Communication Studies

[cmns-dan]

Media and my sense of Canadian national belonging 

My recent journaling of my media use has helped me see how my sense of “Canadian-ness” and national belonging emerge in subtle ways, but also require conscious decisions and actions. This is because my media environment is dominated by U.S. content. In a world of social media that is driven by even the smallest interaction, I find myself consciously working on curating moments of Canadian-ness.

I deliberately read Canadian newspapers such as the Toronto Star, London Free Press, and National Post to stay grounded in Canadian issues and perspectives. On YouTube, I make an effort to watch and like Canadian news channels so that the platform continues to recommend them, rather than limiting my feed to U.S.-based media streams. This act reinforces a sense of belonging to Canada.

Social media also becomes a site of national identity. Videos comparing cultural behaviours across countries often highlight the nuances of Canadian culture, to which I either display or can relate. Following Canadian politicians offers another layer of national engagement, keeping me aware of local initiatives and debates.

Finally, hyperlocal media like The Byron Villager—a suburban print magazine focused on community events and stories—anchor me with their absolute Canadian content media. My sense of Canadian-ness and national belonging extends beyond passively consuming media; it is rooted in the deliberate choices I make to keep Canadian content available in a global media landscape.

[cmns-dan]

Traditional media and new media experiences

When I compare my experience between traditional and new media, I realize I view less traditional media than new media and view less traditional media now than I have in previous years. Growing up and into my early adulthood, I watched TV news. Now, I don’t watch full broadcasts of traditional TV news programs, I watch it in short segments on YouTube. I consume all traditional media in smaller durations—TV news and newspapers.  

There is a similarity in my experience between the two media generations, which is, I can decide what I want to spend time consuming. For the newspaper articles I can skim the headlines; this is similar to making decisions on what YouTube videos to watch based on video titles.

A big difference is my experience when it comes to music. Traditional media such as radio or physical devices are/were more cumbersome to get to songs I wanted to hear or to have a variety of music readily available. While I rarely listen to radio stations anymore, when I do, I am reminded of the inconvenience of advertisements, radio hosts banter, and the limited selection of music. Comparing that to new media like Spotify, where the experience is customized to my listening history and virtually unlimited in variety, and it is easy to understand why I don’t use the radio as often. 

There is one experience where traditional media is better than new media. I receive a free local magazine called Byron Villager. This is a locally produced magazine focused on my specific suburb and is very useful for reading about local events and updates from my city councillor about developments and road construction in the suburb. This information is difficult to find in new media, such as Facebook or Instagram for several reasons including, the number of daily posts on my feed, the numerous posts the City of London publishes, and the unpredictablity of what the social media algorithm will put on my social media feed. 

[cmns-dan]

Being a media audience member

As an audience member, I take on multiple roles—acting as a critic, a feedback contributor, a distributor, and a self-regulator. 

As a critic, I evaluate the content I consume, questioning its intent, accuracy, and relevance. I also decide if I personally like the content. My level of critique is based on whether I see the content as entertainment or serious information.  

My role in providing feedback starts with the virtually passive act of providing usage data to media producers and stretches to actively making comments or ratings on media. This feedback can be in my benefit—to influence what I want to see in the future—or benefit the media platform—proving out their advertising effectiveness. 

As a distributor, my role includes commenting on content to engage others and sharing content with friends. I think media producers would hope that I make them money through the interaction of continuing to pay a subscription, buying from an advertiser, or buying their product.

As a self-regulator, my role is to decide what to engage with and what to avoid, shaping my experience through platform settings and personal preferences. From limiting certain advertising (like I did on Reddit) to deciding what to “like” and what to mark as “not interested” in an effort to curate my social media feeds. This decision of what or what not to be exposed to is not limited to social media; it includes music choices, print media, and TV/streaming. 

Ultimately, my role as an audience member is to consume media.

[cmns-dan]

Commercial interests' influence on my media use and experience

As I think about my media consumption, I am conscious of my choices based on ownership and advertising, and this brings me to a point of cognitive dissonance. 

In the media landscape today, I feel we are faced with the dilemma of supporting platforms owned by people and companies with whom we do not agree on politics, strategies, and behaviours. 

In one example, Meta (Facebook and Instagram) no longer shows Canadian news articles because it refused to share advertising revenue with Canadian news outlets whose content they were publishing. This action encouraged me to sign up for the local library app and get digital newspapers. 

When thinking about media ownership and how it influences what and how news is shared,  I am conscious of bias in news media, e.g., according to Media Bias/Fact Check the National Post has a right-leaning stance and the Toronto Star is left-leaning. I still choose to read these newspapers, but remain conscious of how I read their articles—do I consider an article neutral and journalistic or trying to influence me? Here, too, begins my cognitive dissonance; by reading a right-leaning newspaper, am I therefore providing support for its existence? I may not agree with how it presents a story, but I also want to be exposed to how others view certain situations, so I don’t exist in my own echo chamber. Another situation is when I watch Fox Sports, a part of the Fox conglomerate that produces “news” content that I do not agree with politically, socially, and ethically. But I am not able to watch certain sports unless I use Fox Sports, while this does not impact my experience while watching the sport, it impacts my experience by creating a moral dilemma.  

 The impact of advertising influences how I use social media. I feel more comfortable using Reddit because it has an option to not see certain types of advertising, for example, gambling and alcohol. On Instagram, I noticed how advertisers are trying to make videos indistinguishable from original content. This is not unique to social media; radio and TV have done this for years, and newspapers still have sections that are printed similar to a journalistic article, except for the word “advertisement” near the headline. Noticing this is becoming mainstream in social media is a reminder to either look at everything as nothing more than entertainment or be critical of all posts. 

[cmns-dan]

Media Convergence & My Media Use

Over the next week, I am tracking my media use for my CMNS 201 course. The goal, as stated in the course outline, is to “comment, reflect, and analyze aspects of my media diet that become clearer to me from the tracking exercise.”

One topic is media convergence. Gasher, Skinner, and Lorimer (2016) describe convergence as “the merging, or bringing together, of a wide range of previously separate and distinct communication technologies and media” (p.20). 

I predominantly consume media digitally due to convergence. If I think about the CBC today, I follow all their content via the internet on a mobile device. The new media and old are: podcast app—previously radio, YouTube—previously TV broadcasts, and News app—previously physical newspapers. All of this is converged even more if I just go to the CBC mobile app.

Even video games, which have always been digital media, are no longer stored on a separate physical object like a cartridge or disk. This makes access to games easier and more affordable. If I had to purchase individual games, I would be less likely to purchase games and definitely would not play the same variety of games. This is true for news media as well. When multiple newspapers are on one application, I peruse a wider selection compared to having to pick up multiple paper copies. 

Finally, media convergence has made my media consumption interactive. This occurs when I click to watch, click “like” or share an Instagram reel or YouTube video. Each interaction sends data to the platform and influences what the platform will show me next. I no longer change TV channels to decide what to watch; the next “channel” is pushed in front of me. 

Gasher, M., Skinner, D., & Lorimer, R. (2016). Defining the field. In Mass communication in Canada (8th ed.) (pp. 2–31). Don Mills, ON: Oxford University Press.