User talk:Onemaria/My sandbox

Multicultural Media in Canada
Also referred to as “ethnic media” or “third media” (as it does not use either French or English language) is media, which responds to the needs of ethnic or radicalized minorities of Canada. The objective of multicultural media in Canada is to create a voice for a community of a particular ethnic background, challenge social injustices, and foster cultural price for racialized and immigrant Canadians. Ethnic media do not always target new immigrants, though much of this particular media works to eliminate feelings of isolation in the dominant culture. Multicultural media also services Canadian-born individuals of a visible minority as well as diasporic ethnicities. Ultimately, multicultural media in Canada, whether it is delivered in English, French or the respective language of the culture, is to contribute to the cultural maintenance and ethnic cohesion of the culture in question but also help members of minorities to integrate into larger Canadian society. The third language media are especially important for new immigrants, as they are usually the main source of information for those who have yet to become proficient in one of the official languages. Thus, third language media provide crucial information on education, training, and job seeking for these immigrants.

The promotion of multicultural media began in the late 1980s as the multicultural policy was legislated in 1988. In the Multicultural Act, the federal government proclaimed the recognition of the diversity of Canadian culture. Thus, multicultural media became an integral part of Canadian media overall. Upon numerous government reports showing lack of minority representation or minority misrepresentation, the Canadian government stressed separate provision be made to allow minorities and ethnicities of Canada to have their own voice in the media.

Today ethnic media is available across Canada from small newspapers to full-fledged broadcasting stations run by the private sector, such as OMNI TV. Due to the difficulty of acquiring licensing and space on the electromagnetic spectrum due to costs and threshold of the spectrum itself, many ethnic cultures in Canada have third language channels through satellite television. Furthermore, 2000 hours per week is devoted to non-English and non-French programming on Canadian television stations of multiple languages. However, this still creates exclusion of minorities from mass media as ethnic media are promoted to ethnic audiences.

Policy and Legislation
Here I intend to delve deeper into the history of the various policies and legislation that have influenced multicultural media. From a brief overview of the beginning of Multiculturalism Policy in 1971 to the Multiculturalism Act in 1988 and how/if this changed the integration of minorities in the mass media. The Multiculturalism Act of 1988 then influenced the Broadcasting Act to be revised from it's first incarnation in 1968 to then proclaim to reflect the diversity of cultures in Canada in broadcasting. Through these federal interventions to include the many cultures in Canada into the fabric of Canadian culture, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission amended its Ethnic Broadcasting Policy of 1985 to give specific provisions according to the Broadcasting Act on how multicultural media can be carried out. The licenses that are granted to stations under this policy require their content be at least 60% ethnic on these channels. However, ethnicities are not monolithic entities and individuals who identify with a certain ethnicity can differ in religion, culture, or language. Thus the percentage of ethnic programming on radio and television may not necessarily reflect the complexities of any given culture. By merely prescribing a percentage of programming that need to be 'ethnic', does the CRTC ensure the reflection of multiculturalism in Canada? By looking at the primary sources of the policies and legislative in full, by researching further into the Canadian public's response to these provisions, as well as researching the effectiveness of the policies in creating multicultural representation in Canadian culture, is what I would explore further in this section.

Newspaper, Radio, and Television: Made in Canada
In this section I would like to explore specific examples of multicultural representation in Canadian newspaper,television, and radio. From CHIN Radio to CFMT-DT and later OMNI TV, how has multicultural or minority media been available to the mass public. This section is specifically devoted to television, radio, and newspapers that despite their multicultural roots are accessible to the Canadian population as a whole. Furthermore, if the inclusion of these media in the Canadian landscape has made the dominant mass media more inclusive of representing a fair image of minorities in Canada.

Newspaper, Radio, and Television: Imported
This section will explore the introduction of diasporic and satellite programming made available in Canada as well as availability of imported newspapers from native lands. Through the exploration of the popularity of these media, I will try to present the importance (or lack there of) of Canadian made multicultural media to the enthicities living within Canada.