Balance and Freedom of Speech: Challenge for Canadian Broadcasting

Abstract

The development of Canadian broadcast policy and law respecting "content balance'' (and corollary notions of public "access and reply'' entitlements, "abusive speech,'' and "controversial issues of public importance'') exhibits significant definitional vagueness and discontinuity. The authors summarize the history of policy making in the area, and provide two case studies: one of religious television broadcasting, one of community radio broadcasting. These materials lead them to reject the notion of content balance as an element of regulatory terminology. Résumé: L'évolution des politiques canadiennes en matière de radiodiffusion et celle des règlements concernant les "représentations équilibrées'' (de même que des notions corollaires comme les droits d'accès et de réplique du public, le langage abusif et les sujets controversés d'intérêt public) témoigne d'un manque flagrant de précision et de continuité. Les auteurs résument l'histoire des politiques sur ces sujets et abordent également deux études de cas: l'un portant sur les émissions religieuses, l'autre sur les radios communautaires. Ces cas les amènent à conclure que la notion de représentation équilibrée ne constitue pas une composante de la terminologie de réglementation.

Locking Out the Mother Corp: Nationalism and Popular Imaginings of Public Service Broadcasting in the Print News Media

“…He suggests that the broadcasting industry as a whole be put in the hands of an independent, accountable public agency-but one that is organized along more participatory democratic principles than the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) consulting with representative user councils, for example. (Cook & Ruggles, 1992, endorse these same principles.) The agency would strive to meet consumer and citizen goals by ensuring broadcasting is program driven (as opposed to policy and/or profit driven).…”

“…Although their features may well be familiar to readers and appear in policy documents at the legislative and regulatory levels (see Cook & Ruggles, 1992, for instance, on how the concept of "balance" has served to advance-and undermine-the democratic goals of PSB and Canadian media policy more generally), such democratic values of accessibility are definitively not part of the popular public discourse around PSB as represented in the national print news media. Within civil society, as the next section of this article indicates, nationalism remains the strong value of PSB.…”

The Religious Right in the United States and Canada: Evangelical Communities, Critical Junctures, and Institutional Infrastructures

“…These restrictions did not preclude evangelical Christian radio altogether (Cook and Ruggles 1992). One important figure in Canadian evangelical radio was William "Bible Bill"…”

Rethinking Institutional Infrastructures: Institution Building as Social Movement Activity

“…These restrictions, however, did not preclude evangelical Christian radio altogether (Cook & Ruggles 1992). One important figure in evangelical radio was William "Bible Bill" Aberhart, a radio broadcaster who used his popularity to launch a political career, becoming Premier of Alberta from 1935 until his untimely demise in 1943 (Stackhouse 1999).…”