Fluent Essays

question is attached in file . just do reading of pdf and answer the 5 questions Week 1 Assignment Questions Waddell, C. R., & Taras, D. (2012). Media and Politics. Edmonton: Athabasca University Press. [Referred to as Waddell & Taras (2012)] http://search.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.myucwest.ca/login.aspx?direct=true&db=e000xna&AN=463483&site=eds-live&authtype=ip,url,uid&ebv=EB&ppid=pp_1 Read up to Chapter 3 (up to page 54) and answer the following questions: 1) Does the media influence the government or does the government influence the media? Use at least one direct quote from the text 2) What does Waddell give as reasons for the “death of political journalism”? 3) What are the reasons negative ads work? 4) Why are newspapers integral to all media? 5) What does the CRTC stand for, who created it and what does it do? Each question is worth 5 marks. Be sure to write enough for each question that justifies you getting 5 marks. This means you really will likely need at least 5 sentences for each question at a minimum but if you want full marks you definitely should write more than that. Co py ri gh t © 2 01 2. A U Pr es s. A ll r ig ht s re se rv ed . Ma y no t be r ep ro du ce d in a ny f or m wi th ou t pe rm is si on f ro m th e pu bl is he r, e xc ep t fa ir u se s pe rm it te d un de r U. S. or a pp li ca bl e co py ri gh t la w. EBSCO Publishing : eBook Academic Collection (EBSCOhost) - printed on 10/16/2021 5:23 AM via UNIVERSITY CANADA WEST AN: 463483 ; Taras, David, Waddell, Christopher Robb.; How Canadians Communicate IV : Media and Politics Account: ns012452 H o w C a n a d i a n s C o m m u n i c a t e I V Co py ri gh t © 2 01 2. A U Pr es s. A ll r ig ht s re se rv ed . Ma y no t be r ep ro du ce d in a ny f or m wi th ou t pe rm is si on f ro m th e pu bl is he r, e xc ep t fa ir u se s pe rm it te d un de r U. S. o r ap pl ic ab le c op yr ig ht l aw . EBSCO Publishing : eBook Academic Collection (EBSCOhost) - printed on 10/16/2021 5:23 AM via UNIVERSITY CANADA WEST AN: 463483 ; Taras, David, Waddell, Christopher Robb.; How Canadians Communicate IV : Media and Politics Account: ns012452 This page intentionally left blank Co py ri gh t © 2 01 2. A U Pr es s. A ll r ig ht s re se rv ed . Ma y no t be r ep ro du ce d in a ny f or m wi th ou t pe rm is si on f ro m th e pu bl is he r, e xc ep t fa ir u se s pe rm it te d un de r U. S. o r ap pl ic ab le c op yr ig ht l aw . EBSCO Publishing : eBook Academic Collection (EBSCOhost) - printed on 10/16/2021 5:23 AM via UNIVERSITY CANADA WEST AN: 463483 ; Taras, David, Waddell, Christopher Robb.; How Canadians Communicate IV : Media and Politics Account: ns012452 How Canadians Communicate IV Media and Politics Ed ited by Dav id Ta ras a nd Chr istopher Waddel l Co py ri gh t © 2 01 2. A U Pr es s. A ll r ig ht s re se rv ed . Ma y no t be r ep ro du ce d in a ny f or m wi th ou t pe rm is si on f ro m th e pu bl is he r, e xc ep t fa ir u se s pe rm it te d un de r U. S. o r ap pl ic ab le c op yr ig ht l aw . EBSCO Publishing : eBook Academic Collection (EBSCOhost) - printed on 10/16/2021 5:23 AM via UNIVERSITY CANADA WEST AN: 463483 ; Taras, David, Waddell, Christopher Robb.; How Canadians Communicate IV : Media and Politics Account: ns012452 Copyright © 2012 David Taras and Christopher Waddell Published by AU Press, Athabasca University 1200, 10011 – 109 Street, Edmonton, AB T5J 3S8 ISBN 978-1-926836-81-2 (print) 978-1-926836-82-9 (PDF) 978-1-926836-83-6 (epub) Interior design by Sergiy Kozakov Printed and bound in Canada by Marquis Book Printers Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication         Media and politics / edited by David Taras and Christopher Waddell. (How Canadians communicate ; 4) Includes bibliographical references and index. Issued also in electronic formats. ISBN 978-1-926836-81-2         1. Mass media--Political aspects--Canada. 2. Social media--Political aspects--Canada. 3. Communication in politics--Canada. 4. Canada--Politics and government. I. Taras, David, 1950- II. Waddell, Christopher Robb III. Series: How Canadians communicate ; 4 P95.82.C3M45 2012                     302.230971                     C2012-901951-8 We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Book Fund (CFB) for our publishing activities. Assistance provided by the Government of Alberta, Alberta Multimedia Development Fund. Please contact AU Press, Athabasca University at [email protected] for permissions and copyright information. Co py ri gh t © 2 01 2. A U Pr es s. A ll r ig ht s re se rv ed . Ma y no t be r ep ro du ce d in a ny f or m wi th ou t pe rm is si on f ro m th e pu bl is he r, e xc ep t fa ir u se s pe rm it te d un de r U. S. o r ap pl ic ab le c op yr ig ht l aw . EBSCO Publishing : eBook Academic Collection (EBSCOhost) - printed on 10/16/2021 5:23 AM via UNIVERSITY CANADA WEST AN: 463483 ; Taras, David, Waddell, Christopher Robb.; How Canadians Communicate IV : Media and Politics Account: ns012452 Contents List of Illustrations vii Acknowledgements ix The Past and Future of Political Communication in Canada: An Introduction 1 D av i d Ta r a s part I The Changing World of Media and Politics 1 The Uncertain Future of the News 29 F l o r i a n S au va g e au 2 On the Verge of Total Dysfunction: Government, Media, and Communications 45 E l ly A l b o i m 3 Blogs and Politics 55 R i c h a r d D av i s 4 The 2011 Federal Election and the Transformation of Canadian Media and Politics 71 D av i d Ta r a s a n d C h r i s t o p h e r Wa d d e l l 5 Berry’d Alive: The Media, Technology, and the Death of Political Coverage 109 C h r i s t o p h e r Wa d d e l l 6 Political Communication and the “Permanent Campaign” 129 T o m F l a n a g a n 7 Are Negative Ads Positive? Political Advertising and the Permanent Campaign 149 J o n at h a n R o s e 8 E-ttack Politics: Negativity, the Internet, and Canadian Political Parties 169 Ta m a r a S m a l l Co py ri gh t © 2 01 2. A U Pr es s. A ll r ig ht s re se rv ed . Ma y no t be r ep ro du ce d in a ny f or m wi th ou t pe rm is si on f ro m th e pu bl is he r, e xc ep t fa ir u se s pe rm it te d un de r U. S. o r ap pl ic ab le c op yr ig ht l aw . EBSCO Publishing : eBook Academic Collection (EBSCOhost) - printed on 10/16/2021 5:23 AM via UNIVERSITY CANADA WEST AN: 463483 ; Taras, David, Waddell, Christopher Robb.; How Canadians Communicate IV : Media and Politics Account: ns012452 9 Myths Communicated by Two Alberta Dynasties 189 A lv i n F i n k e l 10 Throwing the Baby Out with the Bathwater: Canadian Forces News Media Relations and Operational Security 213 R o b e rt B e r g e n part II Citizens and Politics in Everyday Life 11 Exceptional Canadians: Biography in the Public Sphere 233 D av i d M a r s h a l l 12 Off-Road Democracy: The Politics of Land, Water, and Community in Alberta 259 R o g e r E p p 13 Two Solitudes, Two Québecs, and the Cinema In-Between 281 D o m i n i q u e P e r r o n 14 Verbal Smackdown: Charles Adler and Canadian Talk Radio 295 S h a n n o n S a m p e rt 15 Contemporary Canadian Aboriginal Art: Storyworking in the Public Sphere 317 T r o y Pat e n au d e 16 Intimate Strangers: The Formal Distance Between Music and Politics in Canada 349 R i c h a r d S u t h e r l a n d Final Thoughts: How Will Canadians Communicate About Politics and the Media in 2015? 369 C h r i s t o p h e r Wa d d e l l Contributors 379 Index 383 Co py ri gh t © 2 01 2. A U Pr es s. A ll r ig ht s re se rv ed . Ma y no t be r ep ro du ce d in a ny f or m wi th ou t pe rm is si on f ro m th e pu bl is he r, e xc ep t fa ir u se s pe rm it te d un de r U. S. o r ap pl ic ab le c op yr ig ht l aw . EBSCO Publishing : eBook Academic Collection (EBSCOhost) - printed on 10/16/2021 5:23 AM via UNIVERSITY CANADA WEST AN: 463483 ; Taras, David, Waddell, Christopher Robb.; How Canadians Communicate IV : Media and Politics Account: ns012452 Illustrations Tables 1.1 Regular readers of a daily newspaper, 2009 33 1.2 Regular readers of Montréal daily newspapers (Monday to Friday) 34 1.3 Advertising revenues by medium 36 3.1 Blog readers versus non-blog readers 60 3.2 Reasons given for reading political blogs 62 3.3 Blog readers’ familiarity with ideological blogs 63 5.1 Voter turnout in Ontario communities, 1979–2000 114 6.1 Canadian national political campaigns, 2000–2009 137 6.2 Total contributions from corporations, associations, and trade unions 142 6.3 Financial impact of proposed $5,000 limit, 2000–2003 143 6.4 Quarterly allowances paid to political parties, 2004–7 143 7.1 Political party election advertising expenses, 2004–11 158 7.2 Political party advertising in non-election years 160 Figures 1.1 Total daily newspaper paid circulation in Canada, 1950–2008 32 15.1 Norval Morrisseau, Observations of the Astral World (c. 1994) 322 15.2 Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun, I Have a Vision That Some Day All Indigenous People Will Have Freedom and Self-Government (1989) 326 15.3 Heather Shillinglaw, Little Savage (2009) 330 15.4 Bill Reid, The Spirit of Haida Gwaii (1991) 336 Co py ri gh t © 2 01 2. A U Pr es s. A ll r ig ht s re se rv ed . Ma y no t be r ep ro du ce d in a ny f or m wi th ou t pe rm is si on f ro m th e pu bl is he r, e xc ep t fa ir u se s pe rm it te d un de r U. S. o r ap pl ic ab le c op yr ig ht l aw . EBSCO Publishing : eBook Academic Collection (EBSCOhost) - printed on 10/16/2021 5:23 AM via UNIVERSITY CANADA WEST AN: 463483 ; Taras, David, Waddell, Christopher Robb.; How Canadians Communicate IV : Media and Politics Account: ns012452 This page intentionally left blank Co py ri gh t © 2 01 2. A U Pr es s. A ll r ig ht s re se rv ed . Ma y no t be r ep ro du ce d in a ny f or m wi th ou t pe rm is si on f ro m th e pu bl is he r, e xc ep t fa ir u se s pe rm it te d un de r U. S. o r ap pl ic ab le c op yr ig ht l aw . EBSCO Publishing : eBook Academic Collection (EBSCOhost) - printed on 10/16/2021 5:23 AM via UNIVERSITY CANADA WEST AN: 463483 ; Taras, David, Waddell, Christopher Robb.; How Canadians Communicate IV : Media and Politics Account: ns012452 ix Acknowledgements This book is the result of a collaborative effort between Athabasca University and the Alberta Global Forum, now based at Mount Royal University. We are particularly grateful to Frits Pannekoek, president of Athabasca University. Without his insights, guidance, and commitment, this book would not have been possible. The book and the conference that gave life to it received gen- erous support from a grant awarded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. We are deeply appreciative. We are also grate- ful to Gina Grosenick, who did a magnificent job of helping to organize the conference, and to Peter Zuurbier, whose assistance in collecting the indi- vidual essays and preparing the final manuscript was indispensable. Walter Hildebrandt, the director of Athabasca University Press, was extremely sup- portive and as always brought impressive ideas and good judgment. Those who worked on the volume for AU Press, Pamela MacFarland Holway, Joyce Hildebrand, Megan Hall, and Sergiy Kozakov, were all first rate. Everett Wilson helped with the original poster design for the conference and pro- vided ideas for the book cover. Christopher Waddell would like to thank the School of Journalism and Communication at Carleton University for giving him a wonderful vantage point over the past decade from which to watch the evolution of Canadian media, politics, and public policy. He is also grateful to his wife, Anne Waddell, and their children, Matthew and Kerry, for giving him the time to do that and to his mother, Lyn Cook Waddell, whose life as an author has had a tremendous influence on his own work. Chris adds a special thanks to Frits Pannekoek and Gina Grosenick for everything that they have done to make the conference and this volume possible. Co py ri gh t © 2 01 2. A U Pr es s. A ll r ig ht s re se rv ed . Ma y no t be r ep ro du ce d in a ny f or m wi th ou t pe rm is si on f ro m th e pu bl is he r, e xc ep t fa ir u se s pe rm it te d un de r U. S. o r ap pl ic ab le c op yr ig ht l aw . EBSCO Publishing : eBook Academic Collection (EBSCOhost) - printed on 10/16/2021 5:23 AM via UNIVERSITY CANADA WEST AN: 463483 ; Taras, David, Waddell, Christopher Robb.; How Canadians Communicate IV : Media and Politics Account: ns012452 x Acknowledgements David Taras would like to thank Chris Waddell and Frits Pannekoek for being such insightful and inspiring colleagues, Dean Marc Chikinda and Provost Robin Fisher of Mount Royal University for their faith and vision, and Greg Forrest and Jeanette Nicholls of the Alberta Global Forum for their leadership. Gina Grosenick was magnificent, as always. Claire Cummings provided excellent assistance for the AGF on a whole series of fronts, which included helping to organize the conference. David would also like to thank his wife, Joan, for her support and understanding. Co py ri gh t © 2 01 2. A U Pr es s. A ll r ig ht s re se rv ed . Ma y no t be r ep ro du ce d in a ny f or m wi th ou t pe rm is si on f ro m th e pu bl is he r, e xc ep t fa ir u se s pe rm it te d un de r U. S. o r ap pl ic ab le c op yr ig ht l aw . EBSCO Publishing : eBook Academic Collection (EBSCOhost) - printed on 10/16/2021 5:23 AM via UNIVERSITY CANADA WEST AN: 463483 ; Taras, David, Waddell, Christopher Robb.; How Canadians Communicate IV : Media and Politics Account: ns012452 1 Dav id Ta ras The Past and Future of Political Communication in Canada An Introduction In June 1980, in the wake of the Québec referendum on sovereignty and the 1979 and 1980 federal elections, the Reader’s Digest Foundation and what was then Erindale College of the University of Toronto co-sponsored a conference on politics and the media.1 The Erindale conference brought together promi- nent party strategists and organizers, journalists, and scholars. Participants spoke about the power of television images, the presidentialization of Canadian politics, the concentration of media ownership, the failure of lead- ers to address policies in a serious way during elections, the sheer nastiness and negativity of political attacks, the power of the media to set the agenda and frame issues during elections, and the need for politicians to fit into those very media frames if they wished to be covered at all. None of these concerns have vanished with time. If anything, they have hardened into place, making them even more pervasive and intractable. Yet even as so much has remained the same, so much has changed. When the conference “How Canadians Communicate Politically: The Next Generation” was convened in Calgary and Banff in late October 2009, the media and political terrains had been dramatically transformed. The revolu- tion in web-based technology that had begun in the mid-1990s had hit the country with devastating force. As online media depleted the newspaper industry, TV networks, and local radio stations of a sizable portion of their audiences and advertising, the old lions of the traditional media lost some of their bite. The stark reality today is that every medium is merging with Co py ri gh t © 2 01 2. A U Pr es s. A ll r ig ht s re se rv ed . Ma y no t be r ep ro du ce d in a ny f or m wi th ou t pe rm is si on f ro m th e pu bl is he r, e xc ep t fa ir u se s pe rm it te d un de r U. S. o r ap pl ic ab le c op yr ig ht l aw . EBSCO Publishing : eBook Academic Collection (EBSCOhost) - printed on 10/16/2021 5:23 AM via UNIVERSITY CANADA WEST AN: 463483 ; Taras, David, Waddell, Christopher Robb.; How Canadians Communicate IV : Media and Politics Account: ns012452 2 Introduction every other medium, every medium is becoming every other medium, and all media are merging on the Internet. Most critically, a new generation of digital natives, those who have grown up with web-based media, is no longer subject to a top-down, command-and-control media system in which messages flow in only one direction. Audiences now have the capacity to create their own islands of information from the endless sea of media choices that surround them, as well as to produce and circulate their own videos, photos, opinions, and products, and to attract their own advertising. And the country has also changed. The Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the absorption of more immigrants from more countries than any other soci- ety in history, the growth of global cities, and connectivity have all produced a profoundly different society. Furthermore, years of constitutional battles and another much more desperately fought referendum in Québec in 1995 have culminated in both frustration and exhaustion. Living on the edge of a precipice could not be sustained indefinitely, even in Québec. The coun- try has also grown proud of its accomplishments. Canada’s banking system withstood the most punishing effects of the financial meltdown that ravaged the world financial system in 2008 and 2009; multicultural experiments that appear to be failing in other societies, such as France, the United Kingdom, and Germany, are succeeding in Canada; and arts and culture are burgeoning. The “How Canadians Communicate Politically” conference, organized by Athabasca University and the Alberta Global Forum (then based at the University of Calgary and now at Mount Royal University), brought together distinguished scholars from across Canada with the intention of examin- ing what the next generation of political communication would look like. We asked contributors to view politics and communication through a much different and more expansive lens than was the case with the 1980 Erindale conference. While much of this volume deals with media and politics in the conventional sense—examining such topics as the interplay among journal- ists and politicians, the future of news, and the effectiveness of negative cam- paigning in both online and TV advertising—we also look at politics through the frames of popular culture and everyday life: biographies, off-road politics in rural Alberta, Québec film, hotline radio, music, and Aboriginal art. The noted Swedish scholar Peter Dahlgren has observed that changes in popu- lar culture both reflect and condition political change.2 Once a trend or idea becomes firmly implanted within a culture, it is only a matter of time before Co py ri gh t © 2 01 2. A U Pr es s. A ll r ig ht s re se rv ed . Ma y no t be r ep ro du ce d in a ny f or m wi th ou t pe rm is si on f ro m th e pu bl is he r, e xc ep t fa ir u se s pe rm it te d un de r U. S. o r ap pl ic ab le c op yr ig ht l aw . EBSCO Publishing : eBook Academic Collection (EBSCOhost) - printed on 10/16/2021 5:23 AM via UNIVERSITY CANADA WEST AN: 463483 ; Taras, David, Waddell, Christopher Robb.; How Canadians Communicate IV : Media and Politics Account: ns012452 Introduction 3 it permeates and affects public policy. While some of these essays deal with aspects of popular culture, our search was wider—we wanted to see how poli- tics takes shape and change occurs in places that are beyond the prescribed battlegrounds of politicians and political parties. The 2009 conference included a session about Alberta politics, or what might be called the Alberta political mystery. The province remains the only jurisdiction in North America, and arguably Europe as well, where a single party, the Progressive Conservatives, so dominate the political landscape that elections have become non-events, with little campaigning, debate, discus- sion, or voter turnout. Though other provinces may have traditional lean- ings, the party in power typically shifts with some regularity. In almost every American state, the governorships and senate seats change hands with the political tides. In Alberta, the tides of political change never seem to arrive. One could argue that the media in the province are just as unchanging. Yet, as Roger Epp points out, beneath the surface, political battles rage, ideas are tested, and meeting places are formed. Alvin Finkel, however, contends that power in Alberta is not only self-perpetuating but brutally imposed. This book focuses on three changes that have taken place in the nature of political communication since the Erindale conference more than thirty years ago. First, we have moved from a media landscape dominated by the traditional media to one where Facebook, Twitter, blogs, and smart phones play an increasingly important role. The future of the news industry cannot be taken for granted. Newspapers have been corroded by a steady drop in both readership and advertising. They employ fewer journalists, paying them far less than they used to, and younger readers have fled in droves. In 1980, the conventional over-the-air networks—CBC, Radio-Canada, CTV, Global, and TVA—had the capacity to set the political agenda because they had the power to attract mass audiences. While the national news shows of the main networks are still a main stage for Canadian political life, much of the action has moved from centre stage to the sidelines of cable TV, where there are a myriad of all-news channels, each with small but stable audiences. As Marcus Prior demonstrates in Post-Broadcast Democracy, a book that some scholars regard as a modern classic despite its relatively recent arrival, the more enter- tainment options available to viewers, the more likely they are to avoid news entirely, and as a consequence, the less likely they are to vote.3 Co py ri gh t © 2 01 2. A U Pr es s. A ll r ig ht s re se rv ed . Ma y no t be r ep ro du ce d in a ny f or m wi th ou t pe rm is si on f ro m th e pu bl is he r, e xc ep t fa ir u se s pe rm it te d un de r U. S. o r ap pl ic ab le c op yr ig ht l aw . EBSCO Publishing : eBook Academic Collection (EBSCOhost) - printed on 10/16/2021 5:23 AM via UNIVERSITY CANADA WEST AN: 463483 ; Taras, David, Waddell, Christopher Robb.; How Canadians Communicate IV : Media and Politics Account: ns012452 4 Introduction A second change since the Erindale conference is in the nature of politi- cal life in Canada. On one hand, the party system has remained surprisingly resilient: the same three parties—the Conservatives, the New Democrats, and the Liberals—that dominated in 1980 still dominate the political landscape today, with a variety of insurgent parties such as the Créditistes, the Reform Party and then the Canadian Alliance, the Bloc Québécois, and the Greens falling more or less by the wayside. On the other hand, the rhythms of politi- cal life are now very different: a never-ending 24-hour news cycle, changes in party financing laws that demand non-stop solicitations, the development of databases that allow for the microtargeting of both supporters and swing voters, and cybercampaigns that are fought daily on party websites, Facebook, Twitter, blogs, and YouTube have meant that political parties now wage per- manent campaigns. Simply put, the political cycle never stops. Parties have also learned more definitively than ever before that negative campaigning works. The need to define and therefore place question marks in voters’ minds about opponents consumes Question Period, appearances by the “talking heads” that parties designate to appear on cable news channels, and the ad campaigns that are waged before and during campaigns. Just as there are questions about the future of news, there are questions about the future of politics and whether the new political style limits debate, makes tolerance for and compromises with opponents more difficult, and delegitimizes politics as a whole. These questions are vigorously debated in this book, with contributors lined up on different sides of the arguments. A third change in the nature of political communication is the result of changes in Canadian society. While today’s digital natives are more global, multicultural, and tolerant and have a greater command of technology than previous generations, they are also “peek-a-boo” citizens, engaged at some moments, completely disengaged at others. Despite the galvanizing power of social media, fewer people under thirty join civic organizations or politi- cal parties, volunteer in their communities, donate money to causes, or vote in elections than was the case for people in the same age group in previous generations. They also know much less about the country in which they live and consume much less news. In fact, the ability of citizens generally to recall important dates in history or the names of even recent prime ministers, as well as their knowledge of basic documents such as the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, is disturbingly low.4 Digital natives in particular view historical Co py ri gh t © 2 01 2. A U Pr es s. A ll r ig ht s re se rv ed . Ma y no t be r ep ro du ce d in a ny f or m wi th ou t pe rm is si on f ro m th e pu bl is he r, e xc ep t fa ir u se s pe rm it te d un de r U. S. o r ap pl ic ab le c op yr ig ht l aw . EBSCO Publishing : eBook Academic Collection (EBSCOhost) - printed on 10/16/2021 5:23 AM via UNIVERSITY CANADA WEST AN: 463483 ; Taras, David, Waddell, Christopher Robb.; How Canadians Communicate IV : Media and Politics Account: ns012452 Introduction 5 Canada as a distant and, to some degree, foreign land that is barely recog- nizable and, for the most part, irrelevant to their lives. How to draw digital natives more fully into the Canadian political spectacle remains one of the country’s great challenges. I : T h e C h a n g i n g W o r l d o f M e d i a a n d P o l i t i c s The first part of this book open with an article by Florian Sauvageau, a former newspaper editor, TV host, and university professor who served as director of Université Laval’s Centre d’étude sur les médias and recently produced a docu- mentary on the future of news. At first glance, Sauvageau’s article reads like an obituary for the news industry. While he is reluctant to administer the last rites, Sauvageau chronicles the decline of newspapers and, along with them, much of the “reliable news” on which a society depends; readers are led to conclude that even if newspapers survive in some form, they will be mere shadows of what they once were. As Sauvageau states: “Not all print newspapers will die, but they are all stricken.” There are simply too many problems to overcome. Younger readers are vanishing. Classified and other ads are migrating to web- based media, where they can target younger and more specialized audiences, and to social media sites, which allow users to reach buyers and sellers without paying the costs of advertising. Newspaper websites capture only a portion of the revenue (around 20 percent, by some estimates) that print versions gener- ate, and digital culture has created different news habits. As Sauvageau points out, consumers have become accustomed to munching on news “snacks,” short bursts of information and headline news, rather than the larger and more nutritious meals provided by newspapers. The expectation among young con- sumers in particular is that news has to be immediate, interactive, and, most important of all—free. In fact, a survey conducted for the Canadian Media Research Consortium in 2011 found that an overwhelming 81 percent of those surveyed would refuse to pay if their favourite online news sites erected a pay wall. If their usual news sources started charging for content, they would simply go to sites where they could get their news for free.5 According to Sauvageau, the problem for society is that newspapers are still the main producers of news. They have the largest staffs and the most resources, and produce almost all of the investigative reporting. He quotes an American study that found that 95 percent of the news stories discussed Co py ri gh t © 2 01 2. A U Pr es s. A ll r ig ht s re se rv ed . Ma y no t be r ep ro du ce d in a ny f or m wi th ou t pe rm is si on f ro m th e pu bl is he r, e xc ep t fa ir u se s pe rm it te d un de r U. S. o r ap pl ic ab le c op yr ig ht l aw . EBSCO Publishing : eBook Academic Collection (EBSCOhost) - printed on 10/16/2021 5:23 AM via UNIVERSITY CANADA WEST AN: 463483 ; Taras, David, Waddell, Christopher Robb.; How Canadians Communicate IV : Media and Politics Account: ns012452 6 Introduction or quoted in blogs, social media, and websites came from traditional news sources—mostly newspapers. As Sauvageau explains: “If the other media didn’t have newspapers to draw on, their news menu would often be meagre indeed. If newspapers stopped publishing, radio hosts who comment on the news would have trouble finding topics, and bloggers would have precious few events to discuss. In large part, newspapers set the public affairs agenda. If the crisis gripping newspapers worsens, it will affect all media and therefore the news system that nourishes democratic life.” Simply put, if newspapers die, the whole news industry won’t be far behind. Sauvageau describes various solutions to the problem—apps on mobile phones, for example, may give newspapers a second life, and in France, the government has come to the rescue by providing subsidies. In a few cases, wealthy moguls eager for prestige and …