Many scholars have a notion that children and teens are highly susceptible to being influenced by the media due to their lack of real world experiences (Scharrer, 1957). With such a high population of young people in Canada we must be aware of the content broadcasted through mass media to encourage a more “Canadian” youth. Canadian television, films, and radio alike are often compared to that of American media, which contains highly identifiably American substance. Thus, Canadian identity and culture is greatly influenced by content derived from the USA. Otherwise, Canada has rich and diverse culture with its own economic systems, political ideologies and processes, ways of life and social mores (StatsCan, 2013). Therefore, it is up to Canadian regulations to motivate its citizens towards embracing a more Canadian identity and deter from Americanization. This paper will explore ways in which the Canadian music industry will help define and influence national identity as well as the political and societal benefits that will accompany implemented regulations. . Regulations of Canadian content defined using the MAPL system should be implemented by the CRTC to support Canadian ingenuity, values, and politics in order to form a more homogenous Canadian identity through music.
When radio was first introduced in Canada it was privately owned, this gave leeway for American companies to absorb the rights to broadcasted content. The Prime Minister at the time, R.B. Bennett became convinced that the “existing system of private radio would almost inevitably lead to the Americanization of a crucial cultural industry.” (Vipond, 2000, p. 41). Therefore regulations were implemented to “contribute to the development of national unity and provide a...
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Finally, if the comparison were ever made a survey, it would really show the full scale of Americanization in Canada. But until now we can only see from the daily life, how American culture is inviting Canada. Today more then ever, Canadians are in real danger of loosing their national identity. It is unfortunate that if the study of this cultural influence will be done few years later, it might be too late to save Canadian culture and identity.
Canada as a nation has been striving to characterize itself as more ?Canadian? for decades. This has included numerous struggles and events such as protests, bans, and the creation of the Massey Commission, to encourage national development in the arts, and support major companies like the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) and National Film Board (NFB). However, this has not been an easy task for the Canadian government, as major influences from below the border (the United States) have been captivating the Canadian audiences by large. American media has had a momentous revolutionizing effect on Canada, even through efforts made to define Canada with its own cultural identity.
James-white, Don. Opinions of Legacies of Sir John A Macdonald. 03 Mar. 2005. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. 29 May 2011
Over the years, ICT, information communication technologies, has lead to a smaller world. A world where information can be transmitted instantaneously, a world where the quality of the information received has vastly improved. This information highway era has become so efficient that it has created a "global village". Canada is placed in a rather unique societal position today in this global village. It stands out from the rest of the world with its culturally diverse population, community networking and experts in the field. From representing its multicultural citizens through broadcasting programming, to creating successful community networks, and having leading experts in the field of communications, Canada must be considered one of the leading model communication innovators to the rest of the world.
40 Fleras, Augie and John Lock Kunz. Media and Minorities: Representing Diversity in a Multicultural Canada. Toronto: Thompson Educational Publishing, 2001: 30.
Canada holds the same beliefs about pubic broadcasting as Lowe & Jauert (2005). As a nation that is not only democratic but multicultural and diverse, media influence plays a major role in bringing together and shaping the Canadian society. Howev...
In conclusion, Canada was influenced throughout the 1920's by America, that by 1929 Canada became very similar to America in social trends, economics and produce. But has this stopped in modern day era? Canada continues to be heavily influenced by the amount of American products and media outpouring into Canada. Canada has made attempts throughout time to impede the onslaught of American invasion but American invasion is seen on a huge global scale. Hit movies, tv shows, products among others are generally based on American culture, views, or based within American domain. It is a reign yet to be stopped.
Back to the early 1970s, people from CRTC (Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission) felt anxious and threatened when they became aware of American Cultural imperialism had a big influence on Canadian Cultural Identity which made the latter to diminish. To solve this crisis, CRTC adopted Canadian content rules (CanCon) to govern the percentage of the music with Canadian content should be played from radio stations until now. Theoretically, this regulation could cause Canadian talents to rise and support the Canadian music industry. Also for Canadian artists, they would get more opportunities to let the masses to hear their music. However, from my point of view, CanCon works the opposite way. Reasons are as follows.
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The culture of Canada refers to the shared values, attitudes, standards, and beliefs that are a representative of Canada and Canadians. Throughout Canada's history, its culture has been influenced by American culture because of a shared language, proximity, television and migration between the two countries. Over time, Canadian-American relations have helped develop Canada’s identity during the years 1945-1982; thus introducing changing social norms, media and entertainment. In support of this, due to the United States being approximately 9.25 times larger in population and having the dominant cultural and economic influence, it played a vital role in establishing Canada’s identity. With Canada being its neighbour, naturally, the United States would influence their way of life upon Canada.
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22 Apr. 2014. The 'Standard' of the 'Standard Edwards, Michael. A. Review "MARY AND MAX " What is a Culture? N.p., n.d. Web.
Laurent. The Massey report took on a great tool for Canadians as before the Massey report Canadian art and entertainment industries were threatened and disregarded as the United States dominated. This report recommended that Canadian broadcasting corporation's should plan to produce more media programs in both English and French so that they could be transmitted country wide. This was also very useful as the Quebecois during that time had emphasized how they were losing their culture to the English born Canadians and how their language and culture were not being supported in Canada. The idea of having media programs in both languages was to unify the two cultures to create one multicultural identity. The Report also determined that the radio stations were limited only in major Canadian cities. So, it recommended that Radio broadcasters should spread and expand more radio programs in other than the major cities like Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa. The final recommendation was to employ more Canadian artists at concert venues and to play more Canadian made music on local radios. A Canadian artist that majored and inspired Canadians was Paul Anka. Paul Anka was in a way like Canada’s Elvis Presley. His songs “Diana” and “My Way” went onto being great hits, mostly listened to by young adults. Paul Anka was praised and promoted in other countries, such as Hawaii, which had posters of his
Mass Media. Ed. William Dudley. Farmington Hills, MI: Thompson Gale, 2005. 121-130.