Unit 4
The Mass Media and the Shaping of Ruling Ideas: Does Ownership Matter?

Introduction

Unit 4 explores the role of the mass media in Canadian society and considers its place in the changing landscape of democratic governance. In the early years of the twenty-first century, the communications industry has become the focus of considerable interest due in large measure to the wave of global corporate mergers such as that of Time Warner with Turner and, in the Canadian case, the acquisition by Global of the National Post (Brownlee 2005, 42–3). This has raised concerns regarding the level of media concentration and the lack of diverse voices in our news and information. The media play a substantive role in shaping the dominant ideas and values—the ideology—in society. Corporate concentration and the increasing dominance of market-driven media production narrows news choices and constrains public dialogue. This poses difficulties because a well informed citizenry is the foundation on which democracy rests.

Contending ideological positions present alternative interpretations to the challenges the media present to democratic practice in liberal democracies such as Canada. Considering these contending viewpoints helps to bring to the fore the debate concerning the function of the media in capitalist society. A number of questions arise: Does corporate ownership bias media content? Is the press in Canada truly pluralistic and an objective source of news and information? What role does the press play in enhancing or limiting democratic practice in liberal democracies? A political economy approach to the workings of the modern media is offered as an analytical framework in which to situate the media in democratic society and to uncover the sources of its limitations. The changes in the mass media is also, as Jamie Brownlee (2005) suggests, an example of the broader pattern of corporate concentration and indicative of the challenges such concentration presents. This is a situation where capital’s power is enhanced and it is “easier for owners and managers to perceive and articulate their common interests” (Brownlee 2005, 31).

Learning Objectives

When you have completed Unit 4, you should be able to achieve the following learning objectives.

1. Identify what the mass media is and outline its major components in Canada
2. Explain what roles the media have played in Canada and identify the particular problems the media confronts in a linguistically and regionally fragmented society
3. Examine whether a set of ruling ideas and values (an ideology) can be said to exist in Canada
4. Describe why a pluralistic press is considered to be vital for the survival of a healthy democracy
5. Explore the changing patterns of corporate ownership globally and in Canada
6. Explain why corporate concentration in the media industry is considered to be an important and troubling development for society
7. Identify the major ideological approaches to comprehending the news media
8. Explain what a political economy approach to understanding the media embodies
9. Identify the major filters the news passes through and explain their significance for democratic governance
10. Examine the role that advocacy think tanks are playing in shaping public discourse