The University of Windsor

Dept. of Communication, Media and Film

Communication and Cultural Policy in Canada

CMAF-2450, Winter, 2020

Final Take Home Exam

Please read following instructions carefully.

SELECT ONE QUESTION FROM EACH OF THREE SECTIONS, BELOW:

SECTON 1: Historical Overview of CDN Communication and Cultural Policy

[10 Marks]

SELECT ONE SET OF SHORT-ANSWER QUESTIONS:

1 (A) Gertrude Robinson: Remembering our Past
1 (B) Robert Babe: Foundations of Canadian Communications Thought

SECTION 2: Socio-historical Dimensions of CDN Communication and Culture

Policy [20 Marks]

SELECT ONE SHORT ESSAY / POWERPOINT QUESTION:

2 (A) North American and Global Contexts: Regulating Big Tech Companies in Canada;
2 (B) Pluralistic Society: Multiculturalism as Policy and Indigenous culture;
2 (C) Role of Producer/Artist/Performer: Canadian Music Industry / 2020 JUNO Nominees;
2 (D) Role of Public Institutions and Private Enterprise: COVID-19 and Windsor Radio /
podcasts Case Study (Powerpoint).

SECTION 3: Literature Review: Selected Founders of CDN Communication and

Cultural Policy [10 Marks]
 SELECT ONE SET OF SHORT ANSWER QUESTIONS:
3 (A) Maurice Charland ‘Technological Nationalism’
3 (B) Harold Innis From Empire and Communications
3 (C) Graham Spry ‘Graham Spry and Public Broadcasting’

Note:
(1) Readings from Course textbook Communication History in Canada (2nd Edition) are now available
electronically at: https://archive.org/details/communicationhis0000unse between April 3-15, 2020.
Other readings specific to particular Exam Questions are either available on our Course Website in
Resources>Readings or electronically, as indicated below.
(2) Summaries of relevant curriculum and policy research resources for each section and question are
presented in Lecture 12 Final Take Home Exam and Course Summary available
Resources>Blackboard on Monday, April 6, 2020.

SECTION 1: HISTORICAL OVERVIEW OF CDN COMMUNICATION AND

CULTURAL POLICY

[10 Marks]

SELECT ONE OF THE FOLLOWING TWO QUESTIONS:

1 (A) Gertrude Robinson: Remembering our Past

1 (B) Robert Babe: Foundations of Canadian Communications thought

QUESTION 1(A): Gertrude Robinson: Remembering our Past

Provide short (2-3 sentence) responses to each question, below, derived from Gertrude Robinson’s.
article ‘Remembering Our Past: Reconstructing the Field of Canadian Communication Studies.’

1. Fill in the Blank and explain sentence: There are few "trustworthy compasses" of
____?
2. What is historiography?
 3. What are the three building blocks for a historiography of CDN communication studies?
4. What is presumed in this approach to historiography?
5. What is a principle contention of Thomas Kuhn in The Structure of Scientific
Revolutions (1970)? How does this relate to CCT, according to the author?
6. What does she mean by the "Symbolic environment" in which the first notions of
media, culture, communication and community evolved?
7. What significance attributed to the Massey Commission (1951)?
8. What significance attributed to the Fowler Commission (1965)?
9. What led to establishing publicly owned Crown corporations?
10. What was the mandate of publicly owned Crown corporations?
11. What apparatus was created to administer Canadian culture?
12. What is "channel scarcity"?
13. Technological innovations of the past 50 years have done what to "channel scrarcity"?
14. What is presumed in this approach to historiography?
15. Characterizing the first stage of dev't are "echo chambers." What is meant by this
term?
16. What was the second stage of dev't?
17. What differences between anglophone and francophone Canada?
18. What is the third stage of dev't?

Available at: Robinson, G. (2000): Remembering Our Past: Reconstructing the Field of
Canadian Communication Studies, Canadian Journal of Communications,Vol.25 (2000):
https://www.cjc-online.ca/index.php/journal/article/view/1145/1064

QUESTION 1(B):
Provide short (1-3 sentence) responses to each question, below, derived from Robert Babe’s article
‘Foundations of Canadian Communication Thought.’

1. What is a garrison? What is the 'garrison mentality'?

2. Define the expression “Canadian ontology”?
3. Explain Lazarfeld's definition of critical communication research?
4. Identify four key distinctions made between Canadian and American communication
thought.
5. What is dialectical logic? Why is this important in Canadian Communication Thought?
6. What is Administrative research?
7. "People at the margins see things differently." Explain.
8. Explain George Grant's dialectic of time: "...the moving image of an unmoving totality"
9. According to Grant, we are oblivious to the prisons in which we live. Explain.
10. What constitutes two "cosmologies" in Northrop Frye’s “double vision”?
11. Distinguish how each theorist above recommends balance.
12. Identify three ways Frye, like Innis, distinguishes the effects of the way messages are
 transmitted
13. Explain McLuhan's dialectic of eye versus ear.
14. McLuhan is said to de-politicize Innis. How?
15. What does McLuhan mean by chiasmus?
16. Explain C.B. Macpherson's “dialectic of property.”
17. How did Macpherson take a somewhat different understanding of what “property” is
and how did he propose to change it?
18. "The idea of man as activity rather than consumption is what we need to retrieve."
Explain.
19. What is mediation and why is it important?
20. Technological advances are deemed most likely inconsistent with democratic
freedoms. Why?

Available at: Babe, R. (2000). Foundations of Canadian Communication Thought

Canadian Journal of Communication, Vol 25, No 1 (2000)
Available at: https://www.cjc-online.ca/index.php/journal/issue/view/91/showToc

SECTION 2: SOCIO-HISTORICAL DIMENSIONS OF CANADIAN

COMMUNICATION AND CULTURAL POLICY

[20 Marks]

SELECT ONE OF THE FOLLOWING FOUR QUESTIONS, BELOW:

2 (A): NORTH AMERICAN AND GLOBAL CONTEXTS

2 (B): PLURALIST SOCIETY
2 (C): ROLE OF PRODUCER/ARTIST/PERFORMER
2 (D): ROLE OF PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS AND PRIVATE ENTERPRISE

QUESTION 2 (A) : NORTH AMERICAN AND GLOBAL CONTEXTS

PROVIDE 4-5 page (double spaced) expository essay response to following question: Do
Canadian Communication and Cultural policies apply to American “big tech” companies? If
so, how?
It is often said by our political leaders Canada has a special relationship to the United States.
Present a short expository essay outlining emerging patterns of American media ownership and
evaluate efficacy of relevant Canadian communication and cultural policy. For instance
concerning American legislative frameworks we learned that “…currently [American] tech
companies aren’t regulated the same way the media companies are.” Organize your essay
according to the following sections:
(1) Identify and explain five arguments addressing business practices of big tech companies as
outlined in The Economist Special Report: Competition.
(2) Identify and explain five related policy provisions in the CRTC’s The Internet Code, released
January 31, 2020. For instance what are provisions for consumer-friendly business practices
from our Internet service industry? What new CRTC policies ensure Canadian identity and
sovereignty, as legislated in the Canadian Telecommunications Act (1993), esp. Section 7
provisions (a), (b), (c) and (f)? What regulatory powers does the CRTC have to enforce their
new legislation? Does current legislation even apply to American “big tech” companies? If not,
what Canadian Gov’t legislative / regulatory mechanisms do, if any?
Resources:

Hypernormalization documentary film

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fny99f8amM

Hypernormalization Script/Handout available in Resources>Lectures

The Corporation Documentary available at:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpQYsk-8dWg

Media Ownership – Crash Course in Media Literacy, Ep. #8

UTube video Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvSTlxJsKzE&t=12s

The Economist Special Report: Competition ‘The Next Capitalist Revolution.’ November 17-23, 2018:
Available in Resources>Readings.

CRTC Internet Code: Available at https://crtc.gc.ca/eng/internet/code.htm

Paddon, D. (2010.) ‘Canada’s Internet code of conduct goes into effect for 10 big service providers’ Globe
and Mail Report on Business, Jan.31, 2020
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-canadas-internet-code-of-conduct-goes-into-effect-for-10-
big-service/

Leblanc, D. (2020). Privacy watchdog takes facebook to court over mis-use of personal information, Globe
and Mail, Feb. 6, 2020
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-privacy-watchdog-takes-facebook-to-court-over-possible-misuse-of/

Telecommunications Act, (1993) available at:

https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/t-3.4/page-1.html#h-459827
QUESTION 2 (B) : PLURALIST SOCIETY

PROVIDE 4-5 page (double spaced) expository essay esponse to following question: How
does Canadian “multicultural” policy differ from Aboriginal culture as forms of social order?

Evaluate multiculturalism as it relates to cultural policy and social order in the Canadian context in
relation to Aboriginal culture. (1) Identify and summarise five key arguments presented by Fleras and
Kunz (2002), eg. Multiculturalism as: Fact, Ideology, Policy, Practice and Critical Discourse. Do you
agree with the authors that Canadian multiculturalism, despite its paradoxes, has rescued us from our
colonial past? (2) Identify five salient characteristics of the Aboriginal culture and social order, as
presented by Gerald Friesen in ‘Interpreting Aboriginal Cultures.’ According to Friesen, “Aboriginal
people are not simply like other Canadians.” How might their culture, as a form of social order, be
outside the Canadian multicultural model? Might such cultural difference be linked to reasons why
their cultural production is now such a prominent feature of Canadian society?

Resources:

Friesen, G. (2009.) Interpreting Aboriginal Culture. In Robinson, D.J. (Ed) Communication History in Canada, 2nd
Ed. Toronto: Oxford UP. Pp. 23-30.
Available at: https://archive.org/details/communicationhis0000unse

Fleras, A. and Kunz, J.L. (2002.) Media and Minorities: Representing Diversity in Multicultural Canada. Toronto:
Thompson Educational Publishers, Inc. Available at:

https://uwindsor.alma.exlibrisgroup.com/leganto/public/01UTON_UW/lists/12610885420002181?auth=CAS

QUESTION 2 (C): ROLE OF PRODUCER / ARTIST / PERFORMER

PROVIDE 4-5 page (double spaced) expository essay esponse to following question: What
relevance and efficacy of Canadian communication and cultural policy for emerging Canadian
musicians?

(1) Select one artist/group/recording industry professional nominated for the 2020 Juno Awards.
What economic and/or cultural constraints might your artist have experienced? Explain, briefly, their
musical topics, composition, production, distribution, promotion strategies and professional/career
accomplishments in relation to such constraints. In particular what role do social media and digital
production distribution systems have facilitating artist career advancement? Does your artist
view/present themselves as ‘Canadian’ or address (implicitly or explicitly) “Canadian” experience
and/or values, in your view? (Nominee list available at: https://junoawards.ca/2020-juno-award-
nominees/.)

(2) (a) Briefly summarize ONE of two articles,below, from course text Communication History in
Canada. Compare analytical framework and explanatory results in these articles in relation to to your
research results, above, For instance: How significant/successful CRTC policy, eg MAPL system
supporting/determining Canadian content for your artist selected? What financial sponsorship (if any)
has your artist selected received, e.g. The Canadian Music Fund, distributed by Heritage Canada? (b)
Compare your selected artist to one artist identified in either of these two articles: What are
similarities and differences between the two artists, e.g. Neil Young or Blue Rodeo vs your selected
artist? How might your selected artist have encountered similar or different experiences? Might
similarities/differences reflect experiences of other (younger) Canadian musicians, producers, writers,
labels and record labels striving for success and financial security amid potentially exploitative multi-
national corporations?

(3) Given results of (1) and (2) above address in Discussion/Conclusion three questions: (a) What
role and importance of music for emerging, youthful generations in Canada as a means of free
expression, individuality and cultural diversity? (b) Is Canadian policy appropriate for experiences of
a younger musical profession? (c) Is a new Canadian nationalism possible (and/or desirable?)
through reformed government policies insuring longevity of a professional music recording industry
indigenous to Canada?

Resources:
Straw, W. (2009). The English-Canadian Recording Industry since 1970
In Robinson, D.J. (Ed) Communication History in Canada, 2 nd Ed. Toronto: Oxford UP. pp. 282-289.
Available at: https://archive.org/details/communicationhis0000unse

Jackson, D.J. (2009). Peace, Order, and Good Songs: Popular Music and English-Canadian Culture. In
Robinson, D.J. (Ed) Communication History in Canada, 2 nd Ed. Toronto: Oxford UP. . pp.290-301
Available at: https://archive.org/details/communicationhis0000unse

QUESTION 2 (D): Role of Public Institutions and Private Enterprise

Instructions: What type of radio/podcast (private, public, campus/community or independent )

appears best capable of inform us about important social issues like the Covid-19
 pandemic? Provide a 11-15 slide Powerpoint presentation reporting results of a small-
scale content analysis survey of local radio/podcast media addressing the pandemic.
Design Powerpoint content and structure according to Guide, below, with aim to
compare various radio / podcast station types and evaluate their efficacy for our
community.

Introduction – 4-5 slides linking together:

(a) Identify importance of (i) Covid-19 public health issue and (ii) factual information for Windsor citizens via various
types of radio / podcasts.
(b) Identify four local radio / podcast types as empirical sources: one each: private, public, campus/community and
independent. E.g. CKLW’s iHeartRadio 10/3 podcast, CBC Radio 1’s Windsor Morning, CJAM, and The Nancy
Duffy Show.
(c) Provide a brief summary of the presentation to follow.
(d) Devise Participatory Learning Exercise for your Audience: e.g. sample listening and free associating ideas, small
group discussion, role playing, questionnaire etc.
Main Body: 5-8 slides
(a) Briefly summarise structure of Canadian radio industry and three challenges industry faces consequent to
personalized streaming services / podcasts, relying on scholarly literature, (e.g. Belanger et al,, 2002, 2013,
below.)
(b) Identify and describe one example of in/effective radio programming addressing COVID-19 from each local
radio/podcast source, above.
Conclusion/Results: 2-3 slides
Report on results:
(a) Which radio/podcast type realized most trustworthy, factual information, in your view? What are relative
merits/weaknesses of each type?
(b) How does this result relate to scholarly research into challenges facing radio / podcast industry (Main Body (b),
above)?
(c) What did you learn personally and/or benefit of Windsor community hrough the process of conducting this
communication policy / regional programming research?

Question 2(E) Resources:

Bélanger, P.C. and Manchester, G. (2013) . “Beyond the Clouds”: Insider Perceptions of Terrestrial Radio in Canada.
Journal of Radio & Audio Media, Vol.20 (2). Pp. 358-377.
https://journals-scholarsportal-info.ledproxy2.uwindsor.ca/pdf/19376529/v20i0002/358_tcipottotric.xml

CKLW iHeartRadio 10/3 podcast: https://www.iheartradio.ca/am800

CBC Radio 1 Windsor Morning: https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-106-windsor-morning
CJAM www.cjam.ca
The Nancy Duffy Show: https://thenancyduffyshow.com/category/podcast/

SECTION 3: SELECTED FOUNDERS OF OF CANADIAN COMMUNICATION

AND CULTURAL POLICY

[10 Marks]

SELECT ONE OF THE FOLLOWING THREE QUESTIONS:

 3 (A) Maurice Charland
3 (B) Harold Innis
3 (C) Graham Spry

Question 3 (A): Provide short (2-3 sentence) responses to each question, below, derived
from: Maurice Charland's article 'Technological Nationalism'

1. What significance did the railroad play in the history of the spread of 'civilization'?
2. What was the nature of this 'civilization'?
3. The CPR became the object of a "national" experience. Explain.
4. Why was a "myth" necessary?
5. What are three components of Canadian mythologization?
6. In Canada a "very particular relation to technology" was established to bind space. How
did this differ from the USA?
7. The project in Canada had two components, one political, one discursive. Explain each.
8. The suppression of the Métis uprising of 1885 made what manifestly clear?
9. Technological nationalism required radio. Explain.
10. What was the link between radio and railways, at the outset?
11. What was the "paradoxical promise" evident in McKenzie King's speech?
12. Why was Canadian control of radio a necessary link in a chain of empire
communications?
13. By 1930, Canadians were listening to ___ % American shows, necessitating the creation
of what?
14. Likewise, what happened when television emerged in the 1950s?
15. What is the contradiction of radio and electronic technology, in general, in the Canadian
context?

Maurice Charland's 'Technological Nationalism' in Communication History in Canada, pp.

50-61. Available at: https://archive.org/details/communicationhis0000unse

Question 3 (B) Provide medium-length (2-3 paragraph) responses to each question, below,
derived from: Harold Innis’s Empire and Communications.

1. What "media" did Innis identify as missing in conventional economic theory and
why is this especially significant for Canadian economic and cultural history?

2. Explain and distinguish between Innis’ conceptualization of space-bound vs time-

 bound cultures. In particular how might available means of “inscription” mediate
human relations?

3. Why is the mechanical clock significant?

4. Explain the “bias” in space-time transformations consequent to 'combinatory' effect

of newspaper and telegraph integration?

Harold Innis, Empire and Communications “ [Excerpt] In Robinson, D. (2009).

Communication History in Canada (2nd Ed.), pp. 35-40. Available at:
https://archive.org/details/communicationhis0000unse

Question 3 (C) Provide medium-length (2-3 paragraph) responses to each question, below,
derived from: McChesney, R. (2009.) “Graham Spry and Public Broadcasting.”

1. Explain the nature of Spry’s “quest” for a culture that defines Canadians, both to
ourselves and to the rest of the world.
2. What was Spry’s conception of the role and responsibilities of the Canadian state
especially the Federal Government?
3. What was Spry’s argument as to best strategy for promoting Canadian culture?
4. Might the kind of rich, shared Canadian culture Spry envisioned be possible via
contemporary communication media?
5. Does social media enhance (or diminish) Canadian democratic process thus
enforcing/diminishing national sovereignty?

McChesney, R. (2009.) “Graham Spry and Public Broadcasting“ In Robinson, D. (2009).

Communication History in Canada (2nd Ed.), pp. 207-216. Available at:
https://archive.org/details/communicationhis0000unse