From Public Relations to Mob Rule

Media Framing of Social Licence in Canada

Bibliographic Data

ID14784941
AuthorsShane Gunster (0000-0002-4531-3364, Simon Fraser University, corresponding author), Robert Neubauer (Simon Fraser University)
Year2018
Volume43
Issue1
Pages11-32
Publication date2018-03-15
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueCanadian Journal of Communication (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0705-3657 • E-ISSN: 1499-6642
PublisherUniversity of Toronto Press Inc. (UTPress) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.22230/cjc.2017v43n1a3342
OpenAlexW4408388040
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited23

Background Social licence refers to the idea that corporations and governments require broad public support for resource development projects from affected communities, citizens, and stakeholders. Talk of social licence has become pervasive in media discussions of resource development in Canada and especially prominent in debates around oil pipelines. Analysis This article explores changing Canadian newspaper coverage of social licence over the past two decades. It identifies and analyzes the formation of four distinct “logics” of social licence: corporate, regulatory, oppositional, and conservative attack. Conclusions and implications This analysis provides a more robust framework for understanding how different groups have advanced competing visions of social licence within the public sphere, while illuminating the active role that news media have played in shaping the definition of social licence to fit their own editorial cultures

Advertising · Business · Framing (construction · Media studies · Political science · Social media · Sociology · Digital Economy and Work Transformation · History · Labor Movements and Unions · Law · Mining and Resource Management

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