Editing Media of Canada (section)

== History ==
{{Confusing|section|talk=Media of Canada#History|reason=information does not seem to flow together|date=January 2021}}
The history of Canadian media performers goes back to the first days of radio. In the 1940s, the Radio Artists of Toronto Society (RATS) was formed. Radio performers in [[Montreal]], [[Winnipeg]], and [[Vancouver]] also organized to fight for artists' rights, working conditions, and better fees. In 1943, the Association of Canadian Radio Artists (ACRA) was formed as a loose national coalition of actors' groups. Over the years, ACRA evolved into the Association of Canadian Radio and Television Artists, followed by the Canadian Council of Authors and Artists, then the Association of Canadian Television and Radio Artists, and, in 1984, to the [[Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio|Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists]], its present name.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.actra.ca/actra/control/insideActra_what?menu_id=902 |title=ACTRA 2005 |publisher=Actra.ca |access-date=2011-02-26 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706164704/http://www.actra.ca/actra/control/insideActra_what?menu_id=902 |archive-date=July 6, 2011 }}</ref>

The Canadian ''[[Broadcasting Act (1991)|Broadcasting Act]]'', historically and in its modern conception, is based on the fact that, since the start of the 20th century, it was important for broadcasters to ensure that information flowed freely and reflected the diversity of Canadian points of view, as opposed to the classic approach, which gives media owners more freedom to express their views. The Canadian broadcasting system as it exists today "would probably not exist if we had allowed the marketplace to regulate ownership rights."<ref>[https://sencanada.ca/en/Content/Sen/committee/372/tran/10evb-e Pierre Trudel], Professor, L.R. Wilson Chair, Information Technologies and Electronic Commerce Law, Public Law Research Centre, University of Montreal, May 29, 2003</ref>

In August 2015, the [[Canadian Media Guild]], the union representing CBC journalists, became a [[Registered third parties (Canada)|registered third party]] in order to campaign for increased taxpayer funding of the CBC in the 2015 election.<ref>{{cite web| url =http://www.cmg.ca/en/2015/08/14/cmg-registers-as-a-third-party-in-the-federal-election/| title =CMG registers as a third party in the federal election| date =14 August 2015| website =Canadian Media Guild| access-date =23 October 2015}}</ref> After the [[Liberal Party of Canada]] won the election, it increased taxpayer funding of the CBC by [[CA$]]150&nbsp;million.<ref>{{cite news |last=Szklarski |first=Cassandra |date=December 7, 2015 |title=A new era for CBC, hopefully: Things could finally start looking up for the beleaguered public broadcaster in 2016 |url=http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/a-new-era-for-cbc-hopefully-things-could-finally-start-looking-up-for-the-beleaguered-public-broadcaster-in-2016 |location=Toronto, Ontario, Canada |access-date=December 8, 2015}}</ref> In 2017, the federal government announced a five-year $50-million program to help struggling local newspapers. In 2018, it announced $595&nbsp;million in tax credits to help struggling newspapers and television networks adapt to competition from online news sources.<ref>{{cite news| url =https://nationalpost.com/news/politics/600m-in-federal-funding-for-media-a-turning-point-in-the-plight-of-newspapers-in-canada| title =$600M in federal funding for media 'a turning point in the plight of newspapers in Canada'| last =Thomson| first =Stuart| date =November 21, 2018| website =National Post| publisher =Postmedia| access-date =December 8, 2018| quote =The government is pledging nearly $600 million over the next five years to help news organizations struggling to adapt to a digital age that has disrupted traditional business models.}}</ref>

In 2013, ''[[Maclean's]]'' wrote an article noting the influence that [[Quebecor Media|Quebecor]] and owner [[Pierre Karl Péladeau]] have on the Quebec media system. The article noted that Quebecor behaves like a counterpart to the [[Federalism in Quebec|federalist]] {{Lang|fr|[[La Presse (Canadian newspaper)|La Presse]]}}, owned by the [[Paul Desmarais|Desmarais family]]''.''<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.macleans.ca/economy/business/the-king-of-quebec/|title=Pierre Karl Péladeau: King of Quebec – Macleans.ca|website=macleans.ca|date=September 4, 2013 |access-date=2019-12-09}}</ref> In November 2018, [[Unifor]], the other major union for Canadian journalists, announced that it would campaign against the [[Conservative Party of Canada]] in the [[43rd Canadian federal election]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://globalnews.ca/news/5789602/unifor-media-members-rhetoric-concerns/|title=Unifor head tells union's media members he hears concerns about Tory-bashing but won't stop|website=Global News|language=en|access-date=2019-12-08}}</ref> In February 2019, former Attorney General [[Jody Wilson-Raybould]] gave testimony to the House of Commons Justice Committee raising further speculation of political interference from the Liberal Party in journalism. As part of the testimony, Jessica Prince, the Wilson-Raybould's chief of staff revealed that [[Katie Telford]], chief of staff to Prime Minister [[Justin Trudeau]], said: "If Jody is nervous, we would, of course, line up all kinds of people to write op-eds saying that what she is doing is proper."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://globalnews.ca/news/5006450/jody-wilson-raybould-testimony-transcript/|title=Jody Wilson-Raybould's testimony – read the full transcript of her opening remarks – National {{!}} Globalnews.ca|date=2019-02-27|website=globalnews.ca|language=en|access-date=2019-05-30}}</ref>

[[Postmedia Network|Postmedia]] has faced questions from both [[Maclean's]] and [[Canadaland]], regarding whether recent changes to their editorial staff was singling a shift that they were pushing "conservative views" onto their audience.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.canadalandshow.com/the-conservative-transformation-of-postmedia/|title=You Must Be This Conservative To Ride: The Inside Story of Postmedia's Right Turn|website=canadalandshow.com|date=August 12, 2019|access-date=2019-12-09}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.macleans.ca/politics/ottawa/the-new-worry-about-the-next-election-your-daily-news/|title=The new worry about the next election: your daily news – Macleans.ca|website=macleans.ca|date=August 7, 2019 |access-date=2019-12-13}}</ref> In 2019, Kathy English, the public editor for the ''[[Toronto Star]]'', admitted that ''The Star'' has failed to meet its journalistic standards by stating "call for reporting fairly and accurately and reflecting the pertinent facts and diversity of views on matters of public debate."

English defended ''The Star'', arguing that there is "no such a thing as objectivity in journalism."<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thestar.com/opinion/public_editor/2019/12/06/defending-human-rights-the-goal-of-journalism.html|title=Defending human rights the goal of journalism {{!}} The Star|newspaper=Toronto Star|date=December 6, 2019|language=en|access-date=2019-12-09}}</ref>

A report released from the Digital Democracy Project, a joint venture between the [[Public Policy Forum]] and [[McGill University]]'s School of Public Policy revealed that [[Nonpartisanism|non-partisans]] with high exposure to traditional media gave roughly 50% more wrong answers than those with low exposure. "Strong partisans", however, gave almost twice as many.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://nationalpost.com/opinion/chris-selley-misinformed-canadians-have-lessons-for-media-and-government-alike|title=Chris Selley: Misinformed Canadians have lessons for media and government alike |last=Selley |first=Chris |newspaper=National Post|date=2019-08-13|language=en-CA|access-date=2019-08-26}}</ref>

=== The Electronic Age and Marshall McLuhan ===
In ''The Gutenberg Galaxy'', [[Marshall McLuhan]] writes that:

<blockquote>''if a new technology extends one or more of our senses outside us into the social world, then new ratios among all of our senses will occur in that particular culture. It is comparable to what happens when a new note is added to a melody. And when the sense ratios alter in any culture then what had appeared lucid before may suddenly become opaque, and what had been vague or opaque will become translucent.''</blockquote>

He gives great importance to the introduction of electronic media into the realm of people's everyday lives. According to McLuhan, the introduction of electronic media was one of the main media revolutions.<ref>McLuhan, Marshall. (1962). ''The Gutenberg Galaxy''. University of Toronto Press. p.41.</ref> He claims that technology evoked an emotional response from audiences although it technically had no moral bias. Technology in the electronic age shapes an individual's (as well as a society's) self-realization. In other words, McLuhan writes about three major revolutions in his various works and gives great importance to the electronic one. Electronic mass media clearly have a large impact on Canadian society and affect audiences in a variety of ways.

=== Print Media and Marshall McLuhan ===
According to McLuhan's dichotomies of [[hot and cool media]], print media occupy mostly a visual space, rather than other senses such as that of hearing (which is involved in media like television). He writes that this makes print media a hot medium, as it provides the reader with complete involvement without considerable stimulus.<ref>McLuhan, Marshall. (1964). ''Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man''. McGraw Hill. pp. 22--25.</ref> Because print media are hot media, they involve relatively little interaction from users. McLuhan discussed three main media revolutions, one of them coming about with the invention of the printing press. He explained that with texts being mass-produced there was a new level of immediacy, accessibility, and a subsequent rise in literacy; in manuscript culture, access to texts was limited to a privileged few, whereas in print culture, literature increasingly became a commodity.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Students/dle9701.html |title=The 'Impact' of Print |publisher=Aber.ac.uk |access-date=2011-12-16}}</ref> For this reason, print media was revolutionary at the time. However, with the more recent electronic revolution, the importance of print began to decline, as discussed below.