Browse "Communications"

Prior to the 1960s, only a few periodicals were published for Indigenous people, mainly by non-Indigenous missionary and government organizations. Notable examples were the Chinook-language Kamloops Wawa (1891-1905) and the Inuktitut-language Oblate publications of the 1940s and 1950s.

 The first formal advertisement in Canada was an offer of butter for sale that appeared in 1752 in an official government publication called the Halifax Gazette. In 1764 the Québec Gazette (later renamed the Chronicle-Telegraph) was founded, as much to carry news of merchandise as events.

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC)/Radio-Canada is one of the world's major public broadcasting organizations. It operates national radio (AM and FM) and television networks in English and French; provides regional and local radio and television programming in both official languages; broadcasts locally produced programs in English and Indigenous languages for people living in the far North; runs a multilingual shortwave service for listeners overseas; and provides closed captioning for the deaf.

What a difference a word or two of jargon makes. When the top federal broadcast regulator, Françoise Bertrand, was asked last week how she expected the CBC to pay for the raft of new programming demands she is trying to impose, she lapsed into bloated bureaucratese.This article was originally published in Maclean's Magazine on January 17, 2000

This article was originally published in Maclean’s magazine on September 30, 1996. Partner content is not updated. Perrin Beatty was smiling as he entered the plush Toronto hotel room. And as he concluded his speech to reporters last week, it was clear that he was trying to spin the radical changes at the CANADIAN BROADCASTING CORP. into a good news-bad news proposition.

At 3 p.m. on Feb. 27, only 90 minutes before the federal budget was tabled in the House of Commons, CBC president Anthony Manera was handed a single sheet of paper that made him do a double take. In three neat columns, figures spelled out the bleak financial future of the Crown corporation.This article was originally published in Maclean's Magazine on March 13, 1995

CHUM Limited, controlled by Allan Waters, and headquartered in Toronto, is one of Canada's largest radio and television broadcasting holding companies.

Research may focus on a variety of topics. Mass media are studied for the content of their programs, the way those programs are produced and the impact of various influences on programming. Media economic structure and the media's role in political life are also topics of research.

Communications influence all societies, but Canada in particular takes its shape and meaning from communications systems.

What is distinctive about communications in Québec is the existence of 2 often competing media serving different cultures and, above all, the ways in which francophone media have expressed or reinforced the character of French Canada.

Communications have played a special role in the North. Terrain, climate and distance made it difficult for northerners to communicate with each other or with southern Canada before the advent of electronic media. In traditional times, Inuit messages were passed through personal contact.

Community Broadcasting is designed to fulfil social and cultural needs by allowing members of the audience to participate in decisions about programming and, in the case of radio, in the ownership of stations.

Le Devoir is a French-language newspaper founded in Montreal in 1910 by Henri Bourassa. Known for its financial independence, this daily newspaper is still active to this day.

Media convergence is a term for two things: 1) It is when different media merge through technology. This is also known as technological convergence. 2) It is also when companies own different media outlets as part of a business strategy. This is also called media consolidation, media concentration or economic convergence.

Independent newspapers were first established in Canada between about 1800 and 1850. During that period, printing presses became less expensive to establish and operate, and literacy rates and an appetite for news and views developed. Since publishers were less dependent on government subsidy than before, they were free to question and criticize the powers that be. As a result, an independent but not impartial journalism developed. From the mid-1800s to the early 1900s, newspapers became more profitable as populations and commerce expanded and reader and advertising revenues grew. During this time, mainstream newspapers represented the interests of political parties and cultural groups.