Listening to Labour

Mainstream Media, Talk Radio, and the 2005 B.C. Teachers Strike

Bibliographic Data

ID7510958
AuthorsShane Gunster (0000-0002-4531-3364, Simon Fraser University, corresponding author)
Year2008
Volume33
Issue4
Pages661-684
Publication date2008-12-31
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueCanadian Journal of Communication (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0705-3657 • E-ISSN: 1499-6642
PublisherJilin Academy of Agricultural Sciences (PUBLISHER • CN)
DOI10.22230/cjc.2008v33n4a2071
OpenAlexW1494512412
LanguageEN
Citations received5
References cited17

In October 2005, B.C. public school teachers conducted a two-and-a-half-week illegal strike that attracted widespread support from the public. This article conducts a comparative content and discourse analysis of the news coverage provided by the leading provincial outlets in three media types: The Vancouver Sun (newspaper), the News Hour on Global (television), and The Bill Good Show (political talk radio). The Bill Good Show’s open-ended, participatory format, coupled with the host’s commitment to journalistic norms of objectivity and diversity, allowed teachers to play an active and significant role in shaping discussion and debate about the strike. Conversely, coverage by The Vancouver Sun and the News Hour, both owned by CanWest Global, largely failed to reflect public opinion and instead reproduced the ideological bias of conventional strike scripts

Active listening · Advertising · Business · Citizen journalism · Diversity (politics · Ideology · Mainstream · Media studies · News media · Newspaper · Objectivity (philosophy · Political science · Politics · Public opinion · Public relations · Scripting language · Sociology · Discourse Analysis in Language Studies · Law · Media Studies and Communication · Social Media and Politics

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Open DOIOpen Access