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Is There a Distinct Quebec Media Subsystem in Canada? Evidence of Ideological and Political Orientations among Canadian News Media Organizations

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 May 2020

Simon Thibault ,
Frédérick Bastien ,
Tania Gosselin ,
Colette Brin  and
Colin Scott
Simon Thibault*
Affiliation:
Département de science politique, Université de Montréal, C.P. 6128, succursale Centre-ville, Montréal, H3C 3J7
Frédérick Bastien
Affiliation:
Département de science politique, Université de Montréal, C.P. 6128, succursale Centre-ville, Montréal, H3C 3J7
Tania Gosselin
Affiliation:
Département de science politique, Université du Québec à Montréal, C.P. 8888, succursale Centre-ville, Montréal, H3C 3P8
Colette Brin
Affiliation:
Département d'information et de communication, Université Laval, 1055, avenue du Séminaire, Québec, G1V 0A6
Colin Scott
Affiliation:
Department of Political Science, McGill University, 855 Sherbrooke Street West, Montreal, H3A 2T7
*
*Corresponding author. Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

In their much-quoted typology of Western media systems, Hallin and Mancini (2004) associate Canada's media system with what they call the “Liberal model,” given its strong professionalization and limited politicization. They also hypothesize the existence of a more professional and more politicized media subsystem in Quebec. This article tests their hypothesis with data from a 2018 survey of 209 experts across Canada. The findings do not support the hypothesis of a media subsystem in Quebec. However, they show a diversity of ideological and political orientations among news media organizations, which has important empirical and theoretical implications for the study of political communication in Canada.

Résumé

Résumé

Dans leur typologie de systèmes médiatiques en Occident, Hallin et Mancini (2004) associent le système médiatique canadien au « modèle libéral » en raison de sa professionnalisation élevée et de sa faible politisation. Ces auteurs formulent aussi l'hypothèse d'un sous-système médiatique plus professionnalisé et plus politisé au Québec. Les résultats d'une enquête menée auprès de 209 experts canadiens en 2018 n'appuient pas l'hypothèse de l'existence d'un sous-système médiatique au Québec. Cependant, ils révèlent une diversité d'orientations idéologiques et politiques parmi les médias canadiens, ce qui soulève des questions empiriques et théoriques importantes pour l’étude de la communication politique au Canada.

Keywords

Canadian mediaQuebec mediamedia systemmedia politicizationexpert surveymédias au Canadamédias au Québecsystème médiatiquepolitisation des médiasenquête auprès d’experts
Type
Research Article/Étude originale
Information
Canadian Journal of Political Science/Revue canadienne de science politique , Volume 53 , Issue 3 , September 2020 , pp. 638 - 657
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Political Science Association (l'Association canadienne de science politique) and/et la Société québécoise de science politique 2020

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