MST 100 - Media, Nation - Building & the Canadian Context

Media develop alongside industrial society

• Industrialization reorganizes social life

• Railways and steamships move people and goods

• Telegraph and newspapers coordinate relationships across distance

• Urbanization and migration increase the need for communication

• New patterns of work also produce new forms of leisure

• Media develop in response to changing social conditions

Mass media become social institutions

• Newspapers become established institutions

• Journalism develops a public role

• The press becomes associated with the “fourth estate”

• Media increasingly mediate relations among citizens, governments and institutions

Mass media aren't simply technologies. They become institutions within society.

Media as a unifying force

Media were increasingly understood as potential “unifying force in society

The Canadian problem: media and Canadian realities

Canada, 19th-20th centuries

• Nation-bulding confronts a particular set of problems

  • Enormous territory

  • Relatively small population

  • Strong regionalism

  • Multiple linguistic and cultural communities

  • Two official languages

  • Proximity to the United States

A traditional of nation-building

From railway to media

• 1879 nation policy

  • Railway → connect territory

  • Markets → connect economy

  • Settlement → populate territory

• Gasher's key argument:

  • “A tradition of nation building is reflected in the structure of Canada's media industries.”

Increasing awareness around the need of connecting Canadians

From infrastructure to culture

• Railway → connect territory

• Telegraph → connect information

• Radio → connect listeners

• Film → connect images and stories

Broadcasting in the 1930’s

Canadian broadcasting was envisioned as a way of: “bringing the country together through a common Canadian consciousness.”

Media and Canadian Culture

• Media communicates Canadian ways of life

• It can help Canadians understand and share culture

• Media are therefore cultural industries

• Canadian government have historically supported domestic media

• Competition from U.S media has been a persistent concern

1939: The National film board of Canada

With it film becomes a mean of:

• Public communication

• Education

• Wartime information

• Cultural representation

• Nation-building

Canada could now be shown to Canadians

John Grierson: Documentary with a purpose

• First government film commissioner

• Documentary understood as having a social purpose

• Film could educate citizens and interpret society

• During WWII, film became part of Canada's wartime communication apparatus

For Grierson, documentary was not imagined as neutral observation.

Before we watch: what is the propaganda?

Communication deliberately designed to:

• Shape attitudes

• Produce identification

• Encourage action