Geneviève A. Bonin

Quelle Différence?: Language, culture and nationality as influences on francophone journalists’ identity

Canada, Belgium and Switzerland are multicultural countries with several similarities including having French as a minority language. The trio also shares similar media landscapes, systems and approaches to journalism to those of other Western European and Northern American countries. These commonalities offer an opportunity to probe for the possibility of a language-based differentiation in journalists’ professional identities. Our comparative analysis of Worlds of Journalism Study data suggests that francophone journalists in our three countries have much more in common than not with their other-language peers. However, the francophone journalists seem more likely to identify with a politicized role that includes agenda-setting, citizen-motivation and scrutinizing power, and less likely to be driven by attracting and satisfying audiences. A différence francophone exists, but it is modest.

Canada's transition to digital television: from policy to reality

The implementation of digital technology in Canada has been an inevitable reality for over ten years. Although the industry recognizes the need for the transition, not all broadcasters have yet digested the attached price tag. Instead of investing money on infrastructure early on to prepare, many focused on mergers and acquisitions. This, along with the current economic crisis, has exacerbated the implementation of the new technology. Government has also held back by not providing a relevant policy framework in which the industry and society as a whole can work to move the project along. This lack of leadership has left the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to fend for itself. This article summarizes the debates at hand and details the technological and financial challenges facing the industry by providing results of a thorough analysis of interview data and documentation from the press and government.

Journalists in Canada

Of the 352 journalists interviewed in Canada, nearly half were women (43.5%). The mean age was 44.51 years (s=11.88), which corresponds almost exactly to the median age of 44.50. With respect to their education, the majority of these journalists hold a minimum of a college diploma or university degree (93.4%), with 27.4 percent completing a Master’s degree and just over 1.0 percent completing a doctorate. Of those completing post-secondary education, only 25.2 percent specialized in a field other than journalism or communications. Most respondents (61.3%) specialized only in journalism, 9.0 percent specialized in another communication field, and 4.5 percent specialized in journalism in addition to another communication field. Only 6.6 percent of respondents have not completed post-secondary education, and less than 1 percent had less than a high school education. These data suggest Canadian journalists are well educated.