Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-m6dg7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-08T03:30:16.920Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Toronto-area Ethnic Newspapers and Canada's 2011 Federal Election: An Investigation of Content, Focus and Partisanship

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 October 2014

April Lindgren
April Lindgren*
Affiliation:
Ryerson University
*
School of Journalism, Ryerson University, 350 Victoria Street, Toronto, Ontario M5B 2K3, Email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Canada's political class is embracing ethnocultural news media with increasing zeal, highlighting the need to understand the role of these news organizations in the political process. This study investigated coverage of Canada's 2011 federal election in five Toronto-area ethnocultural newspapers. The publications, which carried campaign news to varying degrees, provided coverage that was distinct in many ways from mainstream media. Content such as the focus on ingroup candidates had the potential to strengthen community bonds while more general election news equipped readers with information that would facilitate participation in society through informed voting. Analysis of reporting about the Conservative Party of Canada, which pursued an aggressive ethnic media strategy, identified no clear pattern of stories with explicitly biased content. In most newspapers, however, the CPC did enjoy an advantage in that it received more coverage than the competition.

Résumé

La classe politique du Canada tient compte avec de plus en plus de zèle des médias ethnoculturels, soulignant la nécessité de comprendre le rôle que jouent ces organismes de presse dans le processus politique. Cette étude examine la couverture de l'élection fédérale du Canada de 2011 en examinant cinq journaux ethnoculturels de la région de Toronto. Ces journaux, qui publiaient des nouvelles de la campagne à des degrés divers, ont présenté une couverture qui se distinguait en plusieurs points des grands médias nationaux. Le contenu qui mettait l'accent sur les candidats du groupe d'appartenance avait le potentiel de renforcer les liens avec leur communauté ethnoculturelle alors que les nouvelles traitant de l'élection de manière plus générale avaient le potentiel d'outiller les lecteurs en fournissant de l'information qui faciliterait leur participation à la société canadienne, leur permettant ainsi de faire un vote plus éclairé. L'analyse des contenus médiatiques sur le Parti conservateur du Canada, qui a mis en œuvre une stratégie agressive à l'égard des médias ethniques, n'a pas permis de dégager de tendance nette où les nouvelles seraient explicitement biaisées à la faveur de ces groupes. Cependant, dans la plupart de ces journaux, le PCC a profité d'une couverture plus large que ses adversaires.

Type
Research Article
Information
Canadian Journal of Political Science/Revue canadienne de science politique , Volume 47 , Issue 4 , December 2014 , pp. 667 - 696
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Political Science Association (l'Association canadienne de science politique) and/et la Société québécoise de science politique 2014 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Ahadi, Daniel and Murray, Catherine A.. 2009. “Urban Mediascapes and Multicultural Flows: Assessing Vancouver's Communication Infrastructure.” Canadian Journal of Communication 34 (4): 587–611.Google Scholar
Andrew, Blake, Young, Lori and Soroka, Stuart. 2008. “Back to the Future: Press Coverage of the 2008 Canadian Election Campaign Strikes Both Familiar and Unfamiliar Notes.” Policy Options 29 (November): 79–84.Google Scholar
“An Open Offer from Michael Ignatieff to Steven Harper.” 2011. Punjabi Daily, April 2, 9.Google Scholar
Bagdikian, Benjamin. 1983. The Media Monopoly. Boston: Beacon Press.Google Scholar
Banerjee, Mousumi, Capozzoli, Michelle, McSweeney, Laura and Sinha, Debajyoti. 1999. “Beyond Kappa: A Review of Interrater Agreement Measures.” The Canadian Journal of Statistics 27 (1): 3–23.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barrett, Andrew W. and Barrington, Lowell W.. 2005. “Is a Picture Worth a Thousand Words? Newspaper Photographs and Voter Evaluations of Political Candidates.” Harvard International Journal of Press/Politics 10 (4): 98–113.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bascaramurty, Dakshana. 2013. “How the Punjabi Post is Joining the GTA's Mainstream Media.” Globe and Mail, July 27. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/toronto/how-the-punjabi-post-is-joining-the-gtas-mainstream-media/article13464039/ (August 5, 2013).Google Scholar
“Battle Fierce in Trinity-Spadina, Christine Innes Fighting Olivia Chow.” 2011. Ming Pao, April 26, A2.Google Scholar
Bird, Karen. 2007. “Patterns of Substantive Representation among Visible Minority MPs: Evidence from Canada's House of Commons.” European Consortium for Political Rsearch (ECPR) joint sessions of workshops (Workshop 21: Migration and representation in parliamentary democracies), Helskinki, Finland, May 7-1. http://socserv.mcmaster.ca/kbird/documents/ECPR.pdf (November 23, 2013).Google Scholar
“Breaking Through: Building the Conservative Brand: Conservative Ethnic Paid Media Strategy” 2011. [Leaked Conservative Party document]. Maclean's, March 3. http://www2.macleans.ca/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/2011-03-03-breaking-through-building-the-conservative-brand-in-cultural-communities11.pdf (January 25, 2013).Google Scholar
Bricker, Darell and Ibbitson, John. 2013. The Big Shift: The Seismic Change in Canadian Politics, Business and Culture and What It Means for Our Future. Toronto: HarperCollins.Google Scholar
Champion, Chris. 2010. The strange demise of British Canada: The Liberals and Canadian Nationalism 1964–68. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chase, Steven. 2011. “Tories Have Assumed Liberal Mantle, Kenney Says.” Globe and Mail, June 10, A5.Google Scholar
Cheadle, Bruce and Levitz, Stephanie. 2012a. “Government Paid for Media Monitoring of Immigration Minister's Image.” The Canadian Press, November 13. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/government-paid-for-media-monitoring-of-immigration-ministers-image/article5249773/ (January 25, 2013).Google Scholar
Cheadle, Bruce and Levitz, Stephanie. 2012b. “Privy Council Office Also Spending Thousands to Keep Tabs on Ethnic Press.” The Canadian Press, November 14. http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/1287988--privy-council-office-spending-thousands-to-keep-tabs-on-ethnic-press (January 25, 2013).Google Scholar
City of Brampton. Economic Development Office. 2012. “Census Bulletin #4: Language.” Brampton: Economic Development Office. http://www.brampton.ca/en/Business/edo/business-knowledge/Economic-Reports-Papers-Statistics/Pages/Statistics.aspx (May 8, 2014).Google Scholar
D'Alessio, Dave and Allen, Mike. 2000. “Media Bias in Presidential Elections: A Meta-analysis.” Journal of Communication 50 (4): 133–56.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Delacourt, Susan. 2013. Shopping for Votes: How Politicians Choose Us and We Choose Them. Madeira Park BC: Douglas and McIntyre.Google Scholar
Delli Carpini, Michael X. 2000. “In Search of the Informed Citizen: What Americans Know About Politics and Why It Matters.” The Communication Review 4 (1): 129–64.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
DiversiPro. 2007. Research on Settlement Programming Through the Media. Ottawa: Citizenship and Immigration Canada. http://www.settlement.org/downloads/atwork/Research_on_Settlement_Programming_Through_the_Media.pdf (December 18, 2013).Google Scholar
Institute, Diversity. 2010. DiverseCity Counts 2: A Snapshot of Diverse Leadership in the GTA. Toronto: Ryerson University.Google Scholar
Dyble, John. 2013. Review of the Draft Multicultural Strategic Outreach Plan. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/article9791050.ece/BINARY/Review+of+the+Draft+Multicultural+Strategic+Outreach+Plan.pdf (December 4, 2013).Google Scholar
“Elections and the Ethnic Vote: Numbers Lottery or Political Representation?” 2011. [Video file]. Monk School of Global Affairs, October 20. http://hosting.epresence.tv/MUNK/1/watch/269.aspx?q=election (June 1, 2013)Google Scholar
Television, Fairchild. 2007. Ipsos Reid 2007 Canadian Chinese Media Monitor: Greater Toronto Area. http://www.fairchildtv.com/english/ppt/ipsos_reid_2007_tor.pdf (September 29, 2013).Google Scholar
Fleiss, Joseph L. 1981. Statistical Methods for Rates and Proportions. 2nd ed. New York: John Wiley & Sons.Google Scholar
Fleras, Augie. 2011. The Media Gaze: Representations of Diversities in Canada. Vancouver: UBC Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fraser, Nancy. 1993. “Rethinking the Public Sphere: A Contribution to the Critique of Actually Existing Democracy.” In The Phantom Public Sphere, ed. Robbins, Bruce. London: University of Minnesota Press.Google Scholar
Funke, Alice. 2011. “Who Really Won the ‘Ethnic’ Vote in the May Election?” Pundits' Guide to Canadian Federal Elections. http://www.punditsguide.ca/2011/09/who-really-won-the-%E2%80%9Cethnic%E2%80%9D-vote-in-the-may-election/ (June 2, 2013).Google Scholar
Gaissmaier, Wolfgang and Marewski, Julian N.. 2011. “Forecasting Elections with Mere Recognition from Small, Lousy Sample: A Comparison of Collective Recognition, Wisdom of Crowds, and Representative Polls.” Judgement and Decision Making 6 (1): 73–88.Google Scholar
Gidengil, Elisabeth, Nevitte, Neil, Blais, André, Everitt, Joanna and Fournier, Patrick. 2012. Dominance and Decline: Making Sense of Recent Canadian Elections. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.Google Scholar
“Government of Heart—a Few Words of MP Gurbax Singh Malhi.” 2011. Punjabi Daily, April 2, 16.Google Scholar
Habermas, Jürgen. 1989. The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere: An Inquiry into a Category of Bourgeois Society. Cambridge MA.: MIT Press.Google Scholar
Hale, Matthew, Olsen, Tricia and Fowler, Erika Franklin. 2009. “A Matter of Language or Culture: Coverage of the 2004 U.S. Elections on Spanish- and English-Language Television. Mass Communication and Society 12 (1): 26–51.Google Scholar
Harell, Allison. 2013. “Revisiting the “Ethnic” Vote.” In Parties, Elections and the Future of Canadian Politics, ed. Bittner, Amanda and Koop, Royce. Vancouver: UBC Press.Google Scholar
“He Made Several Trips, but Did Not Make an Appearance at Sikh Parade.” 2011. Punjabi Daily, April 26, 4.Google Scholar
Herr Paul, J. 2002. “The Impact of Campaign Appearances in the 1996 Election.” The Journal of Politics 64 (3): 904–13.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Husband, Charles. 2005. “Minority Ethnic Media as Communities of Practice: Professionalism and Identity Politics in Interaction.” Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 31 (3): 461–79.Google Scholar
Hyder, Goldy. 2005. “Gaining the Political Support of Minorities in Canada.” Canadian Issues (Summer): 46–48.Google Scholar
“I'll Get the Books in Order in 60 Days: Ignatieff.” 2011. Punjabi Daily, April 18, 1.Google Scholar
“Immigration and Senior Citizen Issues are the First Things for Me to Work On—Manjit Grewal.” 2011. Punjabi Daily, April 14, 7.Google Scholar
“Interview with 3 Candidates in Willowdale, the Most Korean District.” 2011. Korea Times Daily, April 26, A1.Google Scholar
Ivison, John. 2011. “Cookout Overlooked Layton.” National Post, August 4, A4.Google Scholar
Iyengar, Shanto, Norpoth, Helmut and Hahn, Kyu S.. 2004. “Consumer Demand for Election News: The Horserace Sells.” The Journal of Politics 66 (1): 157–75.Google Scholar
Jenkins, Richard W. 1999. “How Much is Too Much? Media Attention and Popular Support for an Insurgent Party.” Political Communication 16 (4): 429–45.Google Scholar
Kam, Cindy D. and Zechmeister, Elizabeth J. 2013. “Name Recognition and Candidate Support.” American Journal of Political Science 57 (4): 971–86.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Karim, Karim H. 2002. “Public Sphere and Public Sphericules: Civic Discourse in Ethnic Media.” In Civic Discourse and Cultural Politics in Canada, ed. Ferguson, Sherry Devereaux and Shade, Leslie Regan. Westport CT: Ablex.Google Scholar
Kovach, Bill and Rosenstiel, Tom. 2007. The Elements of Journalism. New York: Three Rivers Press.Google Scholar
Kymlicka, Will. 2008. The Current State of Multiculturalism in Canada and Research Themes on Canadian Multiculturalism 2008–2010 (Catalogue no. Ci96-112/2010E-PDF). Ottawa: Minister of Public Works and Government Services Canada. http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/pdf/pub/multi-state.pdf (February 2, 2012).Google Scholar
Landis, J. Richard and Koch, Gary G.. 1977. “The Measurement of Observer Agreement for Categorical Data.” Biometrics 33 (1): 159–74.Google Scholar
Lindgren, April. 2011. “Interpreting the City: Portrayals of Place in a Toronto-Area Ethnic Newspaper.” Aether: The Journal of Media Geography 8a: 68–88.Google Scholar
McKercher, Catherine, Thompson, Allan and Cumming, Carman. 2011. The Canadian Reporter. Toronto: Nelson.Google Scholar
Malo, Sebastien. 2014. “Political Consulting Firm Delivers More Newspaper Endorsements.” The New York World, January 27. http://www.thenewyorkworld.com/2014/01/27/political-consulting-firm/ (April 1, 2014).Google Scholar
Marland, Alex. 2012. “Political Photography, Journalism, and Framing in the Digital Age: The Management of Visual Media by the Prime Minister of Canada.” The International Journal of Press/Politics 17 (2): 214–33.Google Scholar
Meyer, Carl. 2010. “Ethnic Media Bucks Trend of Limited Cabinet Access.” Embassy, September 29, 1–13.Google Scholar
Nadeau, Richard, Nevitte, Neil, Gidengil, Elisabeth and Blais, André. 2008. “Who Learns What and Does It Matter?” Political Communication 25: 229–48.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Payton, Laura. 2012. “More than 30 ‘Very Ethnic’ Target Ridings Led to Majority Government in 2011.” CBC News, October 23. http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/ethnic-riding-targeting-key-to-conservatives-2011-victory-1.1142511 (March 10, 2014).Google Scholar
Putnam, Robert D. 2001. Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community. New York: Simon and Schuster.Google Scholar
Schiffer, Adam J. 2006. “Assessing Partisan Bias in Political News: The Case(s) of Local Senate Election Coverage.” Political Communication 23 (1): 23–39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schudson, Michael. 2011. The Sociology of News. New York: W.W. Norton.Google Scholar
Siemiatycki, Myer. 2011a. “The Diversity Gap: The Electoral Under-Representation of Visible Minorities.” DiverseCity: The Greater Toronto Leadership Project. http://diversecitytoronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/Final-Report.pdf (July 3, 2013).Google Scholar
Siemiatycki, Myer. 2011b. [The diversity gap: The electoral under-representation of visible minorities]. Unpublished raw data provided by the author.Google Scholar
Solutions Research Group. 2006. “Study Explores Media Use among Growing Ethnic Groups.” http://www.srgnet.com/wp-content/uploads/dc-srg-march-16-release.pdf (July 3, 2013).Google Scholar
Soroka, Stuart, Bodet, Marc André, Young, Lori and Andrew, Blake. 2009. “Campaign News and Vote Intentions.” Journal of Elections, Public Opinion and Parties 19 (4): 359–76.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Soroka, Stuart, Cutler, Fred, Stolle, Dietlind and Fournier, Patrick. 2011. “Capturing Change (and Stability) in the 2011 Campaign.” Policy Options (June–July): 70–77.Google Scholar
Statistics Canada. 2008. Federal Electoral District (FED) Profile, 2006 Census (Catalogue no. 92-595-XWE). http://www12.statcan.ca/census-recensement/2006/dp-pd/prof/92-595/p2c.cfm?TPL=INDX&LANG=E (July 3, 2013).Google Scholar
Statistics Canada. 2012. Toronto, Ontario (Code 535) and Ontario (Code 35) (table). Census Profile. 2011 Census (Catalogue no. 98-316-XWE). http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2011/dp-pd/prof/index.cfm?Lang=E (March 27, 2013).Google Scholar
Taber, Jane. 2011. “Journalist Angelo Persichilli Replaces Soudas at PMO.” Globe and Mail, September 1, A4.Google Scholar
Todd, Doug. 2011. “Poll: How Religion and Ethnicity Shaped Canada's 2011 Election.” Vancouver Sun, May 9. http://blogs.vancouversun.com/2011/05/09/poll-how-religion-and-ethnicity-shaped-canadas-2011-election/ (June 3, 2013).Google Scholar
Wells, Paul. 2013a. “Harper's Brandon Letter, the Demon Weed, and Justin Trudeau.” Maclean's, November 21. http://www2.macleans.ca/2013/11/21/harpers-brandon-letter-and-the-demon-weed/ (November 28, 2013)Google Scholar
Wells, Paul. 2013b. The Longer I'm Prime Minister: Stephen Harper and Canada, 2006. Toronto: Random House.Google Scholar
“Worried about Scaring Away Investment, Business Appeals to Not Have Corporate Tax Cuts Taken Away.” 2011. Ming Pao, March 5, A11.Google Scholar
Yu, Sherry S. and Ahadi, Daniel. 2010. “Promoting Civic Engagement through Ethnic Media.” PLATFORM: Journal of Media and Communication 2 (2): 54–71.Google Scholar
Zelizer, Barbie. 2004. Taking Journalism Seriously. Thousands Oak CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Zhou, Min and Cai, Guoxuan. 2002. “Chinese Language Media in the United States: Immigration and Assimilation in American Life.” Qualitative Sociology 25 (3): 419–41.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Supplementary material: File

Lindgren Supplementary Material

Appendix

Download Lindgren Supplementary Material(File)
File 80.9 KB