Media Toolkit

People have long been concerned about the impact of the media on society. Currently, diversity in the media is one of the most complex and contentious issues because it involves reflecting Canada’s ethnocultural diversity in a meaningful way. While the media has succeeded in representing diversity-related issues in some aspects, it must meet challenges for more fairness and accuracy in its portrayal of ethnocultural groups.

The media consists of a combination of words, images, sounds and texts that together produce an understanding of the world. It includes print, television, radio, internet, advertising, cinema and music videos. The media’s effects on socialization and communication are significant. Recent studies suggest that by the end of highschool, the average Canadian student will have spent more than 15 000 hours watching television while only 11 000 hours in the classroom. The media shapes public perceptions, disseminates information, sets the public agenda by highlighting certain issues while downplaying others and represents a cornerstone of democracy.

In a multitude of ways, the media offers many opportunities to further the public education of ethnocultural diversity in Canada. It successfully showcases the variety of experiences, voices, creative aspirations and cultural histories. There are currently 250 newspapers in Canada that are published in a language other than English or French, including seven dailies. The media serves as a link to the homelands of newcomers to Canada while at the same time introduces Canadians to other cultures. It brings together communities, provides positive encouragement and serves as a source of information.The media also works to educate and challenge its audience about the growing importance of diversity. For instance, multicultural programing promotes increased understandings and values the similarities and difference among ethnocultural groups in Canadian society.

Nevertheless, problems surrounding ethnocultural diversity in the media may arise from a variety of reasons. The media often presents a news story in one or two minutes which does not allow adequate time to fully portray all viewpoints and are framed as two-sided when in reality, stories are multi-sided. An “us” versus “them” attitude often finds its way into the media. The “us” represents the dominant culture and “them” is any group that is viewed as “different” or outside of “the mainstream.” In most cases, minority groups have little control about how they are represented. Despite journalistic practices of objectivity, balance and fairness, stereotyping occurs. Stereotyping causes the audience to make generalizations about a group of people, usually related to their ethnicity, culture, class, gender or other identity-related marker. Stereotypes are problematic as they reduce the wide array of differences in people to simple categorizations, perpetuate social inequity and result in discrimination. For example, linking an identifiable group to crime can promote negative stereotypes. The invisibility and tokenism of ethnocultural minorities in the media are other challenges that must be addressed for more accurate and balanced coverage.

Additionally, the media is shaped by social, political and economic aspects. More cultural awareness and education is required for improved representation and treatment of all ethnocultural groups in the media. This toolkits seeks to better equip students, consumers and producers of the media to be able to recognize and modify negative portrayals of diversity in the media for more fairness, accuracy, inclusion and representation.

Links to Diversity in the Media

Media Awareness Network

• How to detect Bias in the Media

  This student resource provides education about how to identify bias in the media. Bias, both intentional and unintentional, is examined through the use of headlines, camera angles, language and others aspects.

• Media Portrayals of Aboriginal Peoples: Introduction

  This collection of articles explores the historical and contemporary stereotypes of Aboriginals in the media, the effects of stereotyping on Aboriginal youth, Aboriginal art and the development of Aboriginal media in Canada.

• Media Portrayals of Ethnic and Visible Minorities: Introduction

  This collection of articles highlights the portrayal of ethnic and visible minorities in the news and enertainment. It also examines the current policies that seek to combat the lack of accurate representation and the impact of having more ethnic and visible minorities in media production roles.

• How Canada's Daily Newspapers shut out Minorities

  John Miller's article from Media Magazine offers insight into the thoughtfulness and fairness required for responsible journalism.

• Racism in the Media

  Irshad Manji describes the need for individual journalists to be more vocal in challenging their subjects and each other in order to combat racism.

• Taking a Stand Against Racism in the Media

  Carol Tator advocates for more fairness, equity and justice in the media so that minorities are better represented, included and portrayed. She also explains how the media reflects values that people use to develop an understanding of society.

• Crime not Black and White

  Randall Denley's article from the Ottawa Citizen creatively presents the exaggerations, sensationalism, stereotyping and racial profiling that is often found in news stories.

• Cultural and Racial Diversity in Canadian Broadcast Journalism

  Lorna Roth's excerpt suggests ways that those in the media can use journalistic practices to bring together the complexitites of an issue in an honest, open and culturally-sensitive manner.

• One Year After: Arab and Iranian Media Comments on the First Anniversary of September 11

  The Panos Paris Institute's study examines the Arab and Iranian media coverage of the events of September 11, presents the diversity of Middle Eastern media perspectives and combats stereotypes.

Debwewin: the Ojibway word for Truth: A Three City Anti-Racism Initiative in Northeastern Ontario:

• Aboriginal Issues Media Monitoring Component

  Debwewin's study evaluates the Canadian print media's coverage of Native issues, including its level of fairness, balance, objectivity, quality of research and accuracy.

The Canadian Race Relations Foundation:

• Final Report: Curricula and Special Programs Appropriate for the Study of Portrayals of Diversity in the Media

  This study provides an overview of multicultural education and media literacy in Canadian elementary and high schools. It also offers ideas for the development of teaching resources concerning the portrayal of diversity in the media.

• Racist Discourse in Canada's English Print Media

  In Francis Henry and Carol Tator's study, the authors use four case studies to illustrate the connections between language, discourse and racism in the media. They also demonstrate the media's socially constucted nature and coded images that reinforce unequity among ethnocultural groups in Canadian society.

Society of Professional Journalists:

• Guidelines for Countering Racial, Ethnic and Religious Profiling

  The Society of Professional Journalists offers guidelines for journalists to combat racial profliling, strive to be informative and portray the diversity Arabs, South Asians and Muslims in an accurate manner.

Diversity Watch: Ryerson University School of Journalism

• Media Watch

  This site features a comprehensive summary of the coverage of ethnocultural minority groups and racism issues in the Canadian media.

  
   

• Ethnic Media

  This site includes a listing of newspapers that are produced by the various ethnocultural communities in Canada.

  
   

• Glossary

  This site contains a glossary providing a history of language usage and appropriate word meanings for media producers. It was created by the Diversity Watch staff and Ryerson University students.

Diversity Now

• Focal Point: Diversity in the Media

  Angela Spadafora offers an introduction to the concerns regarding the reflection and representation of ethnocultural groups in the Canadian media.