China in the Canadian Media
For the next two months I will engage in a study of the Canadian media's coverage of China. While this will focus on contemporary reports, I hope to also incorporate historical reporting trends so as to contextualize the present situation. It is my belief that much reportage, especially of foreign countries or easily defined group interests, defaults to an easily digestible essentialized narrative. In China's case in recent years this narrative has been one of rapid economic expansion and the concomitant rise in global power. Resultantly the Chinese story is largely an economic story. This lack of nuance leaves the average consumer ill informed to form educated opinions.
The reasons for this uni-dimensionality are complex. It is partially motivated by the media's desire to remain within the expectations of media consumers. It also stems from the economics of simplicity. It is easier and more efficient to pound out numerous stories of similar thematic nature, than to examine a wide range of issues. Wide-ranging coverage would require more skills, insight, time and expertise and thus be more costly. Wide-ranging coverage is also more difficult to provide. Most mass mediums are limited in the amount of detail they can effectively provide. Newspaper articles are limited in length. Television reports are limited in duration. These and other factors create this uni-dimensional coverage I will examine over the next two months. I hope that during this examination I am able to further understand the phenomenon and its causes, thereby better understanding not only the media's relationship to China, but the media's relationship with its audience and the world at large.