The Impact Of Media In Canadian Elections

The Impact of Media in Canadian Elections Student’s Name Institutional Affiliation Email Address Date Abstract The Impact of Media in Canadian Elections Media power in Canada is saturated among a few corporations which control 90% of the country’s newspaper circulation and cable television. The degree to which organizations are allowed to exercise their “Right to Know” has been tactically managed by the federal government, enabling the Canadian parliament to execute its business in privacy. The impact of the media has gradually eroded the culture of political aspirants engaging voters directly in campaigns by stage managing broadcasts to target audiences. Technological engagement of voters on platforms such as social media, government regulation, and public diligence have collectively established control of the media’s influence in elections. Keywords: Democratic process, Government regulation, Voter engagement, Media responsibility  The media plays a critical role in shaping political ideologies, public participation and deciding the public agenda at any given time. Such control in the public opinion emanates from the critical role of journalistic ventures to disseminate information, raise awareness, investigate and expose controversy and educating, and mobilizing audiences in participation in civic activities such as the electoral process. In Canada, the media houses have undergone a transformation from high regulation and censorship in the 19th century. The political class dictated that only information that would not jeopardize the governments and politicians’ agendas would be broadcasted. The great concern on the messages circulated by media houses, then was informed by the recognition of the power of media houses in establishing behavioral trends, attitudes and their audience’s political opinions. Additionally, the media plays an important role in the correlation of communal challenges and opportunities with government strategies and policies in response. Canadian voters rely on mainstream media, particularly newspapers, radio, and television to find out about their political parties, leaders, public policy and party politics. Thus, the Canadian media act as an essential link between the voters and their political parties, leaders and the government (Nesbitt-Larking 2010, 50). As established, the media in Canada also contribute to the formulation of a public opinion, exposing corruption, and holding political leaders accountable in public opinion. Consequently, the media contribute in identifying the issues the public is concerned about. By doing so, the media sensitize the voters on issues which should be addressed and the different political parties’ policies in addressing the identified challenges. The voters consequently make their decision on where to vote based on the perceptions of different parties and leaders created in the media. Further, the media in Canada play a critical role in, soliciting for public support for the successful implementation public, civic functions (Doris 2005, 570). However, the role of the media in politics and the profit interests of the media houses has often contradicted raising concerns to what extent the media has had influence on government functions including elections. Issues such as the use of the media by external forces to circumvent the electoral process by manipulating their audiences to vote a certain way have been benevolent to the influencers (Nesbitt-Larking 2010, 54). Other issues pertaining to the role of the media in elections, government and political functions which have a direct impact on voter’s decision making include the autonomy of the media from political meddling, the openness of governmental organizations and establishing balance between commercial functions of media firms with their practice of freedom of communication. This makes it necessary to articulate organizations’ critical responsibility in the management of vigor and health of the Canadian democracy. The emergence of personalized media with the diversification of technological platforms in the 21st century, such as blogs, social media, and reliance on web-sources have also impacted the role of the media in the electoral process. The internet affords different avenues for mobilizing and engaging voters. Researchers on the role of the media in the electoral and political affairs such as Livingstone and Cloudy (2007) are critical of the role the oligopolistic media in Canada plays in the political and electoral process. Some of the criticisms raised is the heavy rotation of adverts on mainstream media rather than the traditional campaign system where the aspiring leaders would engage voters directly in campaign rallies, compromise of the media houses authenticity due to commercial reasons, and the collaboration of media houses with political parties at the expense of the media’s communication responsibility within a democratic community. The emergence of social media platforms such as Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and political bloggers has contributed to the dissemination of the power of political influence from mainstream media. However, the mainstream media has also ventured into the identified platforms. Notably, organizations in the mainstream media use their reputation and financial resources to establish their pervasive influence on all media platforms. The History of Canadian Media in Elections The media has and will always play a pivotal role in the outcome of elections. In light of this fact, the Canadian journalistic ventures have undergone a rough transition from the regulation of the circulated press to drafting and ascending of the legislature warranting free press. A free flow of reasonable account of political activities is required in the public. It is upon such accounts that people make decisions on their engagement in political activities (Nesbitt-Larking 2010, 54). In the late 19th century, the government restrained the freedom of newspaper editors’ scrutiny of political leaders and the government in general. However, defamation cases contributed to the growth of freedom of press with more democratic positions being assumed by government gradually with the aegis of the Supreme Court of Canada. The Supreme Court reiterated the necessity of the media operating autonomously and the strengthening of the democratic process and governance. This led to a guarantee of free print and electronic press in 1938. The transition, however, was gradual with the Supreme Court criticizing the attempts by the Albert provincial government to curb the media’s criticism of the administration. The attempt to silence the media on administrative policies and functions was implemente...