Description
The history of the Canadian mass media is the history of complex issues corporate concentration, Canadian content requirements, the impact of new technology, and the like.
It is also the story of the country as a whole. Whether the subject is the rise of a popular press in the late 19th century, the origins of Maclean's as The Busy Man's Magazine, or the early days of radio and television, nothing is clearer than the media's close involvement in every aspect of our national life.
In The Mass Media in Canada, Mary Vipond concentrates on the five major mass media daily newspapers, general interest magazines, movies, radio and television. The story she tells is sometimes amusing, sometimes infuriating and always enlightening.
After a fascinating narrative tracing the media's origins and reflecting on the highs ("The Happy Gang") and the lows (blockbuster movies like "The Apples of Annapolis" and "Where Snow-Time is Joy Time"), Vipond provides a concise introduction to the economic factors that have shaped the Canadian media. She then turns to the role of the media in creating and sustaining a nation's culture, the challenges posed by ever-changing technology, and the patterns of government policy-making vis-ร -vis the media.
Clearly written and persuasively argued, The Mass Media in Canada offers a fascinating glimpse into the humble beginnings of today's media giants. It also provides a thoughtful assessment of government's attempts from the founding of CBC radio in the early 1930s to the Caplan-Sauvageau report of 1986 to make the media serve national goals.
ISBN:9781550282788
