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 Canadian Online Media 

Canadian online media pertains to content of an informative and engaging nature that is made accessible through the usage of the Internet. Presently, online media can be accessed through countless medium platforms not limited to computers, smart-phones, gaming consoles, Smart TVs, mp3s, and tablets. The characteristics of Canadian online media are strongly shaped by the Canadian communications industry, even though their statistics and findings are more often than not associated with American research. Large media companies are increasingly on the move to start up online platforms for news and television content. The exponential growth of Canadians’ dependency on online content for entertainment and information has been evident in the recent decades. However, it has proven slow for Canadian online media to catch up with the constant increase of American online media. Regardless of medium, entertainment and information hubs are not solely focusing on satisfying the audience they have, but are also heavily expanding their reach so that their countless accessibility can win the heart of new global audiences.

News/Magazines
As information is increasingly going digital, the Newspaper Audience Databank (NADbank) claims online readership for most Canadian newspapers have surpassed the numbers in print readership. However, there is also lack of evidence that newspapers are coming to an end in Canada. For some of Canada’s larger newspapers, readership has increased in both print and online formats. After The Globe and Mail’s redesign, they claim to have fueled a 10.2% increase in both their print and online readers. Highlights from a 2010 study conducted by NADbank revealed the national newspaper readership remains high. Though the migration from print to online newspapers is still ongoing, print editions are still the most popular amongst Canadians.

As the tone of news become increasingly social, the whole veneer of authority has fallen away. Many news writers are beginning to have an active twitter presence to communicate back and forth with their audiences. Large newspapers are taking the initiative to humanize their staff, urging writers to have a public persona on blogs or twitter. Instant connection is becoming more substantial, as journalists are encouraged to interact with the public. Rather than being objective and premeditated, this immediacy adds an emotional and personal touch to the writer’s pieces, advancing the relationship between them and their audiences. This further breaks down the barriers of corporate hierarchy. Canadians are also becoming active participants in the journalistic process as journalists are realizing citizens' ability to perform fragments of jounalism, let it be taking on-the-scene pictures, tweeting, commenting online or simply editing a Wikipedia entry. Participatory journalism reinforces the public sphere, while news specialization ironically undermines it.

Online-Only News
Openfile.ca, is an online-only newspaper that concentrates on having community-powered news, connecting everyday people with reporters to cover specific communities. Launched in May of 2010, OpenFile promotes citizen journalism by enabling the community to take part in the suggesting and sharing of news. Stories are also conveniently geotagged to be more accessible to citizens who want stories in their immediate neighbourhoods.

Though news and magazine companies are increasing their presence online, publications such as Dose magazine had discontinued their print editions, but has gone on to develop their news website as it strategically targets a younger demographic.

Rabble.ca, another online-only news site is a non-profit organization that publishes a mixture of original content and those of alternative publications. In 2008, they created rabbletv to branched out their multi-media presence. On top of that they have Babble, a forum pertaining mostly to political discussions, and most recently the Activist Toolkit, a wiki project that enables members of the rabble community to engage in collaborative content writing.

The Canoe Network is an online-only news site in Canada with a network of French and English news content, as well as sub-divisions of a job-listing site, TV programs, e-commerce and others.

Television
In the digital age, large media conglomerates are taking the opportunity to broaden their audiences by pushing to start up their own online platforms for multimedia content. Rogers, one of Canada’s largest communication companies, made the move in 2009 to create its version of Hulu.com, a popular on-demand streaming video service from the US. The concept was to provide free television programs in pursuance of promoting online content in Canada. It has also been noted as a way to secure Canada’s future in broadcasting, as major cable companies were already losing customers to service cancellations in the United States. Much of the efforts to promote Canadian online content have proven to be difficult as the federal broadcast regulators are still in unchartered territories.

Many satellite companies in Canada also own TV stations. In September 2011, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) decided against the hoarding of specific televised programs by such companies for fair competition. BCE Inc. has made such offerings with exclusive NFL games on Bell’s Mobile TV package, as well as select NHL and CFL games on TSN.ca. It should be noted that there are many communication empires competing to provide instant entertainment content, but other significant matters such as political events have yet to be prioritized.

Launched in June of 2011, Shaw’s new investment isn’t without its difficulties. They have received legal complaints that their online video-streaming consists of movies from major film studios, of which aren’t licensed to be broadcasted through their video-streaming platform. The objective was to work towards a development that would adjust to the shifting viewer trends.

Entertainment/Gaming Consoles
Media goers are having more and more choices and opportunities to access online media as its means of reach are expanding dramatically. Soon, Canadians who already own an Xbox 360 will be able to watch on-demand and live TV through their gaming consoles. With Microsoft Corp. anticipating a launch in the winter of 2011, the Canadian service would include MLSE, UFC, Vevo, Rogers on Demand, Telus OPtik, Youtube, Facebook, Twitter, MSN Canada and the involvement of other companies.

A common strategy of late is that corporations strive to target civilians of all possible lifestyles. Rogers have started targeting specific Blue Jays fans by supplying them with the major league team’s live games online, regardless if they have cable or not. The concept of making sport games available exclusively anytime and anywhere appeals to many peoples’ hectic lifestyles.

Online Content on Other Media Platforms
On November 2011, the highly anticipated Kindle Fire was released, but this tablet will be useless to Canadians as costs to license content and services will present a road block. The licensing costs in Canada are far beyond that of the U.S. and the British. For that reason the country remains a secondary or tertiary market for many sought after services in today’s technology driven society.

For four days in October, Blackberry’s service failure has been dubbed what is called the Great Berry Crisis of ’11, as the loss of service caused a global uproar amongst users. This event demonstrated how networking technology has become so integrated in peoples’ lives, that they could not fathom communicating otherwise.

People are increasingly blending their lives offline and online, that is sharing their offline activities, online. Research has also revealed more than 50% of Canadians are banking and shopping online. The demographics for these statistics no longer side with the younger generation, as older people are finding instant online transactions convenient.

Social Media
American online content still has a strong hold over Canadian audiences as much of their production remain Canadians’ top choice of content and service. In the spring of 2011, the Canadian federal election was dubbed the Twitter election, as the result of the wide usage of online social media for civilian discussions and for candidates’ exposure. The main problem was it was not possible to prevent the transmission of poll results to a district (of different time zone) whose polls had yet to close. This objective is nearly impossible with the vast amount of instant blogging and sharing of information in the society we live in. Hashtags along the lines of #tweettheresults were being used by tweeters. Citizens discussed and deliberated that outdated laws had to be changed to adjust to present day conditions.

The 73 year old law became a subject of conflict with the era of social media. Meant to prevent influencing citizens of the west coast who are about 4 and a half hours behind, bloggers had the possibility of receiving a fine of $25,000 for prematurely releasing the election results before all polls close. Under the Elections Act, Section 329 applies to all forms of transmission regardless of the medium. This has proven to be a challenge since in the earlier days the Act was only directed towards television and radio outlets. Though a large amount of violation was anticipated in the 2011 Federal Election, only one case was prosecuted with a minimal fine. While some Tweeters and bloggers believe this is a violation of their freedom of expression, legal professionals believe comments can be expressed without breaching Section 329. Not only citizens, but information technology specialists have stated people would not be able to conform to the policy conscienciously, and that enforcing confidentiality with the likes of Facebook and Twitter is nearly impossible. Other professionals have even stated there is no use of a law that cannot be enforced effectively. The numerous links and components to all growing social media platforms would necessite detailed examination of acceptable and prohibited sharing of election data.

A recent study conducted by the Print Measurement Bureau (PMB) provided valuable insight and statistics to Canadians’ social media usage patterns. One third of Canadian social networkers are under the age of 25. Compared with the rest of the nation, social networkers are also twice as likely to visit online magazines, newspapers, television and radio.

Interactive Media and Advertisements
As a consequence of increased online audience, the Canadian online ad revenue shot to $2.2 billion in 2010. Advertisers are now aiming to attract the attention of web surfers online and banking on their click-throughs. The Interactive Advertising Bureau of Canada reported that the online ad revenue surpassed newspapers ad revenues dramatically. Newspapers have always made revenue from advertisements, and not subscriptions. In the recent years, this has not changed, so marketers are not missing out by jumping on the bandwagon to placed their ads on online platforms where their consumers will be. Online newspapers are keen on increasing their readership to be more valuable to advertising.

Ethnic Online Media
In Canada, minorities' access to ethnic media online serves as a window to the ongoings in their homeland, allowing them to connect to their backgrounds and reinforce their roots. Some have debated that there should be an effort to amalgamate fully into the Canadian culture upon their settlements.

In the recent years, marketers are discovering that Canada's minority population has a growing presence in the online scene. As multicultural marketing is slowly growing out of the once petite niche, advertisers are hoping to reach the hundreds of ethnic communities. In 2009, a study by Solutions Research Group revealed that the Internet has become the preferred medium amongst Chinese Canadians and South Asian Canadians, two of the country's largest cultural groups. The Internet would become a significant part of new citizens' lives since they would have to turn to the web to learn about the country and browse for employments. Community portals in particular are popular amongst Canada's ethnic groups. Web portal 51.ca is an example of a common online networking site for the chinese community. In Canada, popular foreign and online newpapers like TimesOfIndia.com are valuable to advertisers to place geo-targeted ads to reach local audiences. Though there is abundant web activity amongst the minority population, they remain loyal to traditional media that communicate in their native languages.

Canadian Laws on Online Media
Aside from conflict with Social Media and the lack of controlling information flow, there are many outdated laws that have yet to be amended to the increasingly online world. The Canadian Radio and Television Commission (CRTC) had recently deliberated on revising broadcasting rights from the many incoming internet-based broadcasters from other countries. Video streaming sites such as Hulu.com are not available to Canadians because Canadian broadcasters have rights to programming and controls how they are broadcasted.

The decision to conduct a formal review on TV content on the internet was turned down. Companies like Netflix Inc. were criticized for posing as a threat to the domestic broadcasting system, and have a competitive advantage. Since the prolonged consultation revealed there are no evidence that these internet-based movie services are negatively affecting the Canadian broadcasting system, companies like Netflix aren’t compelled to follow the same rules and regulations. They do not have to fund Canadian broadcasting content or face the same regulations as cable and satellite distributors just yet. Attention has only been drawn to issues concerning Canadian online media in the recent years, so the government have only started to detangle conflicts that have arose between domestic and foreign online media.

Immediacy of Communication and Advanced Connectivity
In today’s fast-paced society, people value the act of receiving content and communicating instantaneously. In the summer of 2011, a study by Angus Reid revealed that an approximate one half of online Canadians surveyed would give up cable service before they give up the Internet. Internet connection has become a fundamental necessity in their lives. It is considered standard for digital home owners to spend over $100 per month for faster internet plans.

One of the factors holding Canadians back from progressing further beyond the digital world online is our limitation on a recent advance in internet connectivity. Abbreviated as FTTH, Fibre to the Home replaces the traditional copper telephone wires with fibre optic cable, enabling it to surpass cable limitations. Well established in Asia, the infrastructure is being implemented in various parts of the United States but remains unrecognized to Canadians. The absence of FTTH is blamed on the costs, averaging in the billions. Recently in Ontario, Bell has strategically started selling internet packages called Fibe 6,12,16, and 25, despite not being a FTTH service. This impeding factor is a limitation to the progress of all Canadian online media. Lacking the most advanced technology to provide the best online access deems a weakened foundation. The future of online media will be incapable of advancing to its greatest.

Not only does the government have to enforce new rules to straighten out online media conflict with foreign organizations, but they have to set new standards domestically to keep up with the growth of Canadian online media. As usage of data and bandwidth is increasing due to the growing availability of high definition videos online, CRTC recently created a pricing model for ISP providers to follow. The model- which acts as a usage cap- allows for internet wholesalers to charge based on download speed and not volume of data, the latter proposed by Bell and declined by CRTC.

While citizens in dense Canadian cities are suffering from information overload, Arctic communities are suffering from poor communication infrastructures. This threatens their chances of development and segregates them from the rest of the technologically advancing country. Attention is necessary towards the Arctic residents, since the poor quality of communication is also a detriment to their safety and security. Due to the residents’ geographical isolation, proper access to web content is that much more crucial, since it acts as their window to domestic affairs and global matters.

Specialization
Canadian telecommunications and media companies are also taking the opportunity to provide specialized content online as a means to cater to and attract specific audiences. Rogers recently started making Toronto Maple Leafs hockey games accessible on the Web, exclusive to their cable subscribers. The Rogers on Demand online platform is the next step towards providing more viewing options for customers. The media giant acquired baseball team Toronto Blue Jays last summer anticipating an increase in on-demand viewership. This is a common strategy, as sports play a significant part of the Canadian culture. Specialization in online news content creates a bottle-neck effect of online news reception where citizens are increasingly limiting the types of news they expose themselves to, and consequently become less informed in a broad sense.

Issues
An issue that may arise from the increase of online content and information, is that the validity of information will be increasingly questionable due to lack of trustworthy sources. In the midst of constant links and texts sharing, these informations’ sources may have been dropped out along the way. Not only is it a question of resource but also of the truth in the content. The traditional model of how people communicate from news sources has completely changed to an individual sharing and connecting with the next immediate individual. This small circle of information sharing further constricts the public sphere.

Criticism
Criticism has been made by foreign media moguls that Canadians need to put more effort into producing online media content and not perceive it as a taboo. Information delivered in real-time is on demand and information delivered any other way is deemed unsatisfactory. Arianna Huffington of The Huffington Post claims news scoops that are posted immediately online have more effect than those being held for the front page the next day.

Prospective Outlook
As viewership steadily overtakes readership, a survey conducted by Rogers has revealed that Canadians’ lives are continually becoming richer online and the sharing of photos are growing exponentially more popular. For the youth in Canada, digital media is the only media they have grown to know, and the Internet is the primary source of information and entertainment they have grown accustomed to. It has become a fact that the media people grow up to use is the one they are most likely to continue using. As Canada's current and future generation of online media users grow more intimate with online content, print will cease to be relevant. The online industry has an evolving future with endless opportunities. The research of journalism professor Alfred Hermida at the University of British Columbia shows a total of 17 million Facebook users in Canada. With social media, individuals tailor the news that comes to them as a means of efficiency, and share specific news to their immediate online community. As the process of news receiving becomes more narrow, Canadians are increasingly creating their own realities. Though social media is centered on connecting, there is no longer a strong sense of commonness. With the amount of specialization in content and citizens feeding into the filtering process, individualization amongst the people are ever more prominent.