canada on the basis of persecution for their sexual orientation. Many articles rely on culturally racist and classist stereotypes of sexual minorities to demonstrate claimants’ legitimacy. Refugees’ stories are further deployed as “mediating agents” to confirm Canada’s “superiority” over other regions, particularly those identified as Islamic. To determine what thematic constructions are most prevalent among Canadian news sources, the authors conducted a critical discourse analysis (CDA) and secondary textual analysis of articles culled from five Canadian English-language newspapers, employing critical race and queer theories as framing devices. Resume : La presse canadienne est une source importante d’informations sur les refugies cherchant asile au Canada parce qu’ils ont subi des persecutions pour leur orientation sexuelle dans leurs pays d’origine. Cependant, de nombreux articles, en voulant demontrer la legitimite des demandes d’asile provenant de minorites sexuelles, ont recours a des stereotypes de race et de classe. Les histoires de tels refugies servent en outre d’agents mediateurs pour confirmer la superiorite du Canada par rapport a d’autres regions, particulierement celles qualifiees d’islamiques. Afin d’identifier les constructions thematiques predominantes portant sur les refugies appartenant a des minorites sexuelles, les auteurs ont mene une analyse de discours critique et une analyse textuelle secondaire sur des articles provenant de cinq quotidiens canadiens de langue anglaise, avec comme cadre analytique des theories sur la race et sur l’orientation sexuelle.

CCTV Surveillance and the Poverty of Media Discourse: A Content Analysis of Canadian Newspaper Coverage

Abstract: This article examines newspaper coverage about closed-circuit television (CCTV) surveillance in Canada and considers its implications for public opinion and policymaking. The study addresses several issues, including the rise and fall of media attention to the themes that structure the news coverage and patterns of source access and the implications of these themes for how citizens understand the role of surveillance in their lives. As more Canadian cities explore using CCTV surveillance as a policing tool for monitoring public space, news coverage should strive to enhance the public conversation about surveillance. The data reported in this study show that the coverage has been a very poor resource for helping citizens and policymakers to understand the complex issues involved in the surveillance of public areas in Canada. Resume : Cet article examine des reportages dans les journaux sur la surveillance par television en circuit ferme au Canada et considere leurs implications pour l’opinion publique et la formulation de politiques. Cette etude traite de plusieurs questions, y compris l’essor et la chute de l’attention portee dans les medias aux themes pertinents qui organisent les reportages et l’acces aux sources, ainsi que l’effet de ces themes sur la maniere dont les citoyens comprennent le role de la surveillance dans leurs vies. A mesure que de plus en plus de villes canadiennes se tournent vers la television en circuit ferme comme outil pour surveiller les espaces publics, les reportages devraient s’efforcer davantage de contribuer a la conversation publique sur la surveillance. Les donnees rapportees dans cette etude montrent que les reportages a ce jour se sont avere une ressource assez pauvre pour aider les citoyens et les responsables politiques a mieux comprendre les enjeux complexes relatifs a la surveillance de lieux publics au Canada.

A Cold Cut Crisis: Listeriosis, Maple Leaf Foods, and the Politics of Apology

Abstract: In the summer of 2008, one of the worst cases of food contamination in Canadian history was confirmed when the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and Maple Leaf Foods issued a “health hazard alert” warning the public not to serve or consumer Sure Slice brand cold cuts. This localized warning quickly spiralled into a major listeriosis epidemic. More than 200 Maple Leaf Foods products were recalled, but not in time to prevent 20 deaths, the illness of thousands more and a class action lawsuit. This article explores Maple Leaf’s crisis response strategy. Locating our analysis in relation to theorizing about the legitimacy problems that corporations and other powerful actors face in late modernity, it demonstrates that Maple Leaf’s apology was effective in terms of restoring consumer trust and confidence to the extent that it addressed the uncertainties and anxieties that are endemic to contemporary risk society; and, more broadly, it "worked" by disrupting the distribution of risk and blame to other stakeholders. Resume : Pendant l’ete 2008, un des pires cas de contamination alimentaire de l’histoire canadienne a ete confirme quand l’Agence canadienne d’inspection des aliments et les Aliments Maple Leaf ont emis une alerte de risque pour la sante avertissant le public de ne pas servir ou consommer les viandes froides « Sure Slice ». Cet incident localise a rapidement pris l’envergure d’une epidemie de listeriose. Maple Leaf a du rappeler plus de deux cents de ses produits, mais cette action est arrivee trop tard pour prevenir la mort de vingt personnes, la maladie de milliers d’autres et une action collective contre la compagnie. Dans cet article, nous explorons la strategie menee par Maple Leaf pour contrer cette crise. Nous situons notre analyse dans le cadre de theories sur les problemes de legitimite eprouves par les compagnies commerciales et autres dans la periode actuelle de la modernite avancee. Nous demontrons ainsi que les excuses faites par Maple Leaf se sont averees efficaces, car elles ont retabli la confiance du public a leur egard dans la mesure ou elles ont diminue les craintes et incertitudes qui caracterisent la societe du risque contemporaine. Plus generalement, ces excuses ont reussi en interrompant la diffusion des risques et accusations vers d’autres parties prenantes.

How to Do Things with Brands: Uses of National Identity

Abstract: Just when the hegemony of the national form seemed well and truly on the wane, its claims to authority and legitimacy compromised by all manner of networks, “scapes” (Appadurai, 1997), and flows, a series of contemporary events has reignited the national discourse. Current crises of value—economic, political, cultural, and moral—have raised the possibility that the protections and provisions offered by the nation-state may be powerful antidotes to the anxieties of global disjunctures. Amid calls to regulate and rebuild the architecture of global integration, the potential of the national imaginary has come once again to the fore. As national leaders try to re-assert their jurisdictional boundaries, they have drawn heavily on their countries’ cultural identities to promote their constituencies as exemplars of both domestic distinction and international fitness.1 Along with declining possibilities for investment in tangible sources of national wealth, a country’s intangible wealth—its “good reputation”—is increasingly evoked as a means to gain the most prominent seat at the appropriately high-stakes table. The problem is that there are many tables to sit at; and it is not always clear how to construe” this reputation in a way that is equally appealing to all possible players. National governments have been convinced of the need to harness, measure, and market this valuable resource, and they have turned to the experts in “reputational value” to help them do so. These experts are nation-branding consultants,2 and their self-styled raison d’etre is to create and communicate a particular version of national identity that will make the nation matter to a wide range of audiences. With their quasi-academic journals and textbooks,3 proprietary indices and rankings of metrological effectiveness, and an acute awareness of the power of the press release, nation branders purport to offer national leaders the “robust” identity they require to retain both their own and their jurisdiction’s relevance in the context of global transformation.

Out of the Fog and into the Future: Directions of Public Relations, Theory Building, Research, and Practice

Abstract: This Delphi study is about the future directions of public relations. International public-relations experts, scholars and practitioners, are asked about the relationship between theory and practice, as well as the impact of different disciplines, academic concepts, and theories on public relations. By looking at recent developments in public relations, different trends become obvious: The practical field, as well as public relations teaching, is drifting toward a management perspective. “Communication management” is a term that has been adopted heavily in recent years. The academic research, however, although still lacking theory building, tries to tie in to sociological theories. It looks as though public relations, on the one hand, tries to become more accepted in the management field and, on the other hand, claims its place in society. This study underlines both trends. Resume : Cette etude Delphi porte sur les directions futures des relations publiques. Dans cette etude, on a demande a des experts, chercheurs et pratiquants internationaux en relations publiques leurs avis sur le rapport entre theorie et pratique ainsi que sur l’effet que divers disciplines, concepts et theories academiques ont sur les relations publiques. Parmi les developpements recents en relations publiques, diverses tendances se demarquent. Par exemple, le cote pratique des relations publiques et leur enseignement adoptent de plus en plus un point de vue administratif. En effet, l’expression « administration de la communication » (« communication management ») se repand de plus en plus depuis quelques annees. En meme temps, la recherche academique, dont le developpement de theories pertinentes presente encore des lacunes, essaie plutot de recourir a des theories sociologiques. Il semble que les relations publiques tentent d’une part de se faire accepter dans le secteur administratif et d’autre part de se faire une place dans la societe en general. Cette etude souligne les deux tendances.

Reality TV Formats: The Case of Canadian Idol

Abstract: This paper discusses narrative development and audience interactivity in reality television, with a particular focus on the “format franchising processes” involving Canadian Idol. The staging of media events, recruitment of semi-professional performers, and immersive online environments emphasize the complexities of reality format adaptation, which involves the localization of global media texts. Resume : Cet article traite de developpement narratif et d’interactivite avec le public a la television realite tout en mettant un accent particulier sur les « processus de franchisage de formats » entourant Canadian Idol. La mise en scene d’evenements mediatiques, le recrutement de chanteurs semi-professionnels et les environnements immersifs en ligne mettent en relief les complexites requises pour adapter un texte mediatique mondial aux particularites locales de la region ou on le diffuse.

Race and the Media: A Retrospective and Prospective Gaze

Abstract: In the late 1980s and early 1990s, few Canadian studies documented representations of racial minority groups in the media (e.g., Indra, 1979, 1981; Karim & Sansom, 1991; Scanlon, 1977; Tator, 1990; Ungerlieder, 1991). Much of this work was activist-based and accessible only through journals and community media with an explicitly progressive mandate, including Currents, a publication of the Urban Alliance of Race Relations based in Toronto, and the various publications of the Committee for Racial Justice based in Vancouver (e.g., Ginzberg, 1986; Khaki & Prasad, 1988; Mouammar, 1986; Tator, 1983, 1984). The federal government had issued its guidelines concerning the representation of minorities in government publications, and a government task force had examined the issue and made recommendations pertaining to all Canadian media (Canada, House of Commons, 1984; Canada, Secretary of State, 1988). Since then, there has been a proliferation of studies examining issues of racial representations in the Canadian media. Minelle Mahtani’s (2001) review of the literature in the area succinctly summarizes the major studies and relevant findings. Yet unlike in the 1990s, contemporary research is not as grounded in community activism nor explicitly linked to advocacy and social movements. Nevertheless, some of the issues that have been charted in contemporary media studies do tackle problems concerning racial minority representations from a political perspective—a perspective that to a certain extent is rooted in the growing concern over the media concentration that currently characterizes the Canadian media landscape and limits the exposure of subjugated and alternative discourses (Hackett, Gruneau, Gutstein, Gibson, & NewsWatch Canada, 2000; Winter, 1997, 2002). One could argue that contemporary representations of minority groups have also shifted in keeping with the emergence of “modern” or “new” racism (Entman, 1990; Gilroy, 1991). Thus, contemporary racism has itself evolved into a more sophisticated form that can only be deciphered by referring to the inferential bases of the propositions being advanced. Stuart Hall calls this “inferential racism,” which he describes as “those apparently naturalized representations of events and situations relating to race, whether ‘factual’ or ‘fictional,’ which have racist premises and propositions inscribed in them as a set of unquestioned

Theorizing Multicultural Media As Social Capital: Crossing Borders, Constructing Buffers, Creating Bonds, Building Bridges

Abstract: They respond to the needs of ethnic and racialized minorities; they provide a voice in advancing the welfare of the community; they challenge social injustices; they foster a sense of cultural pride; and they articulate the essence of their communities (Gonzales, 2001). Their popularity and success reflects a worldwide trend toward people making media because of greater ease in publishing alternative and community media (Deuze, 2006; Niles, 2008). “They” refers to multicultural (or “ethnic”) media whose collective objectives address the informational, integrative, and advocacy needs of racialized and immigrant Canadians. In a global context in which the local and the global are in constant interplay, yet individual understanding of international relations and intercultural divisions is lacking, multicultural media provide fresh insights into cultural multi-belongings and spatial interdependencies (Mediam’Rad, 2009). This multidimensionality is crucial in theorizing a) the origins and rationale behind multicultural media; b) the role they play in society at large and minority communities in particular; c) the challenges in navigating a corporatized mediaspace; and d) their underlying logic despite variations in form, function, and process.

Marketing After the Election: The Potential and Limitations of Maintaining a Market Orientation in Government

Abstract: Political marketing—the utilization and adaptation of marketing techniques and concepts by political parties—is increasingly used by opposition leaders seeking to win elections the world over. They can adopt a market orientation and develop a product in response to market demands. However, how they maintain a market orientation while in government has rarely been considered. This article discusses how marketing can be used after the election, utilizing new theoretical perspectives and comparative empirical research to create a framework for market-oriented government. It also discusses the potential for marketing to be a tool of good government. Resume : Le marketing politique, qui est l’adaptation et l’utilisation de concepts et techniques de marketing commercial par les partis politiques, est une methode qui gagne en popularite aupres des chefs de partis d’opposition afin de remporter des elections, et ce a travers le monde. Ce faisant, ils suivent une « approche-marche » et developpent un produit electoral qui repond aux demandes qu’expriment les consommateurs vises (les electeurs). Toutefois, peu d’etudes se sont interessees a la poursuite de cette « approche-marche » lorsque les partis d’opposition remportent l’election et forment un gouvernement. Cet article examine precisement comment le marketing politique peut etre employe apres une election. Il propose des nouvelles perspectives theoriques et s’appuie sur des donnees empiriques comparatives qui jettent les bases d’un cadre explicatif de l’utilisation du marketing au sein des gouvernements. Enfin, l’article demontre comment le marketing politique peut devenir un outil de bonne gouvernance.

Urban Mediascapes and Multicultural Flows: Assessing Vancouver's Communication Infrastructure

Abstract: : This article adopts a communication infrastructure model in mapping the flow and meaning of ethnic media in Vancouver and their interaction with local, national, and global conceptions of a public commons. A communication infrastructure consists of a “thick” social network of media and organizations, which create and disseminate everyday conversations and news to any given community. Without the existence of a sustainable communication infrastructure, communities cannot form and function. The intersection of social capacity and media infrastructure, then, becomes an important predictor of potential for democratic deliberation and political engagement. Presenting an empirical study of ethnic media in Vancouver, this article asks how well these outlets provide resources to construct inclusion in an urban setting. A more complex infrastructure was mapped than anticipated, but several blind spots were still found. A set of recommendations is made to expand the politics of inclusion and recognition of shared citizenship and civic engagement. Resume : Cet article adopte un modele d’infrastructure communicationnelle pour examiner les flux et sens des medias ethniques a Vancouver ainsi que les interactions de ceux-ci avec des conceptions locales, nationales et mondiales de ce que serait un lieu d’echange public efficace. Une infrastructure communicationnelle se compose d’un reseau social « riche » compose de medias et d’organismes qui creent et diffusent les conversations et nouvelles de la journee a une communaute donnee. Sans l’existence d’une infrastructure communicationnelle durable, les communautes ne peuvent ni se former ni fonctionner. L’intersection entre les capacites sociales et l’infrastructure mediatique devient ainsi une mesure importante du potentiel que possede une communaute de susciter des engagements politiques et des debats democratiques. Cet article, en presentant une etude empirique des medias ethniques a Vancouver, s’interroge sur l’efficacite de ces derniers a fournir des ressources favorisant l’inclusion en milieu urbain. La recherche a decele une infrastructure plus complexe que prevue, tout en reperant plusieurs lacunes. L’article effectue des recommandations en vue d’ameliorer les politiques d’inclusion et de reconnaissance de la citoyennete partagee et de l’engagement civique.

From the "War on Poverty" to the "War on the Poor": Knowledge, Power, and Subject Positions in Anti-Poverty Discourses

Abstract: : Anti-poverty discourses are interrogated through a case study of articles on the websites of the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP) and The Toronto Star covering a tenant activism campaign An autonomous media article by OCAP on direct actions to “stop the war on the poor” is compared with an article in The Toronto Star depicting tenant-activists lobbying government in the “war on poverty” Subjectivity and power relations are analyzed by deconstructing binaries, including deserving/undeserving poor, pride/shame, and dignity/stigmatization I find productive interdiscursive relations emerging, whereby the two discourses are mutually implicated in creating possibilities for social transformation I also argue that critical discourse analysis needs to become a more participatory engaged methodology, taking direction from and providing accountability to its research subjects Resume : Dans cet article, j’interroge les discours contre la pauvrete au moyen d’une etude de cas portant sur des articles relatant une campagne effectuee par des locataires militants Ces articles proviennent des sites de l’Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP) et du Toronto Star En effet, je compare un article de media autonome provenant de l’OCAP sur les actions directes pour « arreter la guerre contre les pauvres » a un article du Toronto Star decrivant des locataires militants faisant pression sur le gouvernement dans la « guerre contre la pauvrete » J’analyse la subjectivite et les rapports de pouvoir decrits dans ces articles en deconstruisant des oppositions binaires telles que : pauvrete meritante/peu meritante, fierte/honte et dignite/stigmatisation Je constate l’emergence de rapports interdiscursifs productifs ou les deux discours sont reciproquement impliques dans la creation d’un contexte qui faciliterait la transformation sociale Je soutiens d’autre part que l’analyse critique du discours a besoin de devenir une methodologie plus participative et engagee, s’inspirant de ses sujets de recherche tout en etant plus responsable a leur egard

Branding Beef: Marketing, Food Safety, and the Governance of Risk

Abstract: This article situates brand-based marketing within broader processes of risk communication. Over the past few decades, branding has become more pronounced in the Canadian beef industry, due in large part to structural changes that have placed greater emphasis on marketing and promotion as ways of responding to and managing consumer concerns. Government-mandated levies on the sale of livestock provide funds for these initiatives, blurring the line between industry and government support for agricultural commodities. To illustrate, I examine the Alberta beef industry’s branding initiatives prior to and following the BSE-inspired trade ban. These campaigns negotiate messages about risk by enhancing the links between beef consumers and small-scale producers while rendering opaque more complex processes of industrialization and globalization. Resume : Cet article situe la marque de commerce au sein de processus plus larges dans la communication des risques. Au cours des dernieres decennies, la marque est devenue plus importante dans l’industrie canadienne du boeuf, du fait en grande partie de changements de structure qui ont mis davantage l’accent sur le marketing et la promotion comme facons de gerer et assouvir les inquietudes des consommateurs. Les impots sur la vente de betail recueillis par le gouvernement fournissent des fonds pour ces initiatives, brouillant la ligne de demarcation entre l'appui de l’industrie et celle du gouvernement pour l’agriculture de base. Pour illustrer, j’examine l’industrie du boeuf en Alberta et la promotion de marques avant et apres la crise d’interdiction du commerce entrainee par l’ESB. Ces campagnes negocient des messages sur le risque enm renforcant les liens entre les consommateurs de viande bovine et les petits producteurs, tout en rendant plus opaques des processus plus complexes de l’industrialisation et de la mondialisation.

Contributions and Challenges of Addressing Discursive Racism in the Canadian Media

Abstract: Over the last three decades, our research has largely focused on the social systems that contribute to and reinforce racism in Canadian society. The media are among the most powerful of these many institutions, as they help transmit its central cultural images, ideas, and symbols as well as a nation’s narratives and myths. Media discourse plays a large role in reproducing the collective belief system of the dominant White society and the core values of this society. Using discourse analysis as a central tool, we have analyzed how social power, dominance, and inequality are produced and resisted through text and talk. The coverage of issues affecting racialized minorities is filtered through the stereotypes, misconceptions, and erroneous assumptions of a largely White-dominated group of media institutions. The media’s images reinforce cultural racism and White hegemony. Our approach identifies a constant and fundamental tension between the everyday experiences of racialized and indigenous people and the perceptions of publishers, editors, journalists, producers, broadcasters, and other media personnel, who have the power to redefine that reality. Over the years, we have continued to document the ways in which racism as ideology, policy, and praxis functions in media organizations. In all of our research and writing, we note how so-called liberal ideologies carry very different meanings, connotations, and consequences. We believe that notions of tolerance, accommodation, equality, fairness, and freedom of expression—central concepts in liberal media discourse—have immensely flexible meanings. Our work has been influenced by many scholars of discourse analysis, such as Teun van Dijk, Michel Foucault, and Stuart Hall. The framework we share is the belief that racialized discourse advances the interests of White hegemony and has an identifiable repertoire of ideas, words, images, and practices through which racism is advanced.

“I Just Say I’m in Advertising”: A Public Relations Identity Crisis?

Abstract: This study uses a critical sensemaking approach and draws upon role identity theory to explore individual understandings of the public relations identity. Public relations practitioners are asked to share their own sensemaking about their professional identities within the context of negative societal perceptions of the field. Resume : Cette etude emploie une approche critique de creation de sens et recourt a la theorie sur l’identite de role pour explorer comment les professionnels en relations publiques percoivent leur identite personnelle. On a demande a ceux-ci de partager leur propre creation de sens par rapport a leurs identites professionnelles dans le contexte de perceptions sociales negatives a l’egard de leur profession.

That’s Me: Nationalism and Identity on Balkan Reality TV

Abstract: In this article, we consider the themes and reception of To Sam Ja (That’s Me), a Big Brother–style Balkan reality TV show filmed in Macedonia in 2004 and 2005 that featured several cast members from former Yugoslav republics living together. Drawing on examples taken from the production and reception of To Sam Ja, we explore the way in which the show manages political and economic conflicts by transposing them into the realm of the personal. Resume : Dans cet article, nous considerons la reception de To Sam Ja ( C’est moi ), une emission de telerealite realisee en Macedoine en 2004 et 2005. A la maniere de Big Brother et Loft Story, To Sam Ja met en vedette plusieurs representants d’anciennes republiques yougoslaves vivant ensemble. En nous fondant sur des exemples provenant de la production et de la reception de To Sam Ja , nous explorons la maniere dont cette emission gere les conflits politiques et economiques en les transposant dans le domaine personnel.

When Mobiles Go Media: Relational Affordances and Present-to-Hand Digital Devices

Abstract: : This article argues that the reasons people adopt—or resist adopting—media capabilities on their mobile devices are largely concerned with their experience of control over technology. In particular, the ever-present, ready-to-hand nature of media on mobile devices plays a strong role in establishing and mediating these relationships of control. To substantiate this argument, I draw on findings from a qualitative research study undertaken of Canadian users of digital screen devices. This work is significant not only in helping us to understand why certain technologies fail to catch on, but also to shed light on our continued concerns about technology. These concerns may be voiced as worries about our needs, our pleasures, our identity or our status, but they boil down to our ability to feel in control of our technologies. Resume : Cet article soutient que les raisons pour lesquelles les gens adoptent–ou resistent a adopter de nouvelles fonctions sur leurs appareils mobiles ont grandement trait a leurs experiences de controle par rapport a la technologie. En particulier, le fait que ces fonctions soient toujours a portee de la main joue un role important dans l’etablissement et la mediation de ces rapports de controle. Pour appuyer mon argument, j’ai recours aux resultats d’une etude quantitative portant sur des utilisateurs canadiens d’appareils comportant des ecrans numeriques. Cette etude est signifiante non seulement parce qu’elle nous aide a comprendre pourquoi certaines technologies sont des echecs commerciaux, mais aussi parce qu’elle peut nous eclairer sur nos preoccupations a l’egard des technologies. Ces soucis peuvent se manifester comme des inquietudes par rapport a nos besoins, nos plaisirs, notre identite ou notre statut, mais au fond ils ont souvent trait a notre habilete a controler ces technologies.

Critiquing the Critiques about Media and Minority Research in Canada

Abstract: I want to begin by thanking the editors of this special issue for the opportunity to reflect critically upon my contributions to research in the arena of media and minority representation. I came to this field when I was a television news producer. I was struck by the lack of journalists of colour on the floor of the newsroom and puzzled by the lack of critical and nuanced attention given to stories related to race. This led me to complete a review of the literature on media and minority relations when I became a postdoctoral fellow. I made recommendations for future research in this area, based on interviews I conducted with journalists, communication scholars, and leaders of not-for-profits. It has been particularly gratifying for me to see that this piece has proven valuable to other scholars who are now conducting research on this topic. I was asked to do a follow-up piece on research on immigration and media in Canada (Mahtani, 2008). More recently, my research is exploring diversity—and the complicit and complicated use of this term in newsrooms. Diversity is employed in a myriad of ways in news discourse, as diversity has been seen as not making just good moral sense, but also good business cents, too. My research demonstrates that some newsrooms have undergone what I have come to call “diversity fatigue”—when journalists and senior media managers seem to be discouraged with the implementation of initiatives to diversify representations, including but not limited to workshops, training, and rainbow rolodexes. To counter this syndrome, organizations like the Poynter Institute—a school for journalists, future journalists, and teachers of journalists—have devised an alternative framing for diversity, insisting that a commitment to diversity simply means a commitment to excellence in journalism. Focusing on teaching students the value of complexity in stories, providing ample context, and ensuring that stories include the voices of different kinds of people, Poynter is working with journalism schools and successful journalists to develop an alternative approach to the diversity debate. I am curious about this positioning and look forward to learning more as I continue my research. At this point, however, I feel it is more helpful—and, indeed, more important—to focus on the ways that research in this area has been examined than to

The Globe on Saturday, The World on Sunday: Toronto Weekend Editions and the Influence of the American Sunday Paper, 1886-1895

Abstract: : Between 1886 and 1895, the Sunday newspaper in US cities became a cauldron for an emerging mass, popular culture—one with reach into Canada The concurrent development of weekend newspapers in Toronto, Canada, distinguished local innovations against the unspecified, general influence of the “American Sunday paper” The Sunday World and the Saturday Globe followed and refuted, respectively, the ideal set by the American Sunday paper, but together defined Canadian weekend leisure reading The reference in Canadian newspapers to an idealized American Sunday model offers an example of an emergent continental mass popular culture where cultural forms circulated, and were transformed, producing interesting local specificities Resume : Entre 1886 et 1895, dans de nombreuses villes americaines, le journal du dimanche est devenu le foyer d’une culture de masse emergeante dont l’influence s’est etendue jusqu’au Canada A Toronto, le journal du samedi et du dimanche se sont developpes simultanement, engendrant certaines innovations locales effectuees par rapport a l’influence generale du « journal du dimanche americain » Ainsi, le Sunday World et le Saturday Globe ont suivi l’ideal prone par le journal du dimanche americain, bien que par la suite ils l'aient delaisse Ensemble, ces deux journaux ont defini la lecture de loisir de fin de semaine au Canada Dans les commentaires sur le modele idealise du journal du dimanche americain offerts par les journaux canadiens, on percoit une culture de masse emergeante ou l'expression culturelle a pu circuler et se transformer, avec comme resultat la creation de specificites locales de grand interet

Designing Monitoring to Promote Cultural Diversification in TV

Abstract: : This article reviews key international and national precedents in democratic media monitoring of race relations at the height of concern about interracial and intercultural security after 9/11, primarily between 2001 and 2004. None of these studies has received much academic or policy attention. The history, context, politics, and methods of media monitoring of race and representation are reviewed in the Canadian context. Four options are set out for developing continuous monitoring of media content of the type established in other countries. The article argues for an independent institute for media monitoring in Canada involving racial equity–seeking groups, scholars, media professionals, and students in the production of empirical research to promote cultural diversification in Canadian TV. Resume : Cet article passe en revue des exemples cles nationaux et internationaux de veille mediatique democratique portant sur les relations interraciales, en se concentrant principalement sur la periode suivant le 11 septembre entre 2001 et 2004, pendant l’apogee des preoccupations sur la securite interraciale et interculturelle. Aucune de ces veilles n’a recu une attention academique ou politique particuliere. Cet article evalue donc l’histoire, le contexte, la politique et les methodes de veille mediatique au Canada. Il presente quatre options pour developper la veille reguliere du contenu mediatique a la maniere d’approches employees dans d’autres pays. Cet article presente des arguments pour la creation d’un institut independant de veille mediatique au Canada impliquant des groupes, chercheurs, professionnels des medias et etudiants favorisant l’equite raciale. Ceux-ci meneraient des recherches empiriques axees sur la promotion de la diversite culturelle a la television canadienne.