Race and the media

[Frank Moher]

Over on the backofthebook.ca Media blog, a lot of people -- most of them visitors from Mark Steyn's website -- have been giving me hell for suggesting a) that a journalist's race might play a role in his/her views and b) that the mastheads at Maclean's and some other Canadian media should better represent Canadian multicultural reality.

What do you think? One commentator says this is an '80s issue. Is it?

[amakaslens]

I sincerely doubt this is solely an '80's issue.

Considering that Canada is so incredibly multicultural, Canadian media should take very specific care in appealing to the interests of all citizens through a voice that can be understood by all. Immigration will always be a large component of the growth of this country. It is never going to disappear. As well, Canada seems to try its hardest to be as accommodating as possible to all the cultures within it. If these realities are constant, so is race.

Race, more likely than not, contributes to the viewpoints of anyone, not only a journalist. I sincerely doubt that one's profession being a journalist causes them to be omniscient or endlessly objective. Our cultural backgrounds and upbringings correlate with how we observe and outlet information. Not only mentally, but through how we use language as well. As a Canadian is likely to see differently than an American, so is a Korean from a Japanese, an Indian from an Iranian, or a West African from a South African. Or any of these nationalities, '...-Canadian'.

Regardless that there are core issues of human life for all cultures (religion, health, art, politics, etc. ...) the levels of importance in these issues is extremely varied depending on where someone is from. For example, an immigrant from an oil-rich country is not necessarily going to have the same interest level in arts and culture as many Canadians. They might be more interested in the economics behind oil exports from their homeland and how Canada contributes to that. Many of the interests of people from richer countries are not even conceivable to people from poorer countries. Their lifestyles simply restrict that from happening. I'm sure the comparisons and considerations are endless.

A magazine such as Maclean's should have to consider catering to Canada's multiculturalism through selecting their journalists and stories in a way that reflects the population. Such a current affairs publication needs to adapt to a constant change in journalistic approach that grows with the country. If the dynamics of population shift, the readers likely do as well.

[Eric Pettifor]

I do declare, Mr. Moher, you seem to have given those right wingers a case of the vapours!

As for it being an '80s issue, sure, we can look back to a change in consciousness in the 60s, 70s, and 80s most exemplified by the civil rights and feminist movements. And back then an institution could plead new awareness which would take some time to be reflected in new hires, but after nearly 50 years those institutions have had plenty of time for retirement of the old guard and new hires to lead to staffing more representative of the population as a whole. There doesn't even need to be reverse discrimination or affirmative action type plans -- just don't discriminate and over time that should be reflected in the makeup of the staff of the institution, especially over the course of all those decades. If that hasn't happened at Maclean's, then it is reasonable to wonder why not.

As for people's background and upbring influencing their perceptions, well, duh. One of the qualities of Abraham Maslow's self actualized people is the ability to transcend their own culture and view it objectively. Maslow had a hard time being taken seriously in the science worshiping academic psychology departments of North American universities in part because of the problem of rounding up enough self-actualized people in order to conduct experiments on them. They're just too darn rare. I suspect they may even be rare at Macleans.

[Sandeep Chauhan]

I've never heard an Indo-Canadian, an African-Canadian, an Asian-Canadian or any member of a First Nations talk about race in the past tense, it's always been a someone who is white. Either they ask if talking about race is still relevant or they claim that we're past that. Of course, the rest of us can't be bothered with the question -- we're too busy living it.

Does race still matter? White people still can't get over O.J. -- they can't believe a black man got away with killing two white people -- from Conan to one of BoB's own white people just harangue about it.

When a tool like Dan Savage blames African-Americans for the passing of prop 8 -- when they make up 6.7% of the population -- I too wonder: does race still matter?

When Ralph Nader has the temerity to call Barack Obama Uncle Tom I wonder: does race still matter?


Maybe Canada's refusal to help Omar Khadar or Abousfian Abdelrazik isn't based on race. But then again I have to wonder when a convicted criminal like Brenda Martin gets back into the country and both these men are left out in the cold on the flimsiest of evidence. Incidentially, isn't it strange that the Canadian government is willing to fight so hard for someone who hadn't lived in Canada and yet had trouble mobilizing to rescue Canadians stuck in Beirut?

Of course just ask: why haven't we had a First Nations PM? An Indo-Canadian leader of the Loyal Opposition? An African American leader of the Bloc? Maybe we really are past race.