I know the blog has been nearly deathly quiet this month, but I have a good reason: university. I’ve been reading a lot and studying and keeping up with papers, presentations, and various deadlines. Part of life as a Communications Major is studying the mass media and examining media and our media systems critically.

NewsWatch background information:

“Newswatch Canada began as Project Censored Canada (PCC) in 1993 as a collaborative project of the School of Communication at SFU, the University of Windsor and the Canadian Association of Journalists.  It was renamed NewsWatch Canada in 1998.”

One of the upper-level Communications courses is NewsWatch Canada: a semester of independent research on the diversity and thoroughness of news coverage nationally and globally for students interested in media-monitoring studies. They take a different theme for each year—such as representations of gender in the news, global warming, provincial elections, etc.—and this year was the top under-reported stories by traditional media sources.

Why this is important:

To quickly summarize, in the past 30 years, the mass media has slowly been consolidating to the point where (in America) 6 companies own 90% of the media.

This means that those six companies decide what stories get told, what angle they tell, and what doesn’t get reported on. There used to be strict ownership restrictions (I’m speaking from a North American perspective) where the owners of certain media secrots could not go into other sectors. The restrictions decreased and dropped away with the rise of the neoliberalist perspective of that free media (free as in liberated, not cost-free) would increase competition and therefore the diversity of offerings. In fact, it did the opposite of this.

The open structure led to a monopoly and concentration of ownership. The convergence of media is visible for example in Disney — they have television stations, films, books, toys, etc. For example, in Canada, Bell owns CTV and all their subchannels such as CTV2, Comedy Network, The Sports Network, The Discovery Channel, and E!; Bell Mobility for mobile, wireless, and internet; CHUM Limited including CHUM Radio, MuchMusic, MTV, MTV2, A Channel, Bravo!, Space; and national paper The Globe and Mail. [It's hard to keep track, so: Source]

If you’re interested in learning more, here is the Wikipedia article for Concentration of Media Ownership, or there is a neat infographic by FrugalDad (mostly US data).

NewsWatch Canada’s 2011 Report:

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When the trailer for Miss Representation started making the rounds on social media, I knew I wanted to see it. Fortunately, it screened as part of the Vancouver International Film Festival 2011.

This documentary film, written and directed by former actress Jennifer Siebel Newsom, seeks to expose and question the representation of females in the media—particularly modern American culture. So many people grow up without media literacy—truly understanding the political economy of mass media.

Modern mass media in the USA (and consequently Canada) is mainly dependent upon advertising revenue, whose sole objective is to sell a product. These advertisements rely on making people feel insecure and anxious as well as using sexual imagery.

Advertisers are not the only culprits of this act. American teenagers spend approximately 10 hours and 45 minutes per day on media consumption, including listening to music, browsing the internet, watching television and movies or reading magazines. There are so many choices available that movies, music and entertainment shows consistently resort to violent, sexual and demeaning imagery to break through the clutter. These messages influence predominant cultural ‘norms’ and political discourse.

Between interviews with famous and powerful women such as Jane Fonda, Katie Couric, Margaret Cho, Condoleezza Rice, Geena Davis, and Rosario Dawson, the film shows startling facts and statistics about the role of women in one of the most powerful countries in the world: Read the rest of this entry »

I really should be sleeping—I’m going to need it—so here is an update in point form:

• This weekend is The Word On The Street book and magazine festival. It happens simultaneously in cities across Canada and although I had a decreased role this year, I’ve still been involved. Not to mention the festival programming has been expanded to three days. I will be at Library Square in the Info Tent / Merchandise Booth near the Mainstage. Come say hello (and bring me coffee)!
• Academie Duello is having an Open Barn to promote their Cavaliere program (swordplay on horses!) and a fundraiser for the Richmond Pony Club. I’ve been debating getting involved in that aspect, since I already love to ride. I’ll be at Red Colt on Saturday afternoon to help with the demos and our display booth. Duello is also having a member only party to celebrate the 25th anniversary of The Princess Bride. So that’s also on the agenda for this weekend.
• School is going well. Lots of readings to keep track of, tutorials to engage in, and lectures to attend. Handed in a literary analysis today for The Night Wanderer by Drew Hayden Taylor, so you can expect a review on the blog shortly. We also had our first Gender Debate earlier this week. So things are picking up and before long it will be midterm time (mid-October).
• I’ve begun contributing to SFU’s student newspaper, The Peak. I’m really excited in this opportunity and looking forward to expanding the literary coverage in the Arts section.
• Last night I went to the book launch for Hoopla: The Art of Unexpected Embroidery by Leanne Prain (published by Arsenal Pulp Press). Leanne is the co-author of Yarn Bombing: Knit and Crochet Graffiti and so I was really excited for Hoopla. I made sure to head down to Spool of Thread sewing lounge and get my copy signed!
• Somehow I seem to be confirming more freelance design clients now that I’m back in school. This is an odd turn of events but I’m just trying to juggle everything. Watch me go nuts in about 3 weeks.

What have YOU been up to?

At the end of August, we took an incredible and slightly impromptu roadtrip to Banff, Alberta and back. I’ve been wanting to explore more of British Columbia as I only remember bits and pieces from our roadtrips as a kid. My friend Evan and I took 5 nights and 6 days to do a round trip. Here is our journey in photo format.

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Last-last weekend I made the snap decision to go to Cascadia North Accolade Tournament. I’ve been learning to swordfight and this annual event is a swordplay retreat organized by a group of volunteers from the Western Martial Arts school I attend. I am so glad I managed to attend; it was fun, educational and just a really good atmosphere.

On the ferry leaving Deep Cove

On Friday afternoon, we arrived at Camp Jubilee on Indian Arm by ferry from Deep Cove in West Vancouver. Devon Boorman and Randy Packer started the retreat in 2007 with 40-odd attendees. It has since grown to an event with 80+ attendees and an organizing committee of 8-10 people.

Friendly sparring, violent duelling and general practising happened all weekend long

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