The Mass Media and Canadian Diversity offers an insightful and
thought provoking look at the role the mass media have played in both
forming and perpetuating ideas about Canadian identity. It is a collection
of essays and research reports by nineteen writers who look at the issue
from varying perspectives. A great deal of attention is given to issues
of identity for Native peoples, with a lesser emphasis on the portrayal
of women and visible minorities in our society.
The organization of the book follows a logical historical progression
to the role of the mass media in the formation of a Canadian identity.
This is followed by reports on a number of studies which examine the
direct impact of media decisions and actions. Finally, the editors suggest
a course of action for the roles the media should play in dealing with
identity issues in the future.
The Mass Media and Canadian Diversity concludes that the richness
of cultural diversity in Canada has not traditionally been portrayed
in an accurate or favorable light, and contends that there is a need,
in fact, an obligation, for the media to remedy this situation in the
future. More research needs to be done into the impact of media portrayals
and a more concerted effort to make positive portrayals is required
in order to encourage people to embrace the value of a culturally diverse
Canada, to help us build a healthier, more successful society in the
future.
The editors have done a fairly good job of choosing material for the
book. Various perspectives are presented which provide a valuable cross
section of the diverse cultures in Canada and representations of them
in the mass media. This book will, unfortunately, have a limited use
in the classroom. The reading level would be somewhat difficult for
most high school students and the only visuals are charts of research
findings. The reports on research were, in places, too reliant upon
statistical findings and lacked interesting and useful analyses. Because
of this, students would likely lose interest in reading this book. However,
The Mass Media and Canadian Diversity would be a useful resource
for a higher level course on media relations and the role of media in
the formation of Canadian identity.
In The Power of News, Michael Schudson attempts to clarify exactly
what the role of the media is and has been in American history. He is
clearly an avid historian of the news media and the book is well referenced
and footnoted. However, I found myself struggling to determine whether
this book was about the power of news or the history of news.
The entire first half of the book is devoted to an interesting account
of the role of the news media in American history. While this section
is fascinating, I kept asking myself what this had to do with the power
of news. The second half of the book is more clear in explaining how
the news media has struggled to define the role it can and should play
- that of keeping a presumably literate, intelligent, and politically
active public informed or that of watch dog over those in power, charged
with the responsibility of ensuring authority is used responsibly. Schudson
concludes that the media must have a kind of schizophrenic role because
they must assume the occurrence of both these situations. Sometimes
people are informed and politically active and, at other times, they
are less than vigilant. When this happens, the media must be prepared
to take up the role of political activists and assure that the abuse
of power does not occur.
The Power of News has limited applications for a high school
social studies class. Schudson's writing style make the reading heavy
going in places. Also, the material assumes extensive knowledge of American
historical contexts. As with The Mass Media and Canadian Diversity,
this book is more appropriate for use with a higher level course on
media relations.
While both of these books were about the media, and contend that news
and the media have power over society and politics, they take different
approaches. Nancoo and Nancoo focus on relations between diverse cultures
within a society, while Schudson is more concerned about the relationship
between the producers of news (the media) and the consumers of it (the
general public). Both may have some use as instructor resources, at
the high school level, but would not be suitable for use by high school
students.