Marc Raboy: McGill University's new media expert
Professor appointed as Beaverbrook Chair in Ethics, Media and Communications
Concentration, convergence and globalization continue to rock the world's media landscape. What's more, the soaring popularity of the Internet has raised new questions for media companies and the public alike about access to information.
As newly appointed Beaverbrook Chair in Ethics, Media and Communications at McGill University, Marc Raboy is well poised to shed light on the issues at heart. Below are questions and answers from Professor Raboy, who teaches in the Department of Art History and Communication Studies.
Do new technologies pose new problems? The arrival of the Internet, for instance, has brought spectacular changes to the way we communicate. This relatively new medium has fostered a feeling of urgency to raise public awareness. We need to examine, critically, how we use the Internet and how the Internet uses us. Society faces crucial choices regarding media and communication.
Should the Internet be regulated by a government-sanctioned body? Recognizing the social and cultural importance of media and communication justifies situating them in the public domain alongside such sectors as education, health care and social services. The specific nature and role of media requires that they also remain independent, a place that fosters creativity. Issues regarding media governance are at the centre of media ethics. Simply put, the domain of media ethics must determine the appropriate balance between freedom and public control of media activity.
What, if any, are appropriate limits to freedom of the media in a democratic society? Democratic societies have always been reluctant to regulate the press because of its origins as an instrument of struggle against authoritarian rule. As a result, we now face an unprecedented degree of concentration of ownership that many feel threatens press independence. In broadcasting, an alternative model emerged, the public service broadcaster, which is state supported and operated at arm's length. Because broadcasting was recognized as being of social, educational and cultural value, we accepted placing constraints on radio and television broadcasters — even in the commercial sector. The recent loss of faith in the federal government and regulatory solutions has undermined the notion of broadcasting as public service. This is a shortsighted view. Now, with technological convergence, conventional models are blending into new media forms. The result is a new crisis in media governance: some say that new rules need to be written, while others argue powerfully that there should be no rules at all. The first approach taken should reflect what public interest calls for.
How can citizens be more effectively engaged in media governance? Media issues need to be expressed and recognized in public discourse. Media forms and practices have played a role that has been undervalued and understudied. For example, 30 years ago, concern for the Earth's physical environment was highly specialized and politically marginal. Today, awareness of environmental issues has been generalized to the point where no major public or private endeavour is possible without taking these issues into account. Awareness of media and communication issues needs to be generalized to the same extent, and on a global scale.
Are media ever neutral? Communication media are not neutral and can be used to create solidarity and promote understanding. Unfortunately, media can also enhance inequalities, promote passivity and inflame hatred. The key lies in how they are used, and the challenge is to see that they remain free and vibrant while reflecting society's needs.
What challenges does Canada face in communications? Canada faces a series of policy challenges in media governance. The federal government must deal with the need to renew existing regulatory and institutional structures, such as the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) and the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation), while dealing with pressures to liberalize media ownership rules. At the same time, the federal government must find ways to work with international partners to counteract the constraints of bilateral and multilateral trade agreements on cultural policy generally and media in particular.
Can Canada retain sovereignty over its communications in the global marketplace? UNESCO's proposed international convention on cultural diversity is of vital importance to Canada, while the recent World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) has identified a number of questions, ranging from communication rights to Internet governance, which are going to dominate global discussion on media policy issues in the coming years. Canada has a critical role to play in these debates.
What, if anything, makes Canadian communications distinct? Canada has one of the world's most sophisticated systems of mass media and communication. Our country has often innovated new institutional structures and arrangements for the production and distribution of media content and other forms of both point-to-point and point-to-mass communication. How? Through an elaborate system of regulatory features — from public broadcasting to funding programs for the arts and culture to the CRTC — which are studied and copied by public policy makers around the world.
Background on Beaverbrook
The Beaverbrook Chair in Ethics, Media and Communications was established at McGill University by an endowment from the Beaverbrook Canadian Foundation. It is named in honour of Lord Beaverbrook, who grew up in New Brunswick as William Maxwell Aitken. Lord Beaverbrook had a successful business career in Montreal before eventually moving to Britain and becoming a member of Parliament. Knighted in 1911 and made a peer in 1917, he went into the newspaper business and bought the Daily Express and the Evening Standard. He also created the Sunday Express. As minister of aircraft production during World War II, he galvanized the aircraft industry. A key member of Winston Churchill's cabinet throughout the war, Lord Beaverbrook developed a close personal relationship with Churchill. After the war, he gave up politics to write memoirs and biographies of his influential friends and to supervise his newspapers. At the time of his death in 1964, the Daily Express boasted one of the largest circulations in the world — reaching 4.5 million people every day. The Beaverbrook Canadian Foundation was established by Lord Beaverbrook in 1960 by Act of the Canadian Parliament.
