Chapter 11: The Media
CBC Archives
CRTC and Media Convergence
As noted previously, the CRTC is one of the more visible examples of the administrative state in action because it is Canada's broadcast regulator. One of the most pressing issues the CRTC has dealt with recently is the question of media convergence and the merging of newsrooms as fewer owners come to control more newspapers and radio and television stations. CBC's Saša Petricic reports on some of the issues confronting the CRTC.
Chomsky on the Media
One of the greatest living critics of contemporary media is the American scholar Noam Chomsky. Although Chomsky's field is linguistics, he's better known for his ideas on society, politics, and the media. In this wide-ranging 1994 interview on CBC Radio's Writers and Company, Chomsky talks about his life and career and the function of media in modern democracies.
Canwest Buys Hollinger
The late Israel Asper became one of Canada's media giants after starting a small television company called CanWest in the 1970s. Before long he merged CanWest with what was then Ontario's newly launched network—Global TV—and set to work building Canada's largest commercial media conglomerate. In this CBC Television clip, Asper talks about a more recent merger. On July 31, 2000, CanWest Global orchestrated a takeover of Hollinger Inc., in which Asper acquired over 130 newspapers and half ownership of the Canadian daily, National Post. Canwest eventually went bankrupt under the crushing weight of debt accumulated by Asper.
TVO's The Agenda
Truth in Modern Journalism
The Agenda examines how the online world is changing journalism.