{"id":514,"date":"2024-08-19T20:20:31","date_gmt":"2024-08-19T20:20:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/textbook.mediasmarts.ca\/navigatingstudent\/chapter\/article-2-owning-our-stories\/"},"modified":"2025-03-21T18:56:29","modified_gmt":"2025-03-21T18:56:29","slug":"article-2-owning-our-stories","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/textbook.mediasmarts.ca\/navigatingstudent\/chapter\/article-2-owning-our-stories\/","title":{"raw":"Article 2 \"Owning Our Stories\"","rendered":"Article 2 “Owning Our Stories”"},"content":{"raw":"Since before Canada became a Confederation, historically under-represented groups have been creating their own media: the first issue of the\u2009Provincial Freeman<\/em>, which was a weekly newspaper edited and published by Black Canadians in the Province of Canada West (now Ontario), was first published on March 24,\u20091853, while Ojibwa chief, doctor and publisher Peter Edmund Jones, also called Kahkewaquonaby, launched the newspaper The Indian<\/em> in 1885.\r\n\r\nOn the surface, the state of diverse media in Canada looks rosy: a 2013 study for Canadian Heritage reported a total of 427 ethnic media print publications across Canada.[footnote]Yu, S (2016). Instrumentalization of Ethnic Media. Canadian Journal of Communication. 41, 343-351.[\/footnote]\u00a0But how good a job are these outlets doing of serving their communities and Canadian society as a whole? Are they promoting multiculturalism or keeping diverse groups isolated? And when media outlets of all sizes are facing tough economic times, how sure can we be that they will even survive?\r\n\r\nThere\u2019s no doubt that APTN is the great success story of Canadian diverse media. Since it first began broadcasting in 1999, the channel has become an essential way for members of Canada\u2019s far-flung Indigenous communities \u2013 not to mention Indigenous people living outside of those communities \u2013 to stay connected with Indigenous news and culture. It is part of every Canadian cable and satellite provider\u2019s basic package, thanks to the CRTC\u2019s decision to make it a national network, which means that it is accessible to nearly all Canadians. While in its early days its primetime schedule was dominated by imports such as \u201cNorthern Exposure\u201d and \u201cYoung Riders,\u201d American-made TV shows with a small number of Indigenous cast members, as well as American-made movies with little or no relevance to the Indigenous community such as \u201cCommando\u201d and \u201cMiss Congeniality,\u201d today it offers mostly Indigenous-made programs like \u201cMichif Country\u201d and \u201cPetroglyphs to Pixels.\u201d\r\n\r\nAPTN is something of an exception, however. Nearly all Canadian channels that cater to historically under-represented groups depend heavily on imported content, and what original content is created is often of poor quality. In 2017, Rogers contracted Chinese-language programming for its OMNI Regional channel to Vancouver-based Fairchild Television, which depends almost entirely on footage bought from other sources and provides little or no analysis of news. Avvy Gao, director of the Chinese & Southeast Asian Legal Clinic, argued that this arrangement \u201cmeans eliminating the opportunity for differing views and possibly reducing access to local news by our communities.\u201d[footnote]Wong, T (2017) OMNI Regional launches Sept 1amid controversy over contracting out newscasts. The Toronto Star.[\/footnote] In some cases there are also concerns about the objectivity of the news being reported: media commentator Gloria Fung has speculated that the Chinese government has taken advantage of the financial instability of some Chinese-Canadian media to influence coverage of events such as protests in Tibet and the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.[footnote]Yip, Joyce. \u201cState of Disarray\u201d Ryerson Review of Journalism, Summer 2010. <http:\/\/www.rrj.ca\/m8463\/>[\/footnote]\r\n\r\nA desire to not make waves can hamper journalism in other ways as well. Commentators such as Aaron Braverman have observed that media aimed at persons with disabilities shy away from controversy in favour of inspirational stories and lifestyle pieces. Braverman suggests that they want to avoid offending the advertisers and governments that provide their funding \u2013 though these often have the most influence on the lives of persons with disabilities.[footnote]Broverman, Aaron. \u201cCrippled!\u201d Ryerson Review of Journalism, Summer 2007. <http:\/\/www.rrj.ca\/m4097\/>[\/footnote]\r\n\r\nAs well, the focus on media by and for marginalized groups can mean that these communities are not portrayed any more or better in the mainstream media: Susan G. Cole, a lesbian who is Books and Entertainment Editor at Now Magazine, has criticized Canada\u2019s gay press for not challenging the mainstream\u2019s view of gays and lesbians.[footnote]\u201cWhip It Out.\u201d Ryerson Review of Journalism, Spring 2005.[\/footnote]\r\n\r\nA larger concern with diverse media is that it may not, in fact, help to make Canada a more multicultural nation. Sherry Yu, of the University of Toronto, argues in her 2018 book that definitions of ethnic media and mainstream media support \u201cthe binary framework in which ethnic media is positioned as \u2018media for the Other\u2019 and exists in isolation from mainstream media.\u201d[footnote]Yu, S (2018). Diasporic Media Beyond the Diaspora. UBC Press.[\/footnote] Jorge Ramos, a journalist for the American Spanish-language broadcaster Univision, makes a similar point, saying that while members of many communities rely on diverse community media to be informed, defining him as an ethnic media journalist marginalizes him and makes him feel like an outsider. Still, Ramos says, diverse community media is essential because \u201cWe don\u2019t just report the facts, we also understand journalism as a public service.\u201d[footnote]Gerson, D & Rodriguez, C (2018). Going forward: How ethnic and mainstream media can collaborate in changing communities. American Press Institute.[\/footnote]\r\n\r\nSimilarly, Dave Steward III, founder of Lion Forge Animation (an American company that produced the Academy Award -winning short Hair Love<\/em>), argues that having production and distribution companies owned by members of historically marginalized communities is essential to achieving true, accurate representation: \u201cIt\u2019s representation on the screen. It\u2019s representation on the producing side of things. But then also, and I think what\u2019s always missed, is, there needs to be representation in the executive teams that have the power to be able to push the content through. Because if you have content that\u2019s, let\u2019s say, is from a Black creator and has a Black cast, but you have non-Black executives overseeing the projects\u2026 there are stories of those executives using their power to change that content based off of their perception and portrayal of a particular group.\u201d[footnote]Laporte, N. (2020) The Black owned animation studio behind Hair Love is teaching Hollywood how to be authentic. Fast Company.[\/footnote] The same is true in Canada: Nathalie Younglai, founder of BIPOC TV and Film, has argued that large production companies discourage meaningful representations of diversity by defining \u201cCanadian\u201d as meaning \u201cWhite,\u201d saying \u201cHow is this Canadian? How does someone in Saskatchewan relate to this?\u201d Because it is typically cheaper to license foreign content than produce it locally, when diversity is represented on Canadian screens it typically reflects American communities.[footnote]Roberts, Soraya. (2022) The Superficial Diversity of Canadian TV. The Walrus.[\/footnote]\r\n\r\nThere\u2019s no question that Canadian media needs to better reflect our increasingly multicultural community, not to mention recognize other minorities such as 2SLGBTQINA+ people and persons with disabilities. There\u2019s also no question that some outlets, such as APTN, do a surprisingly good job with limited resources. But those limited resources are the bottom line: none of these outlets are sure to survive or remain in the hands of their communities. Between 2010 and 2020, the number of Chinese-language newspapers in the Greater Toronto Area dropped from 30 to two.[footnote]Liu, Scarlett. (2022) \u2018Entering a new era\u2019: What is the way forward for Chinese news outlets after Sing Tao Daily ceases publication\uff1fThe Toronto Star.[\/footnote] Many publications that have survived, from the 2SLGBTQINA+-focused Xtra Magazine to Sing Tao Daily, Canada\u2019s largest Chinese-language newspaper, have moved online-only as a cost-cutting measure. While digital distribution has allowed diverse communities to produce podcasts, streaming services and other programming that wasn\u2019t possible before, it also is unable to reach people who don\u2019t have a reliable internet connection or lack skills to find and access it.\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\n[h5p id=\"87\"]","rendered":"

Since before Canada became a Confederation, historically under-represented groups have been creating their own media: the first issue of the\u2009Provincial Freeman<\/em>, which was a weekly newspaper edited and published by Black Canadians in the Province of Canada West (now Ontario), was first published on March 24,\u20091853, while Ojibwa chief, doctor and publisher Peter Edmund Jones, also called Kahkewaquonaby, launched the newspaper The Indian<\/em> in 1885.<\/p>\n

On the surface, the state of diverse media in Canada looks rosy: a 2013 study for Canadian Heritage reported a total of 427 ethnic media print publications across Canada.[1]<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0But how good a job are these outlets doing of serving their communities and Canadian society as a whole? Are they promoting multiculturalism or keeping diverse groups isolated? And when media outlets of all sizes are facing tough economic times, how sure can we be that they will even survive?<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no doubt that APTN is the great success story of Canadian diverse media. Since it first began broadcasting in 1999, the channel has become an essential way for members of Canada\u2019s far-flung Indigenous communities \u2013 not to mention Indigenous people living outside of those communities \u2013 to stay connected with Indigenous news and culture. It is part of every Canadian cable and satellite provider\u2019s basic package, thanks to the CRTC\u2019s decision to make it a national network, which means that it is accessible to nearly all Canadians. While in its early days its primetime schedule was dominated by imports such as \u201cNorthern Exposure\u201d and \u201cYoung Riders,\u201d American-made TV shows with a small number of Indigenous cast members, as well as American-made movies with little or no relevance to the Indigenous community such as \u201cCommando\u201d and \u201cMiss Congeniality,\u201d today it offers mostly Indigenous-made programs like \u201cMichif Country\u201d and \u201cPetroglyphs to Pixels.\u201d<\/p>\n

APTN is something of an exception, however. Nearly all Canadian channels that cater to historically under-represented groups depend heavily on imported content, and what original content is created is often of poor quality. In 2017, Rogers contracted Chinese-language programming for its OMNI Regional channel to Vancouver-based Fairchild Television, which depends almost entirely on footage bought from other sources and provides little or no analysis of news. Avvy Gao, director of the Chinese & Southeast Asian Legal Clinic, argued that this arrangement \u201cmeans eliminating the opportunity for differing views and possibly reducing access to local news by our communities.\u201d[2]<\/sup><\/a> In some cases there are also concerns about the objectivity of the news being reported: media commentator Gloria Fung has speculated that the Chinese government has taken advantage of the financial instability of some Chinese-Canadian media to influence coverage of events such as protests in Tibet and the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.[3]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n

A desire to not make waves can hamper journalism in other ways as well. Commentators such as Aaron Braverman have observed that media aimed at persons with disabilities shy away from controversy in favour of inspirational stories and lifestyle pieces. Braverman suggests that they want to avoid offending the advertisers and governments that provide their funding \u2013 though these often have the most influence on the lives of persons with disabilities.[4]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n

As well, the focus on media by and for marginalized groups can mean that these communities are not portrayed any more or better in the mainstream media: Susan G. Cole, a lesbian who is Books and Entertainment Editor at Now Magazine, has criticized Canada\u2019s gay press for not challenging the mainstream\u2019s view of gays and lesbians.[5]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n

A larger concern with diverse media is that it may not, in fact, help to make Canada a more multicultural nation. Sherry Yu, of the University of Toronto, argues in her 2018 book that definitions of ethnic media and mainstream media support \u201cthe binary framework in which ethnic media is positioned as \u2018media for the Other\u2019 and exists in isolation from mainstream media.\u201d[6]<\/sup><\/a> Jorge Ramos, a journalist for the American Spanish-language broadcaster Univision, makes a similar point, saying that while members of many communities rely on diverse community media to be informed, defining him as an ethnic media journalist marginalizes him and makes him feel like an outsider. Still, Ramos says, diverse community media is essential because \u201cWe don\u2019t just report the facts, we also understand journalism as a public service.\u201d[7]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n

Similarly, Dave Steward III, founder of Lion Forge Animation (an American company that produced the Academy Award -winning short Hair Love<\/em>), argues that having production and distribution companies owned by members of historically marginalized communities is essential to achieving true, accurate representation: \u201cIt\u2019s representation on the screen. It\u2019s representation on the producing side of things. But then also, and I think what\u2019s always missed, is, there needs to be representation in the executive teams that have the power to be able to push the content through. Because if you have content that\u2019s, let\u2019s say, is from a Black creator and has a Black cast, but you have non-Black executives overseeing the projects\u2026 there are stories of those executives using their power to change that content based off of their perception and portrayal of a particular group.\u201d[8]<\/sup><\/a> The same is true in Canada: Nathalie Younglai, founder of BIPOC TV and Film, has argued that large production companies discourage meaningful representations of diversity by defining \u201cCanadian\u201d as meaning \u201cWhite,\u201d saying \u201cHow is this Canadian? How does someone in Saskatchewan relate to this?\u201d Because it is typically cheaper to license foreign content than produce it locally, when diversity is represented on Canadian screens it typically reflects American communities.[9]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n

There\u2019s no question that Canadian media needs to better reflect our increasingly multicultural community, not to mention recognize other minorities such as 2SLGBTQINA+ people and persons with disabilities. There\u2019s also no question that some outlets, such as APTN, do a surprisingly good job with limited resources. But those limited resources are the bottom line: none of these outlets are sure to survive or remain in the hands of their communities. Between 2010 and 2020, the number of Chinese-language newspapers in the Greater Toronto Area dropped from 30 to two.[10]<\/sup><\/a> Many publications that have survived, from the 2SLGBTQINA+-focused Xtra Magazine to Sing Tao Daily, Canada\u2019s largest Chinese-language newspaper, have moved online-only as a cost-cutting measure. While digital distribution has allowed diverse communities to produce podcasts, streaming services and other programming that wasn\u2019t possible before, it also is unable to reach people who don\u2019t have a reliable internet connection or lack skills to find and access it.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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