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Focal Point: Ethnicity and the Media.
by Angela Spadafora
Canada is a country of diversity. There are a wide variety of ethnic groups represented in the Canadian population, including Chinese, Italian, Portuguese, South Asian, Korean, Japanese and Arab to name a few. According to Statistics Canada, in 2001, Canada’s total population was just over twenty-nine million. Almost four million of those people were visible minorities. Each group contributes its own values and ideals which serve as important characteristics to Canadian society. It is for this reason that the media play an important role in shaping the public perception of multiculturalism in Canada. However, the population is not often adequately reflected in the country’s media including print, television, radio and the internet. So the question often asked is do media convey a balanced message to all Canadians?
The relationship between media and ethnicity was closely examined during the final day of a Canadian-American symposium. The Association for Canadian Studies (ACS), an organization which strives to raise public awareness of Canadian issues, along with OMNI Television and several other organizations took part in the three-day symposium held recently in Toronto to examine the issues related to the evolving ethnic diversity of Canada and its impact upon the consumer’s desire for media programming in languages other than English and French. The forum also reviewed the reflection of ethnicity in the mainstream media. The general consensus is that media outlets in North America do not have enough employees from diverse backgrounds in the workforce.
According to a study by Professor John Miller at Ryerson University in Toronto, the number of people from diverse backgrounds that are employed by media outlets in Canada has only gone up from 2.56% to just 3.4% in the last ten years. An increase that OMNI Television’s Vice-President and General Manager Madeline Ziniak says is insufficient because of North America’s vast cultural diversity.
Canada was the first country in the world to adopt an official multiculturalism policy to reflect the cultural diversity of the Canadian people. The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms makes the importance of diversity a realistic part of our identity. Section 15.1 reads, “Every individual is equal before and under the law and has the right to the equal protection and equal benefit of the law without discrimination and, in particular, without discrimination based on race, national or ethnic origin.” Whereas the law has the responsibility to protect our self-identity, media have the ability to promote it. The media should contribute to the journey of self-determination where human rights are able to find full expression and satisfaction. OMNI-TV for example contributes to this journey, using the opportunity it has to inspire, create and promote multicultural dialogue in Canada with programming in over 40 languages that air over 40 hours a week.
Canadians take pride in their renowned acceptance of diversity. Around the world we are recognized for our integration of ethnic minorities in society. The media plays an important role in the reporting of diversity issues. While the mainstream media’s track record often consists of the reporting of problems related to newcomers, with stories of immigration woes and refugee status issues, ethnic media tend to be more consistent in portraying stories of integration and of daily Canadian life. In this respect, media can serve as a link to a new Canadian’s homeland and at the same time, introduce those Canadian-born to a new world. Some mainstream media are becoming more aware of a need to improve reporting and reflection of diversity, and while progress has been made, there is still more to be done.
Taking into consideration that by the year 2017, Statistics Canada predicts that more than half of the country’s population is expected to be visible minorities, all media have an opportunity to challenge themselves and their audiences to accept the growing importance of diversity to Canada’s future. But the future is hard to predict. Whether it is through specialty channels on cable, through more inclusive content, through the hiring of more ethnicities in the newsroom, or in even in forums like the ACS, media must do their part. The more we communicate, the more we demystify diversity and engage everyone in the benefits of living in a multicultural society, the sooner this cultural richness will become our defining strength.
For more information on the activities of the Association for Canadian Studies, you can
log onto their website www.acs-aec.ca
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