Canadian media and the developing world: a critical mapping of key issues, events, and actors.

This study has identified a number of features of Canadian news coverage of developing countries. • First, as the literature review shows,international events may attract considerable attention from the Canadian news media, but the proportion of international stories that take up questions relating to development are very small. Moreover, the closure of foreign bureaus and thinning of editorial resources over the past decades has led to more heavy reliance on wire services and a decline in what National Geographic’s Paul Salopek called “deep journalism.” For Salopek, deep journalism “is informed by deep immersion in the story at ground level… revealing the texture of lives of people… who live within front-page stories, but normally don’t make the news themselves” (Bishop, 2015). • In the sample examined here, newspapers, when compared to digital and broadcast media, included more coverage of issues and events in the developing world (but also more news stories in general). In the English media, the Toronto Star had the highest volume of all international news coverage of the developing world, both in terms of development and non-development stories. In the French media, Le Devoir had the highest volume of all coverage. National newspapers generally had more development-themed coverage, although the Calgary Herald and Montreal Gazette had a higher volume of non-development coverage than The Globe and Mail and National Post. • Terrorism and war were the major drivers of the news coverage of the developing world in both English and French. Not surprisingly, countries like Iraq and Nigeria, where conflict was very high in 2015, were the main focus of the non-development-themed coverage. • When looking at the amount of development-themed coverage of the 18 selected countries across all news platforms, we see very little reporting in general and therefore it is important to be cautious in the conclusions that are made about it (other than the conclusion that development stories are largely invisible). Overall, multiple country stories in English and French were the most predominant, as opposed to stories dealing with development issues in single countries. • In English language media, the individual countries of Haiti, Kenya, and Nigeria had the most amount of coverage and, again, traditional print coverage had more coverage than the digital or broadcast media; in French, Haiti, Iraq, and DR Congo had the highest volume. • The English national papers generally had more development-themed coverage than the regional papers, although the Ottawa Citizen and Calgary Herald were third and fourth respectively in this type of coverage. As noted above, the Toronto Star had the highest proportion of stories about developing countries in general as well as the highest proportion of development-themed stories. The Globe and Mail, while having fewer stories about developing countries generally, had the second highest number of development-themed stories. 34 • In French, Le Devoir had the most development-themed coverage, followed by La Presse. Considering the number of media included in the study, the proportion of development-themed stories in French-language newspapers seems comparatively higher to the English-language sample. The number of stories is similar for Radio-Canada and CBC. • The largest proportion of development-themed stories were hard news rather than opinion, although the French coverage did have a higher proportion of news coverage when compared to the English. In English, the most common development themes of these stories were about infrastructure, education, and gender, while in French, the most common themes were economic development, human rights, and governance. • Most of the coverage that was identified with an author was written by staff at the news organizations, although French stories were more likely than English stories to have used wire services (nearly all from AFP). • In English, almost half of the stories were prominently placed on the first four pages of the publication while in French the stories were more likely to be found after page four. • The stories in English were generally shorter when compared to the French stories. Approximately 20 percent of all stories (English and French) were 1,000 words or more. Only 47 percent of English stories and 54 percent of French stories were more than 750words. • NGOs were the most quoted sources with over 40 different NGOs identified in the English and French.Fondation Aga Khan (Canada

Tabloïd nouveau genre : format change and news content in Quebec City's Le Soleil

Faced with growing competition and dwindling readership, especially among young people, some metropolitan newspapers have switched from a broadsheet to a smaller, easier to handle format. This strategy has been successful at least in the short term, and has been applied recently in Quebec by small-market newspapers owned by the Gesca chain. In April 2006, Le Soleil, the second-largest daily of the group, adopted a compact format and new design, accompanied by new content sections, changes in newsroom staff and management, as well as an elaborate marketing plan. In announcing the change to its readers, an article by the editor-in-chief focused on adapting the newspaper’s content to readers’ lifestyles and interests, as well as developing interactivity. The plan was met with some resistance in the newsroom and among readers. Based on a theoretical model of long-term change in journalism, briefly set out in the article, this study analyzes this case as it compares to the ‘‘communication journalism’’ paradigm. Specifically, it examines how tensions between competing conceptions of journalism are manifest in Le Soleil’s own coverage of the format change

Innovating in a crisis : Canadian media actors assess the state of convergence

Our content analysis conducted in 2007 revealed little evidence of convergence practices in television networks and newspapers owned by Canwest Global, CTVglobemedia, and Quebecor. In 2009 and early 2010, we interviewed executives and journalists of the media groups studied, as well as other stakeholders, to assess the current situation and speculate about the future of convergence in Canada. Respondents generally acknowledged that TV/print newsroom integration had not succeeded and that future convergence efforts would focus on delivering content online and developing a viable economic model for news production. Respondents offered diverse perceptions of conventional media’s ability to reinvent and sustain themselves as the principal news sources for Canadians. Emerging models include the development of a corporate news service, specialization in certain topic areas, and crossmedia collaboration.Notre analyse de contenu réalisée en 2007 n’a révélé aucune preuve substantielle de convergence entre les nouvelles télévisées et les journaux appartenant aux groupes Canwest Global, CTVglobemedia et Quebecor. Nous avons réalisé une série d’entretiens auprès de gestionnaires et journalistes des médias étudiés, de même que d’autres acteurs du milieu, en 2009 et 2010, afin de recueillir leur évaluation de la situation actuelle et leur vision de l’avenir de la convergence médiatique. De l’avis général des participants, l’intégration des nouvelles télévisuelles et de la presse écrite ne s’était pas réalisée et les initiatives futures s’orienteront surtout vers l’offre en ligne et la rentabilisation des contenus d’information. Ils ont émis des points de vue variés quant à la capacité des médias conventionnels de se réinventer et se maintenir en tant que sources principales d’information pour les Canadiens. Parmi les modèles émergents identifiés : le développement d’agences de presse corporatives, la spécialisation thématique et la collaboration entre médias

La formation des journalistes en Amérique

Colette Brin, professeur associé à l’université Laval (Québec) et rédactrice en chef de Projet.ca, observatoire indépendant du journalisme, présente ici les spécificités et les enjeux de la formation journalistique en Amérique du Nord. L’enseignement du journalisme se fait exclusivement au sein de l’université et entretient à ce titre des liens étroits avec le monde de la recherche. Tout comme en France, les formateurs en journalisme doivent faire face à de nouveaux défis tels que le développement du journalisme participatif, ou encore un marché de l’emploi fragilisé

La couverture médiatique des accommodements raisonnables dans la presse écrite québécoise : vérification de l’hypothèse du tsunami médiatique.

From March 2006 to May 2008, the province of Québec engaged in a contentious public debate on diversity and reasonable accommodation practices. This study examines the evolution of press coverage in eleven Québec dailies dedicated to the issue of reasonable accommodation over the intensive twelve-month period during which the concept entered the public agenda. We examine the “media tsunami” hypothesis, an expanded version of the media hype theory developed by Vasterman (2005). The hypothesis posits that the media, in dealing with an emergent social issue in a relatively short period of time, amplify the importance of the issue through successive waves of press coverage that gain in intensity and magnitude over time. In doing so, they can manufacture social “crises.”De mars 2006 à mai 2008, le Québec a été secoué par un débat sociétal sur la question de la gestion de la diversité culturelle et du principe d’accommodement raisonnable. Cette étude s’intéresse à l’évolution de la couverture du concept d’accommodement raisonnable dans la presse écrite québécoise au cours de la période intensive du traitement médiatique où le terme est entré dans le discours public. L’article examine l’hypothèse du « tsunami médiatique », une version plus étoffée de la théorie du media hype mise de l’avant par Vasterman (2005). L’hypothèse de la déferlante médiatique pose que l’enjeu en question est une création médiatique dont la couverture en amplifie l’importance sociétale et peut générer une inquiétude au sein de la société. Les données tirées d’une analyse exhaustive du contenu de onze journaux québécois révèlent que la couverture produite par la presse écrite de la question des accommodements raisonnables représente un cas typique de « tsunami médiatique.

Is one source enough? Verification in Canadian newspapers

When journalists compete with bloggers and anyone with a smartphone, on what basis may professional reporters now claim public attention and trust? The profession’s quality criteria have traditionally been tacit, intuitive, and varied rather than codified or standardized. However, accuracy remains a core value. When speed often prevails over accuracy, what exactly does verification mean in everyday practice? Through a series of individual in-depth interviews conducted in Quebec and Ontario, we seek to describe the fact-checking strategies used by a group of award-winning journalists and by a control group of randomly selected journalists. In both groups, we see rigorous methodologies that can be described as “best practices.” Nevertheless, we note a cleavage between spoken ideals and everyday practice in the participants’ discourse.Au moment où les journalistes entrent en compétition avec des blogueurs et des citoyens armés de téléphones intelligents, sur quelles bases peuvent-ils réclamer l’attention et la confiance du public? Les critères de qualité de la profession demeurent encore aujourd’hui basés sur des règles tacites, intuitives et variées. Pourtant, l’exactitude demeure une valeur fondamentale pour les journalistes. Quand la vitesse l’emporte sur l’exactitude, quelles sont les règles qui régissent le travail des journalistes de quotidien? Grâce à une série d’entrevues réalisées au Québec et en Ontario auprès d’un groupe de journalistes primés et d’un groupe contrôle, nous avons reconstruit les stratégies de vérification de ces reporters. Alors que des méthodes de vérification rigoureuses sont observées dans les deux groupes, un clivage est visible entre les idéaux des participants et leur pratique quotidienne

Le journalisme politique en 140 caractères : le cas du Québec

Durant la dernière décennie, peu d’études se sont penchées sur l’utilisation que font les journalistes politiques d’Internet et des réseaux socionumériques, particulièrement à l’extérieur des États-Unis et du contexte spécifique des campagnes électorales. Traditionnellement, un pan de la littérature en communication conçoit l’actualité politique comme une construction, négociée principalement entre les journalistes et les autorités politiques. Or, les sources d’information des journalistes tendent à se diversifier ; Internet fournit désormais aux acteurs politiques, médiatiques et citoyens l’occasion d’interagir et de négocier la construction de l’actualité publiquement, en temps réel. En ce sens, cet article explore comment les journalistes politiques québécois utilisent Internet, et plus spécifiquement Twitter, dans leurs pratiques et leurs discours professionnels, à partir d’une analyse de contenu quantitative et qualitative des messages diffusés par la presse parlementaire durant une période de deux semaines. D’une part, nos analyses montrent la persistance de pratiques caractéristiques des médias de masse et l’émergence de nouvelles façons de faire. Généralement, les journalistes parlementaires dialoguent peu et sont enclins à conserver leur rôle de gardien de l’information (gatekeeper) sur Twitter, diffusant principalement leur propre travail ou celui d’autres journalistes. De plus, les sources politiques officielles continuent à occuper une place prépondérante dans leur couverture. Cependant, le rapport des journalistes parlementaires au temps se transforme. Une partie très importante de leur production consiste à communiquer instantanément de l’information fragmentaire sur un événement politique, laissant peu d’espace et de temps à la vérification de l’information. D’autre part, nos données révèlent une diversité dans les usages de Twitter chez les journalistes parlementaires étudiés. Des journalistes se distinguent de leurs collègues en dialoguant avec une diversité d’usagers et en faisant preuve de transparence vis-à-vis de leurs publics. Cette diversité suggère que le journalisme politique québécois se situe dans une phase de transition par rapport aux nouvelles possibilités qu’offrent les réseaux socionumériques.Over the last decade, few studies have examined how of the Internet and social media are used by political journalists, particularly in non-US contexts and outside of election campaigns. Traditionally, past research has depicted political news as a construct negotiated primarily between journalists and political officials. However, journalistic sources have been diversifying: the Internet now provides political actors, media and citizens with the opportunity to interact and negotiate publicly and in real time the construction of political news. Using both quantitative and qualitative content analyses of tweets broadcasted by the parliamentary press over a period of two weeks, this article investigates how Quebec political journalists use social media, specifically Twitter, in their daily routines and their professional discourse. First, our analysis reveals both the prevalence of routines characteristic of mass media as well as the emergence of new journalistic practices. The data show that parliamentary reporters engage in limited interaction with their publics and are likely to upkeep their role as information gatekeepers on Twitter, using microblogging mainly to broadcast their own production or that of other journalists. Moreover, their coverage still refers prominently to official political sources. However, the data also indicate that parliamentary journalists’ relation to time is changing. A very important part of their daily routine is now dedicated to instantaneous communication of fragmentary information of political events on Twitter, leaving little space and time to verify the information. Second, the data reveal a diversity of Twitter uses among the studied parliamentary reporters. Some do set themselves apart from their colleagues by maintaining an ongoing dialogue with a variety of Twitter users or by demonstrating transparency in their reporting on the platform. This diversity suggests that political journalism in Quebec is in a transitional hybrid phase with respect to the opportunities offered by reporting news on social media.Na última década, poucos estudos se debruçaram sobre a utilização que os jornalistas políticos fazem da internet e das redes sociodigitais, sobretudo fora dos Estados Unidos e do contexto específico das campanhas eleitorais. Tradicionalmente, uma parcela da literatura em comunicação concebe o noticiário político como uma construção, negociada principalmente entre os jornalistas e as autoridades políticas. Ora, as fontes jornalísticas tendem a se diversificar na medida em que a internet proporciona aos atores políticos, midiáticos e cidadãos a oportunidade de interagir e de negociar, em tempo real, a construção do noticiário político. Nesse sentido, este artigo explica como os jornalistas políticos da província canadense do Quebec utilizam a internet, e de forma mais específica o Twitter, em suas práticas e discursos profissionais. Pata isso, foi feita uma análise quantitativa e qualitativa do conteúdo das mensagens difundidas pela imprensa parlamentar num período de duas semanas. Por um lado, nossas análises mostram a persistência de práticas características da mídia de massa e a emergência de novos formas de fazer. Geralmente, os jornalistas parlamentares dialogam pouco e são propensos a conservar o seu papel de gatekeeper no Twitter, difundido principalmente o seu próprio trabalho ou o de outros jornalistas. Além disso, as fontes políticas oficiais continuam a ocupar um lugar preponderante na cobertura. Contudo, a relação entre os jornalistas parlamentares e o tempo se transforma. Uma parte importante da produção deles consiste em comunicar instantaneamente uma informação fragmentada sobre um evento político, deixando pouco tempo e espaço para a verificação da informação. Por outro lado, nossos dados revelam uma diversificação dos usos do Twitter pelos jornalistas parlamentares analisados. Eles se distinguem de seus colegas pelo fato de dialogarem com uma maior diversidade de usuários, demonstrando mais transparência na relação com os públicos. Essa diversidade sugere que o jornalismo político no Quebec está numa fase de transição no que se refere às novas possibilidades oferecidas pelas redes sociodigitais