I'm going to be delivering a guest lecture on Canadian TV in September. I get a 1/2 hour timeslot but don't know the specifics yet of what exactly I need to cover -- content, regulation, policy... who knows. So I'll throw it out there. Anyone have any interesting facts, stats, research, or funny tidbits to suggest?
No matter the focus I think I'll have to cover CRTC regulations, the Gemini Awards, our love for Hockey Night in Canada, news programs that are more global than in the US, our so-bad-it's-good original programming (Beachcombers, Danger Bay, Degrassi, Canadian Idol, The Littlest Hobo), kids' programming (Polka Dot Door, Mr. Dressup), and stuff we came up with that really was pretty darn good (This Hour Has 22 Minutes, Kids in the Hall, The 5th Estate, The National, Holmes on Homes).
Can anyone send me a clip of This Hour has 22 Minutes' segment on Talking to Americans? Maybe I'll just show that for 1/2 a hour hahaha. Except I'll be the only one laughing.
2 comments:
In Bowling for Columbine, Michael Moore makes the observation that American News is very sensational and fear driven (shoot-outs, drive-bys, murders, etc). And yes, although those things do happen more in the states vs. Canada, he says Canadian News doesn't sensationalize and focus on those things as much when they happen.
A couple of other interesting things I read: http://film.guardian.co.uk/interview/interviewpages/0,6737,841083,00.html
Michael Moore talks about Canadian news coverage of Vietnam vs. US coverage.
But I thought I would also provide some other side of the fence stuff on Michael Moore's views of Canada: http://www.bowlingfortruth.com/bowlingforcolumbine/canada.htm
It would also be interesting to talk about corporate television vs. public television in Canada, if there is such a paradigm like we have in the US.
I know US news is heavily filtered and information is intentionally suppressed but does Canada do the same and if so, to what extent? For example, does Canada block international stations such as Al Jazeera?
I would also like to suggest that you check out Democracy Now! They have a wonderful archive on various media topics here in the states and abroad (I can help you find some). Also, check out the Center for Digital Democracy.
I am sure you can get some pretty good topics from those to sites.
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