Québec News-Print Media Portrayals of Immigrants During the Reasonable Accomodations Commission

Abstract

Media and public discourses are constantly changing as a result of their effect on one another. The Consultation Commission on Accommodation Practices Related to Cultural Differences which roamed the province of Québec in late 2007 was widely reported on in the mainstream news-media. This paper provides a critical content analysis of 105 articles in three Québec daily newspapers (La Presse, Le Soleil, and The Gazette) during the months of September to December 2007 when the public forums discussing the reasonable accommodation of minority groups took place. By making theoretical linkages with the data collected, the findings show that the media discourses between the three newspapers vary slightly and are not accurate representations of the public discourses surrounding the issue of reasonable accommodations amongst the Québec population.