bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Beginnings of Public Broadcasting in Canada: The CRBC, 1932-1936
Authors: Vipond Mary
Published: August 2017

Canadian broadcasting developed almost entirely in the private sector in its first decade, from 1922 to 1932. Although there were a few stations owned by public corporations, the vast majority of the broadcasting stations in existence in Canada in 1932 were privately owned for purposes of publicity and /or profit. Unlike other mass media, however, radio broadcasting was quite closely regulated by the state from its earliest days, specifically by the Radio Branch of the federal Department of Marine and Fisheries. This was a consequence of the assumption, dating back to 1905, that wireless communication needed international and national supervision to prevent interference on a limited spectrum and for security reasons. Among other regulations, and unlike the practice in the United States, all Canadian radio owners had to purchase receiving-set licences annually.
Cultural Development: State of the Question and Prospects for Québec
Authors: Garde Roger de la
Published: August 2017

Within Canada, there exist two industrial cultural markets whose interpenetrations are few but which are massively penetrated by their common neighbour, the United States. In this study we examine the North American French- language market whose production, diffusion, capitalization, and promotion centre is in Montreal, and whose effective radius includes Québec and its immediate eastern and western borders. This centre has established links outside Canada in the international Francophone market and, after numerous attempts, the American market—the most recent, and perhaps the most promising, being the popular singer Céline Dion, coming on the heels of success by film director Denys Arcand and impressionist André-Philippe Gagnon.
The Participation of Aboriginal and Other Cultural Minorities in Cultural Development
Authors: Fraser Fil
Published: August 2017

This paper is a review of the literature on Aboriginal and other ethnically based cultural industries. Participation in the cultural industries by organizations based in Native and ethnocultural communities has grown dramatically over the past decade. The emergence of Aboriginal broadcasting operations, mostly in, but not limited to, northern Canada, has had a dramatic effect on the cultural life of those communities. Broadcasting undertakings organized by ethnocultural groups have succeeded in a number of Canadian cities, with cable community channels providing an effective outlet. There are multilingual radio stations in some cities and a multilingual television station in Toronto. There is a small but important presence in the publishing industry, mostly at the level of periodicals, by Native and ethnocultural groups. There is, however, a dearth of research into cultural industries in these sectors. Much of the work touches on Aboriginal broadcasters but looks at them in social or anthropological terms, not as cultural industries. Recommendations are made for a number of baseline studies focusing on the impact of Native and ethnocultural organizations as cultural industries which create employment, cash flows, and have an economic life.
From the Mountains of Visions to the Valleys of Reality: New Legal Frameworks for Broadcasting in Eastern and Central Europe
Authors: Kleinwachter Wolfgang
Published: August 2017

Broadcasting legislation in Eastern and Central Europe after 1989, in the transition period from a totalitarian into a democratic society, falls into four different stages. The first stage was characterized by an enthusiastic awakening to the new media freedoms. The second stage was dominated by a disillusionment. The third stage was overshadowed by a growing power struggle among different political groups to get control over broadcasting, and, in particular, over national television. And, depending upon the level of democracy reached in these countries, a fourth stage may see the building of new public and private radio and television institutions, based on democratic constitutions and media laws, serving the public independent from governmental control, competing in a free broadcasting market for high viewing rates, and integrating, step by step, into transnational European broadcasting frameworks and structures. The speed of transition is varying and will continue to vary from country to country.
A Social History of Canadian Telecommunications
Authors: Winseck Dwayne
Published: August 2017

To appreciate the implications of recent government and regulatory decisions advancing competition in certain local network and long-distance telecommunications services, new regulatory and pricing mechanisms, and even an entirely new legal framework, it is necessary to recover the historical origins of the regulatory concepts and industry structures that are being deregulated out of existence, or said to be altered by technological circumstances and economic imperatives. The purpose of this paper is to reconstruct the historically specific, mainstay categories of the Canadian telecommunications system, such as private and public ownership, the split jurisdictional legal structure, the regulated natural monopoly concept, and other key regulatory principles. Furthermore, in order that the history of telecommunications policy can be considered on terms not reducible to economic imperatives, technological innovation or a discourse saturated with technical and legal jargon, this study considers the active role of labour unions and other social forces in shaping the early Canadian telecommunications regulatory environment.
Competition in Long-Distance Telephony: A Critical Analysis of Telecom Decision CRTC 92-12
Authors: Wilson Kevin G.
Published: August 2017

In 1992 the agency responsible for regulating Canadian telecommunications, the CRTC (Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission), authorized Unitel Communications Inc. to provide a public long-distance telephone service. For the first time Bell Canada, and six of the other telephone companies that comprise the Stentor common carrier consortium, would face competition in the market for public telephony (CRTC, 1992a). This article is critical of the CRTC decision. It analyzes the content and to a lesser extent the process that led to the CRTC decision in order to demonstrate: (1) that in order to justify its decision the Commission was obliged to ignore the initial objectives it had set for the proceedings; (2) that the ultimate ruling was based on a bogus problematic which by definition the monopoly common carriers could not respond to; (3) that the decision to liberalize was based on a selective and inconsistent use of economic theory; and (4) the decision was not grounded in a rational consideration of the evidence presented before the Commission, but rather it was the culmination of a piecemeal shift in policy in favour of competition that had begun in the early 1980s.
Industry Responses to Kevin Wilson’s Article
Authors: Hariton G. , Yale Janet
Published: August 2017

In June 1992, the CRTC drastically changed the nature of the telecommunications industry in Canada by facilitating competition in the long-distance market. Kevin Wilson raises important issues as to the way the CRTC reached its decision, and indirectly as to the broader implications for regulation.
Development of the Audiovisual Industry in Brazil from Importer to Exporter of Television Programming
Authors: de Melo Jose Marques
Published: August 2017

In Latin America at mid-century, the formal media of communication (press, radio, cinema) satisfied the tastes of the colonizing elites for European and American programming, while the informal types of communication (songs, dances, poetry) remained faithful to indigenous local values. In the 1970s, the extension of broadcasting systems created a demand for popular cultural programming. There was also an increase in the regional exchange of programming between Latin American nations. Gradually, Latin American popular programs have begun to co-exist naturally with imported ones. Using Brazil as a case study, the article details some Brazilian networks’ (Globo, Manchete, Bandeirantes) recent success as international exporters of popular genres (telenovelas, popular music), as Latin America begins to overcome its history of cultural dependency.
The Benefits of More Choice in Distribution Channels for Cultural Programming
Authors: aOstiguy Elizabeth M.
Published: August 2017

Canada’s current communications environment is one of proprietary systems rather than open systems. Cable networks and telecommunications networks do not connect and work in tandem with each other. The regulations and legislation governing each industry are different, with often distinct rules and obligations. With an open environment, Canada’s cultural infrastructure would be strengthened. Canadian films, programs, and music would be made available to much wider audiences in Canada and abroad. The royalties and revenues from these increased distribution channels would stimulate a higher level of production throughout Canada’s various cultural industries. The cost of distributing programs would decrease, and the price of on-demand information and entertainment services would be reduced for all Canadians. This paper will describe in more detail the benefits of increased distribution choice for producers of Canadian cultural products—from both a domestic and an international perspective. It will also delineate the impediments, both regulatory and public policy to creating this open environment.
The Information Society: From Fordism to Gatesism: The 1995 Southam Lecture
Authors: Tremblay Gaetan
Published: August 2017

The information society model claims that the new information hegemony is transforming industrial society. But is it not the case that the major change has to do with the increasingly greater integration of information and communication into the functioning of the economy and society, in the submission of information and communication to the operative rules of industrial society, in sum, in the commodification of information, culture, and communication? Rather than a “post-industrial society,” the period of transition which we are experiencing consists more modestly in the shift from one industrial mode of organization to another mode of industrial organization, that is, from Fordism to Gatesism.
A Comparison of Domestic and International Joint Ventures in Television Program and Feature Film Production
Authors: Hoskins Colin
Published: August 2017

International co-production /co-venture is increasingly the mode of production used for television programs and feature films. Evidence suggests the principal benefit of this mode is that, through financial pooling, it permits the accumulation of substantial budgets. However, there are concerns that cultural specificity, the Canadian nature of the resulting program or film, is often compromised. Domestic co-production /co-venture may be an alternative mode that offers the advantages of the international joint venture mode without compromising the Canadian nature of the final cultural product. In this paper we examine this issue by comparing participant experiences with domestic joint ventures to those for international joint ventures. We find that most benefit and drawback items are rated similarly. Nevertheless, there is considerable evidence that for TV projects the performance of domestic joint ventures is rated better than that of international joint ventures. However, respondents also indicate that the domestic joint venture mode is not a viable alternative to the international joint venture mode for large budget projects.
Toward a Subject-Oriented Worldview of Information
Authors: Groleau Carole
Published: August 2017

The common view of information is rooted in a mathematical tradition which considers information as an object to be exchanged. Many researchers, including analysts working in information sciences, have adopted this vision of information. However, this approach, which we have termed an object-oriented worldview, masks the contextual nature of information and the processes by which human beings make sense of it. In this paper, we propose an alternative, a subject-oriented worldview of information. In this framework, information is considered from the point of view of actors and takes into consideration the contextual and social nature of information. This approach is described and illustrated through a case study examining the productivity of a newly computerized organization.
The Westray Mine Explosion: An Examination of the Interaction Between the Mine Owner and the Media
Authors: Richards Trudie
Published: August 2017

Technological crises are predictable and inevitable, particularly in a high-risk industry such as mining. Corporations are advised to have a crisis communication plan to facilitate proactive behaviour. Such a plan presumes a commitment to honesty, openness, and ethical behaviour. Journalists are also encouraged to have a crisis communication plan so that they are prepared for inevitable events, informed about the industries in their area, and able to tell the story substantively, accurately, and in context. The Westray coal mine, owned by Curragh Incorporated of Toronto and located in Pictou County, Nova Scotia, exploded on May 9, 1992, killing the 26 miners who were underground. This paper analyzes the relationship between Curragh and the media, particularly during the week following the explosion. It observes that the relationship was severely tested, as is often the case in time of crisis and human tragedy. The paper also observes that neither Curragh nor the participating media had crisis communication plans, which negatively affected their performance. It concludes that Curragh did not satisfy legitimate media needs and that the company’s lack of open, prompt, and accessible communication fed a media suspicion that officials had something to hide. On the other hand, journalists relied on human interest, made mistakes, and decontextualized their coverage of the story.
Indicators of Permanence in Workspace Features: Perceived Importance and Relationship to Workspace Satisfaction
Authors: Ferguson Sherry Devereaux
Published: August 2017

This study addresses the phenomenon of “velcro architecture"—physical environments pasted together like theatre sets, capable of being constructed or dismantled at a moment’ s notice. It explores (1) the relationship between indicators of permanence in workspace features and employee satisfaction with workspaces and (2) the perceived importance of permanence, relative to other design features. Observation of workspaces and interviews did not reveal a relationship between permanence and satisfaction but found a positive correlation between permanence and pride in workspaces (one element of satisfaction). It also found that respondents rated permanence in workspace features as important as visual privacy, size and location of offices, and ability to personalize the workspace.
Meet Me at the Fair: Sociability and Reflexivity in Nineteenth-Century World Expositions
Authors: Niquette Manon
Published: August 2017

The reception process of the exposition medium cannot be dissociated from the interpersonal setting in which the visitors are involved. This paper begins with a review of the studies done on sociability in museums. It shows that issues related to reflexivity, as they bear on both the properties of the medium and the relations between visitors, have been neglected. The review is followed by a study of the social experience of world’ s fair visitors in the nineteenth century, at the birth of the modern museum. This is done through a content analysis of cartoons showing visitors in interaction with one another. It is argued that the exposition medium became a space of social differentiation through linkages between three levels of reflexivity: (1) institutional reflexivity, which is related to the ways by which the exposition transforms the crowd into a self-regulating organization; (2) individual reflexivity of visitors’ interaction through which the exposition becomes a strategic space for the negotiation of self-identity; and (3) reflexive action of humour magazines, the role of which was to create categories of social interaction in public places and to reduce them to stereotypes.
Violence on Canadian Television and Some of Its Cognitive Effects
Authors: Gosselin André
Published: August 2017

Inspired by George Gerbner’s method of cultural indicators, content analysis of fictional programs broadcast on Canada’s eight largest television networks has indicated that the level of violence on Canadian television, although overall not as high as American television’s violence content, reached comparable levels on occasion, particularly on the private networks. A survey conducted on a sample of university students provides evidence that television viewing affects beliefs concerning the level of violence in one’s surroundings, even in a population of media-literate adults, although their level of fear does not seem to be influenced in the same way.
Information-Seeking Practices of Canadian Academic Chemists: A Study of Information Needs and Use of Resources in Chemistry
Authors: Noble Ruth L. , Coughlin Carol
Published: August 2017

This paper presents selected results from a survey of Canadian academic chemists carried out in March 1996. These focus on the chemists’ use of the journal literature and aspects of their experience with new information technologies. A discussion of these issues as they relate to libraries and scholarly communication is included.
Providing Links Among Government, Academia, and Industry: The Role of CISTI in Scholarly Communication
Authors: Montgomery Margot J.
Published: August 2017

Canada’s success as a modern, knowledge-based economy depends on a strong national information infrastructure that is responsive to the needs of the country’s innovation system for industrial development. The Canada Institute for Scientific and Technical Information (CISTI) at the National Research Council (NRC) is uniquely positioned to meet the needs of Canadian researchers and contribute to the Canadian innovation system by providing Canadian access to worldwide scholarly scientific, technical, and medical (STM) information and by leading in the development of the national information infrastructure linking Canadian industry, academia, and government. The emerging world of electronic information is transforming scholarly communication and changing the roles of researchers, users, publishers, and librarians. Increased collaboration will be critical to maintaining a robust national information infrastructure.
The National Library’s Role in Facilitating Scholarly Communications
Authors: Delsey Tom
Published: August 2017

This paper reviews the role the National Library of Canada plays in supporting effective and efficient access both to current research findings and the scholarly archive of Canadian publications. The impact of electronic dissemination of scholarly information is examined in the context of collections development, services to scholars and researchers, and co-operative initiatives. The paper focuses on emerging issues surrounding electronic publications relating to legal deposit, preservation, standards for encoding, proprietary rights to information, and research services. It also explores the potential for enhancements to the National Library’s Canadian Theses Program in the context of an electronic environment.
An Evaluation for Scholarly Societies and Non-profit Associations: Self-publish or Go Commercial—Critical Issues for Boards and Managers
Authors: Ludwig Walter
Published: August 2017

The historical relationship between societies and commercial publishers is coming under increasing scrutiny, and for good reason. This paper discusses the issues of branding, content, finances, and stewardship in the context of non-profit-organization publishing. The arguments and tactics of commercial publishers in securing societies’ publishing business are dissected, and the economics of commercial versus self-publishing are presented. A strong case is made that scholarly societies have both market and legal reasons to examine closely the blandishments of commercial publishers.
Promoting Electronic Scholarly Publishing in Canada: Initiatives at Industry Canada
Authors: Beattie David , McCallum David
Published: August 2017

As part of its internationally acclaimed SchoolNet project, Industry Canada is supporting major initiatives in the area of electronic scholarly publishing. This paper provides a brief introduction to Industry Canada’s activities related to universities, academics, and students, and describes SchoolNet’s efforts to promote electronic publishing of scholarly information in Canada.
Faculty Perspective on Scholarly Communication
Authors: Field Kenneth
Published: August 2017

The means and method of scholarly communication are changing as new and faster forms of communication become accessible to scholars. The potential for electronic scholarly communication via the Internet and the World Wide Web to positively affect the current state of affairs is very good. It may provide the means to address the hegemonic tendencies of the large for-profit scholarly publishers. Many matters need to be addressed though. Some of these are: copyright and ownership of intellectual property; the methods used for assessing the work of scholars; development of the communications infrastructure, both within and among institutions; and provision of equipment and services to those in the scholarly community. This paper examines these issues in the Canadian context.
Cyberhope or Cyberhype?: Computers and Scholarly Research
Authors: Manoff Marlene
Published: August 2017

With the expansion of electronic products and services for libraries, two questions continue to demand our attention. What is the impact of new tools on scholarly research? And how is scholarship affected by libraries’ decisions to remake or reorganize themselves so as to accommodate new technologies? This paper looks at the social and political implications of various electronic tools, especially in the humanities, and particularly in literary fields.
The Materiality of Expression: Harold Innis’ Communication Theory and the Discursive Turn in the Human Sciences
Authors: Angus Ian
Published: August 2017

This essay proposes that Harold Innis’ theory of communication can make a crucial contribution to the tendency in philosophy of the human sciences that has been referred to as “discourse theory.” Discourse theory takes language use as the characteristic phenomenon of human activity. Innis’ focus on the sensuous materiality of media of communication analyzes media as the institution of social relations rather than as the representation of events. A generalization of this approach suggests a concept of society as a complex of expressive media whose “bias” determines the specificity of a culture.
First Nations Culture: Who Knows What?
Authors: Townsend-Gault Charlotte
Published: August 2017

Located in the context of discussion in urban British Columbia as to whether contemporary First Nations art should properly be referred to as “art” in the Western sense or whether it is, rather, the repository and communicator of culturally specific knowledge, this paper considers the ways in which both Native and non-Native observers are negotiating their various rights to this very public visual culture.
Academic Modernization and the Decline of Higher Learning: The University Question in the Later Scholarship of Harold Innis
Authors: Massolin Philip A.
Published: August 2017

In addition to communication theories, Harold Innis’ examination of the modernization of higher learning is a significant component of his later scholarship. A chief objective of this analysis is to trace the development of Innis’ critique. It is important, moreover, to place Innis’ ideas within their historical contexts. His critique formed a part of scholarly debates on the direction of the humanities and social sciences current in the 1940s and early 1950s. In lamenting the death of traditional scholarship he commented on contemporary issues in the liberal arts: specialization, inadequate funding, and, perhaps most damaging of all, the exodus of high-quality scholars to government bureaucracies and to foreign universities. Most significantly, Innis attempted to define a role for the scholar and the university within society. His appeal for the university tradition was an effort to show how the university could and indeed should again become an integral part of society. In its largest sense, it was an endeavour to make relevant the university in a culture that shunned intellectual achievement.
Monopolies of Knowledge in Canadian Communication Studies: The Case of Feminist Approaches: The Dallas Smythe Memorial Lecture
Authors: Robinson Gertrude J.
Published: August 2017

This paper analyzes the reasons for the marginalization of feminist thought in the interdiscipline of communication studies and elucidates the potential contributions of this approach to social communication theorizing.
The Impact of the End of the Cold War on Canadian and American TV News Coverage of Cuba: Image Consistency or Image Change?
Authors: Soderlund Walter C. , Wagenberg Ronald H. , Surlin Stuart H.
Published: August 2017

The profound changes experienced by the international political system from 1988 to 1992, subsumed under the rubric “the fall of Communism,” suggest an opportunity for changes in the way North American television news would report on events in Cuba. This article examines major network news coverage of Cuba in Canada (CBC and CTV) and in the United States (ABC, CBS, and NBC) from 1988 through 1992. Given the different histories of Canadian-Cuban and U.S.-Cuban relations since the revolution, the extent of similar negative coverage of the island in both countries’ reporting is somewhat surprising. Also, it is apparent that the end of the Cold War did not change, in any fundamental way, the frames employed by television news in its coverage of Cuba.
“They Seek It Here, They Seek It There, They Seek It Everywhere”: Looking for the “Global” Book
Authors: Wirtén Eva Hemmungs
Published: August 2017

At the brink of a new millennium, Harlequin Enterprises Ltd. has grown into an international publishing phenomenon, publishing in more than twenty languages on six continents and in more than a hundred markets around the world -- a long way from what began as a modest Canadian reprint operation in 1949. Concerned with the way in which the “global” becomes the “local,” this article uses Harlequin’s Stockholm office as a case study for a closer look at just how Harlequin romances are transposed from one cultural context into another. By arguing that translation and editing are local strategies with considerable power in changing the text as well as its production and consumption, this paper focuses on the way in which the Harlequin book, through the combined process of editing and translation -- what I have termed transediting, is given a “Swedish” identity.
Marshall McLuhan: Genealogy and Legacy
Authors: Carey James W.
Published: August 2017

The well-known roots of Marshall McLuhan’s work in the scholarship of Harold Innis and Lewis Mumford are outlined. McLuhan’s place within the ferment of the 1960s, developments in the preceding decade in cybernetics, and the earliest support of his work by the National Association of Educational Broadcasters are elaborated as well. Finally, a brief evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of McLuhan’s scholarship within the context of his own time is developed.
Media Fortress Europe: Geographies of Exclusion and the Purification of Cultural Space
Authors: Morley David
Published: August 2017

This paper addresses the question of the future of Europe under the conditions of the postmodern communications geography in which we now live. The paper explores the cultural dimensions of the issues (concerning the regressive nature of the images of a white, Christian Europe) which lurk beneath the economic “bottom line" of the European Union’s attempts to create a single market in the audiovisual sphere. In this context, the paper also offers an analysis of the recent resurgence of ethnic nationalisms, as an index of the continuing significance of “rituals of exclusion" in contemporary European culture. This recalcitrant desire for the “purification" of cultural space is argued to indicate the widespread yearning for the “lost" (impossible) Heimat of the single Ethnos, from which alterity has (somehow) been eliminated.
Media and Political Identity: Canada and Quebec in the Era of Globalization
Authors: Fletcher Frederick J.
Published: August 2017

The object of this paper is to suggest some directions for a research agenda to deal with the impact of globalization on political identity in Canada and Quebec. Some of the key themes in the literature on political identity, Canadian’s dual media system, and globalization are discussed. The existence of two different communications systems, differentiated not only by language and culture but also by patterns of consumption, suggests that globalization will have a different significance for each. However, to operate as an effective democracy, a political system requires a national public space and a vocabulary of common historical precedents and shared values, according to some classic theories. The paper suggests directions for research to increase our understanding of the operation of Canada’s two media systems in a changing domestic and world context, with special attention to the cultural context of production and reception, and to serve as a basis for effective policies to preserve a democratic public space in the era of globalization.
Canadian Advertising Regulation: Lessons For Australia
Authors: Harker Debra
Published: August 2017

Advertising is the most visible element of modern marketing and an essential component of trading. However the activity is often accused by its critics of being intrusive and pervasive, and neither of these accusations can be refuted by a worldwide industry which spends billions of dollars each year reaching and persuading its target markets through daily bombardment of thousands of ads in most developed countries. However, when advertising does offend, mislead, or is untruthful, a structure needs to be in place in order to provide protection to all parties and, in most cases, a country’s legal system is complemented by a self-regulatory scheme. The advertising self-regulatory scheme in Australia was dismantled at the end of 1996 and is currently in a state of flux as the industry grapples with the design of a new system. Canada’s advertising self-regulation system, on the other hand, is unique, healthy, and successful; much can be learned from both failure and success. In this article a conceptual framework of “acceptable advertising” is presented, discussed, and used to analyze the regulation of advertising in Australia and Canada, with a view to assisting in the formation of a new scheme in Australia.
Narrating Japanese Canadians In and Out of the Canadian Nation: A Critique of Realist Forms of Representation
Authors: McAllister Kirsten Emiko
Published: August 2017

During World War II the Canadian government implemented a systematic plan to rid British Columbia of over 22,000 Japanese Canadians. Forty years later, Japanese Canadians mobilized in a movement to demand redress. To make their case, they used realism with its objective research methods to prove that the government’s actions violated their rights. But while realism helped them win their case, this paper claims that there were ramifications. While realism made it possible to narrate Japanese Canadians into the history of the Canadian nation as fully assimilated citizens, this implicitly accepted the nation’s hostile construction of racial others. Through an analysis of the Japanese Canadian film Minoru: Memory of Exile, this paper shows how difficult it is to shed realism once it is institutionalized, underlining the importance of developing a critical awareness of how it operates.
“Powerless, Public-Spirited Women,” “Angry Feminists,” and “The Muffin Lobby”: Newspaper and Magazine Coverage of the Canadian Advisory Council on the Status of Women, the National Action Committee on the Status of Women, and REAL Women of Canada
Authors: Goddu Jenn
Published: August 2017

This paper examines the interaction between women’s groups and the media between 1980 and 1995. In particular, this analysis documents the relationship between the Canadian Advisory Council on the Status of Women, the National Action Committee on the Status of Women, and REAL Women of Canada and newspaper and magazine journalists. Using extensive examples from major Canadian daily newspapers and magazines and drawing on individual interviews with group leaders on whom the media focused, this study demonstrates how journalists stressed the personal, private details about the women leaders of the more feminist groups in an effort to contain the role of women in the public sphere.
Roughing It in the Electronic Bush: Community Networking in Canada
Authors: Shade Leslie Reagan
Published: August 2017

This paper provides an overview of the community networking movement, with a closer look at community networking in Canada and, in particular, an examination of the National Capital FreeNet in Ottawa. It explores ways that community networks in Canada are envisioned to support and sustain community and contribute to the continuance of Canadian content and cultural sovereignty, and concludes with issues regarding sustainability.
Abstracting the Later McLuhan: Television’s Cool Role in the Creation of the Global Village
Authors: Antecol Michael
Published: August 2017

Television, for many, is still the ultimate in electric progress. If it is bringing the changes hypothesized by McLuhan, how exactly is it achieving these ends? How does participation in the medium of television effect changes in viewers, and therefore society? How does the involvement necessary to “fill in the gaps” lead to changes in behaviour at a level most are not even aware of ? This paper attempts to answer those questions as follows: first, by ascertaining how the global village may actually be developing by relying on the ideas of Joshua Meyrowitz, Erving Goffman, and Edward Hall; second, by drawing a link between watching television and interpersonal interaction; and, finally, by explaining why viewers pay attention to television in the first place.
Mirroring the Networked Society: Government Policy, Higher Education, and Telelearning Technology in Canada
Authors: Lewis Brian , Smith Richard , Massey Christine
Published: August 2017

The terrain of higher education in Canada is changing in ways that are facilitated and encouraged by government policies directed at telelearning technologies. This study, a review of federal and provincial government policies relating to the use of telelearning technologies in postsecondary education, reveals several significant trends. First, telelearning policy for the postsecondary sector straddles the boundary between education and economic development policy, a shift that changes conventional educational funding criteria. Second, telelearning technologies are being implemented in ways that support other government policy goals such as greater integration and efficiency in provincial postsecondary systems and increased support for labour market needs. While the implications of these changes are not yet entirely clear, we can anticipate the need for policy processes that include greater recognition of the role of negotiation—policies and policy processes which address explicitly the facts of dissolving boundaries, new connections, and emerging organizational forms. The higher educational sector seems inadequately prepared for these challenges.
Delivering University-Level Communications Programs at a Distance: Benefits, Costs, and Disruptions
Authors: Archer Walter
Published: August 2017

In the current Age of the Internet, communication studies is coming to be recognized as one of the most significant and useful of the social sciences. Yet communication programs at Canadian universities are few and small, in no way proportionate to the importance of this discipline. Given the current funding climate for higher education, this state of affairs can be improved only by making use of distance education and creative new models of inter-institutional consortia. Current models of distance education make this type of education an increasingly attractive option for individuals who want to increase their understanding of and competence in communication by enrolling in a university level communication program. However, given the potentially disruptive effect of introducing these new models of distance education into conventional universities, this strategy must be implemented with caution.
The Telematics Advanced Program: A Noble Idea Bites the Dust
Authors: Robinson Deanna
Published: August 2017

The Telematics Advanced Program (TAP), a virtual curriculum proposed by an industry/government/university group, failed to materialize for a complex set of reasons, including the insistence of many state and provincial universities that Internet-based education should be embraced only as a cash cow to provide additional funds for traditional campus-based teaching. Companies fed into this perception by increasingly favouring technical training over advanced education as their stable monopoly-based environment shifted to uncertain circumstances and cutthroat competition. These factors produced personnel and goal confusion within the sponsoring group and hampered its ability to acquire funding. Lack of advanced technological infrastructure also prevented realization of the TAP vision of small, interactive virtual seminars.
The Intercom Ontario High-Bandwidth Residential Field Trial: Lessons Learned
Authors: Singh Danièle Thomassin , De Shane-Gill Damian , Durlak Jerome , Roosen-Runge Peter
Published: August 2017

This article explores the history of the Intercom Ontario field trial in which residents of 64 homes were offered a variety of digital communication services and access to digital content delivered over a symmetric high-bandwidth data network. Some insights gleaned from the trial are: novel services can be designed and successfully implemented at low cost by small, highly collaborative groups; broadband communication channels, such as two-way video, are likely to be exploited in ways not anticipated by the designers; people seek out a broader variety of content selections than traditional models predict; the value of a mailing list as a community-building tool extends to geographically based communities; the discrepancies between the ways in which the introduction of technological innovations are perceived by users, developers, and providers are significant, complex, and deserve further study.
Introduction: Communications Teaching and Research--Looking Forward from 2000
Authors: Lorimer Rowland
Published: August 2017

This introductory essay examines the state of Canadian communications scholarship. It maintains that the dominant stance taken by Canadian communications scholars is rooted in a leftist critique of the media that has become both detached from the media and disengaged from informed strategic action. In the context of a complex media environment, the paper argues for a refocusing on communication itself, an embrace of professional training, and, in the context of technological and social change, a research strategy based on research and development.
Foundations of Canadian Communication Thought
Authors: Babe Robert
Published: August 2017

Reviewing the communication writings of five English-language theorists, namely, H. A. Innis, George Grant, Northrop Frye, C. B. Macpherson, and Marshall McLuhan, the article proposes that, foundationally, Canadian communication thought is dialectical, critical, holistic, ontological, oriented to political economy, and concerns mediation and dynamic change. Running through the thought of these five theorists is some variation of the basic time-space dialectic first formulated by Harold Adams Innis. Canadian communication thought is distinct from the American discourse and raises issues that ought to be of continuing concern for the new millennium.
The Beginnings of Communication Studies in Canada: Introduction
Authors: Tate Eugene D.
Published: August 2017

Narratives from four Canadian communication scholars describe the development of communication studies and journalism in Canada. The development of a discipline is best understood through the stories told about its growth. The story of the discipline of communication in Canada is traced with the narrative of the creation of programs at York University, the University of Calgary, the University of Saskatchewan, this journal, and the Journalism programs at the University of Western Ontario and Carleton University. A tribute to the seminal work of Earle Beattie in the creation of the Canadian Journal of Communication is provided.
The Beginnings of Communication Studies in Canada: Royal Commissions, Journalism, and Communication Studies
Authors: Osler Andrew
Published: August 2017

Narratives from four Canadian communication scholars describe the development of communication studies and journalism in Canada. The development of a discipline is best understood through the stories told about its growth. The story of the discipline of communication in Canada is traced with the narrative of the creation of programs at York University, the University of Calgary, the University of Saskatchewan, this journal, and the Journalism programs at the University of Western Ontario and Carleton University. A tribute to the seminal work of Earle Beattie in the creation of the Canadian Journal of Communication is provided.
The Beginnings of Communication Studies in Canada: Concluding Comments: Canadian Journal of Communication and the LaMarsh Commission
Authors: Tate Eugene D.
Published: August 2017

Narratives from four Canadian communication scholars describe the development of communication studies and journalism in Canada. The development of a discipline is best understood through the stories told about its growth. The story of the discipline of communication in Canada is traced with the narrative of the creation of programs at York University, the University of Calgary, the University of Saskatchewan, this journal, and the Journalism programs at the University of Western Ontario and Carleton University. A tribute to the seminal work of Earle Beattie in the creation of the Canadian Journal of Communication is provided.
Kanehsatake on Witness: The Evolution of CBC Balance Policy
Authors: Burgess Diane
Published: August 2017

The airing of Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance on Witness would not have been possible without the drafting of a new test policy, CBC’s Guidelines for Documentaries and for Point-of-View Programming, which is based on a pluralistic conception of balance. This paper examines the film’s relationship to aspects of the news discourse. The application of the Guidelines in this case raises certain ideological concerns about the positioning of the Canadian Native voice in the evolution of CBC balance policy.
Marketing Movies on the Internet: How Does Canada Compare to the U.S.?
Authors: Finn Adam , Simpson Nicola , McFadyen Stuart , Hoskins Colin
Published: August 2017

Canadian filmmakers have had little success competing with Hollywood in the domestic market. Canadian films do not have the marketing budgets needed for the saturation television and newspaper advertising used by the Hollywood majors. But if Canadian film producers and distributors marketed their products as effectively as their Hollywood competitors, they would be expected to be quick to take advantage of a new, relatively low-cost marketing tool that is particularly suited to reaching niche audiences, namely, the Internet. In this paper, we compare the way Canadian, Hollywood major, and U.S. independent producers and distributors use the Internet to communicate with their target audiences.
Mass Media Reporting of Canadian Supreme Court Decisions: Mapping the Terrain
Authors: Taras David
Published: August 2017

This research report describes a three-year study that is being undertaken by an interdisciplinary team of researchers from across Canada on media coverage of Supreme Court decisions. The report describes the changing role of the Supreme Court in Canadian public life and the role of the media as both a vehicle for publicizing decisions and as a check on the Court’s power. The study will explore media reporting from a number of vantage points-direct observation at the Court and in newsrooms, interviews, an in-depth study of how a number of important cases were reported, and an analysis of a year in the life of the Court. Workshops with members of the legal and journalistic communities and with citizens are also a crucial element in the study.
Telework and Bandwidth
Authors: Symons Frank Stewart
Published: August 2017

This research report on a survey of teleworkers in Canada’s urban national capital region (NCR) and in adjacent rural Lanark County focuses on access to higher bandwidth, what teleworkers actually do, their tasks, and their home/office co-worker links that attempt to produce efficient geographies of electronic space. The article discusses the urban-rural bandwidth divide, changing perceptions of telework, the way organizations deal with teleworkers, added teleworker efficiency/effectiveness linked to higher bandwidth, the potential power of “elite” teleworkers, and seasonal teleworkers operating in two (rural and urban) residences. It also notes the impacts of the survey project on stakeholders such as teleworkers themselves and the private sector, and on local, provincial, and federal government information highway/smart communities policy.
Regulating Communications: British Public Policy Responses to Convergence within the Digital Age
Authors: Wheeler Mark
Published: August 2017

The British Labour government believes that Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) will facilitate future forms of production, services, and investment within the national and global economies. However, it remains unclear how the government can establish the appropriate national regulatory structures through which to supervise the virtual economy. The sector-specific definitions which have existed between the audiovisual and e-commerce industries are less appropriate and, with the expansion of distribution, audiovisual markets are assuming the characteristics of the telecommunications markets. This report will consider British public policy initiatives for the regulation of the converging ICTs and the audiovisual industries. It will pay attention to the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and the Department of Trade and Industry's (DTI) jointly produced 1998 Green Paper Regulating Communications: Approaching Convergence in the Information Age.
Romania: From Tele-Revolution to Public Service Broadcasting, National Images and International Image
Authors: Jäckel Anne
Published: August 2017

Under the Ceausescu regime, Romanian Television was part of a powerful propaganda machine. The December 1989 uprising became known as a "Tele-Revolution" as some of its key moments were broadcast live. It also had negative effects on the image of the country. If reforms have been slow, enormous changes have taken place in the Romanian audiovisual landscape in the last 10 years: a regulatory Authority was set up in 1992 and audiences can now choose between the programs of public and/or private broadcasters; 40% of Romanian households are cabled, and satellite television and thematic channels are also gaining ground. In 1999, a Council of Europe report made several recommendations for Romania's public service broadcasting to be an asset capable of promoting a high-quality audiovisual cultural policy, strengthening social cohesion and contributing to rehabilitate the image of Romania. The paper suggests that while Westerners may take some credit for helping Romanians on the road to achieve the former, they should also take some of the blame for the deadlock reached on the latter.