Articles/Book Chapters
On trust of media
Reuters Institute, Digital News Report 2023. See the chapter on Canada (pp. 114-15) written by faculty at Centre des médias at ULaval.
https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/sites/default/files/2023-06/Digital_News_Report_2023.pdf
The downward trend in media trust since 2016 looks pretty worrisome. As they write: "Trust in news overall is falling among English-speaking Canadians, placing them in the lower end of surveyed markets. Attitudes towards publicly funded news services are also more negative than in past studies, especially in the West."
On media partisanship
Thibault, Simon, Frédérick Bastien, Tania Gosselin, Colette Brin, and Colin Scott. “Is There a Distinct Quebec Media Subsystem in Canada? Evidence of Ideological and Political Orientations among Canadian News Media Organizations.” Canadian Journal of Political Science 53, no. 3 (2020): 638–57. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0008423920000189
The Supplementary material (not restricted) provides several graphs that are more public friendly.
On the social and political benefits associated with the presence of public media
Neff, T., & Pickard, V. (2021). Funding Democracy: Public Media and Democratic Health in 33 Countries. The International Journal of Press/Politics, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/19401612211060255
Provides a succinct review of the literature (pp. 2-3).
Books
Ivor Shapiro, The Disputed Freedoms of a Disrupted Press. London and New York: Routledge, 2023.
Drawing on examples from various countries and cultures, this book distinguishes the universal right of free expression from the more complex and innately conditional liberties claimed by news media. It examines journalists’ common goals and norms in light of polarized and disordered information channels, reckonings with identity and privilege, diminished public trust, and altered revenue streams. The author discusses emerging forms of accurate, contextualized news production and argues that journalistic autonomy can be sustained only through demonstrated accountability for providing factual information about public affairs according to self-regulated professional standards. The book concludes by proposing a principle-based framework for enhancing the case for press protections and opposing disinformation while minimizing harm. Adopting this approach would require many publishers and editors to consider paradigm shifts and structural changes.
