IV : 2 February 1991

1990: A YEAR IN REVIEW:                                                              CBC and CTV National News Coverage

This somewhat delayed issue of On Balance examines television's coverage of events during 1990. The production of this edition was detained while the Media Archive transcription process was accelerated to improve the timeliness of transcripts. Regular users of the Archive will be pleased to learn that as a result of these changes we will, as of May 1, 1991, be able to offer transcripts of television reporting of any issue the day after the broadcast occurs.

The electronic index of the National Media Archive has generated lists of all the words said on CBC and CTV over the past year. In total, 44,783 CBC and 35,133 CTV words were indexed for the year. From these lists we have completed the most frequently mentioned issues, people and places.

For comparison purposes, the ranking of the individual, place or issue was compared to that of the previous year. As the reader will note, 1990 was a year of many changes with new faces entering the agenda and new issues coming into focus.

THE CHANGING TELEVISION NEWS AGENDA

As Table 1 on the next page shows, coverage of domestic issues changed considerably from last year. Some issues were propelled to the forefront of attention, while other dropped from the news agenda altogether. In terms of how the news reflects the public's view of what is important, Table 1 also shows the ranking of these issues compared to a Maclean's/Decima poll which asked respondents: In your opinion, what is the most important issue facing Canada today-the one about which you, yourself, are most concerned?

Click here to view Table 1: Issue of the Year

Native issues climb from 7th to 1st place

The most significant shift in television's attention from 1989 was the increase in coverage of native issues. While native issues ranked 7th in 1989, in 1990 they were mentioned most on CTV and 2nd most often on CBC.

One reason for the shift in attention of native issues was the crisis at Oka, Akwesansne and Kahnawake. As On Balance reported in May, during 1989 the proceedings of the Manitoba Native Justice Inquiry gained almost constant media scrutiny. Part of the reason for this attention was that the Inquiry was eventful, had consistent dramatic developments and could be categorized into established themes. Reports of the inquiry presented "dramatic testimony," provided "allegations of racism," and gave considerable attention to accounts of human suffering.

The crisis at Oka also fit into these categories of newsworthiness. The road blocks clearly put native issues on the agenda in terms of self-government and land claims. As a result, many stories began to emerge focusing on native issues in general.

Interestingly, while native issues may have fulfilled the criteria for newsworthiness, they have not become an issue which most Canadians feel is the most important. In fact, native issues did not make Maclean's top ten list.

Meech Lake rises from 5th place

CBC's most frequently mentioned issue, Meech Lake, also shifted substantially in attention. While both networks placed Meech Lake in the middle of their 1989 coverage, in 1990 it was the most frequently mentioned topic on CBC and second most frequently mentioned topic on CTV.

One reason for the heightened attention, at least for the first half of the year, was due to the approaching deadline for ratification. The second reason, reported in the February and July/August editions of On Balance, was that the Meech Lake Accord was presented as a prominent issue when its outcome was threatened or when conflict was present between leaders.

The period which saw the most conflict and subsequently received the most attention was during the First Minister's meetings in the first week of June. Meech Lake almost completely dominated the networks' focus for that week. In the seven-day period, CBC presented a total of 69 stories, including one press conference on the day's events. Of these stories, only 17 dealt with events or issues other than Meech Lake. Three quarters of CBC's regularly scheduled television news programming was devoted to this one issue. Although CTV also was following the Meech Lake story, a total of 83 stories were presented, of which 48 were on issues other than Meech Lake. Thus, CTV's attention to Meech Lake, in terms of total stories presented, comprised 42 percent of the week's regularly scheduled news coverage.

When the network's attention to Meech Lake is compared to what Canadians think about national unity and bilingualism it is clear that television does not mirror the public's concerns. While the networks considered the Meech Lake Accord to be worthy of substantial attention, the public ranked national unity and bilingualism fifth. Consequently, it appears that the networks do not report issues in relation to how important the public thinks the issue is, but in regards to traditional journalistic concerns about newsworthiness.

The networks and the public agree on the environment

The network's attention to the environment remained constant over the past year maintaining the third place ranking. Similarly, the Macleans/Decima poll ranked the environment as the third most important issue facing Canada.

The Goods and Services Tax

The GST ranked only fourth in the network's agenda, despite the fact that Canadians found the GST and taxes as the most important issue facing the country. As was reported in the March issue of On Balance, nine out of every ten stories on the GST indicated some type of discord over the proposed tax.

Television coverage of the tax included solutions to problems with the GST such as lowering the percentage rate or eliminating the tax altogether. Although the controversy over the tax was emphasized in the network's coverage, CBC did provide more substantive coverage on the tax than did CTV. On CBC, details on the GST comprised over a quarter of the coverage. On CTV details comprised only one-fifth of the coverage.

Recession ranks fifth

The Maclean's/Decima poll placed economic issues, including the recession, in the second most important slot for Canadians. Television coverage ranked it fifth. Nonetheless, the recession was a significant topic for television news. The year began with speculation that a recession would come in 1990 and ended with the finance minister admitting that the country was in a recession. Television's coverage of the recession will be analysed in depth in an upcoming issue of On Balance.

Focus on economy increasing

1990 marks an increase in the attention paid to economic issues. Half of the top ten domestic issues were economic, ranging from taxes such as the GST to free trade.

1990 PROVINCE OF THE YEAR

Click here to view Table: 1990 Province of the Year

PREMIER OF THE YEAR

Bourassa and Wells: premiers of the year

Robert Bourassa, Quebec's premier, remains CBC's premier of the year for the second year in a row. On CTV, however, he maintains his second place finish for the second year in a row, the only notable difference is that this year he was surpassed by Clyde Wells instead of Bill Vander Zalm.

Click here to view Table: Premier of the Year

While in 1989 the coverage of the premiers was largely influenced by election campaigns, in 1990 the coverage was determined by the premiers prominence in the Meech Lake Accord debate. As we reported in February, almost a quarter of the statements on Meech Lake originated with provincial politicians. In fact, federal politicians received less than half of the attention devoted to provincial politicians.

Coverage of Meech Lake mirrors premier coverage

The attention to the premiers was clearly evident during the first minister's conference. During this time, the premiers received most of the attention, comprising slightly less than half of all source statements. Of the premiers, Wells made most of the statements on both television networks, comprising almost one-third of premier attention. On CTV, Bourassa was cited in 19.2 percent of the coverage, whereas on CBC he comprised 13.9 percent of the statements. Frank McKenna received one-tenth of the television attention on the premiers. The remaining premiers received little if any television news coverage. For instance, British Columbia's Premier Vander Zalm accounted for less than one percent of the premiers statements on CBC. On CTV, he was not quoted or paraphrased at all during the First Minister's conference.

CONFLICTS MOST DISCUSSED IN 1990

Click here to view Table: Conflicts Most Discussed in 1990

FEDERAL POLITICIANS

As was the case last year, the prime minister received more attention than any other federal politician. In terms of overall attention given to the top ten leaders, on CTV his share rose by 8 percent over 1989. However, on CBC, the prime minister's share was virtually unchanged from the previous year's coverage.

Click here to view Table: Federal Politicians

Leaders and leadership candidates had a significant impact on the attention given federal politicians. Jean Chretein not only replaced John Turner as leader of the liberal party but also replaced Turner for the 2nd place standing on television news. While his ranking was the same, he did not receive as much attention as did Turner in 1989. (In 1989, Turner's coverage accounted for 28 and 24 percent, respectively, of CBC and CTV's top 10 mentions).

Similarly, Audrey McLaughlin was not quoted as often as her predecessor, Ed Broadbent. While the former N.D.P. leader managed to maintain a third place ranking in both networks, Ms McLaughlin was placed 9th on CBC's list and 7th on CTV. Not only was her attention surpassed by cabinet ministers, but she placed behind Paul Martin, a candidate in the liberal leadership race.

Michael Wilson and Lucien Bouchard: networks' cabinet ministers of the year

While Michael Wilson remained CTV's cabinet minister of the year for the second year in a row, on CBC his attention was surpassed by that of former environment minister, Lucien Bouchard, who resigned his cabinet post over his government's position on Meech Lake.

Of note is the finding that on CBC, former prime minister, Pierre Trudeau, received more attention than did the finance minister or the secretary of state for external affairs. In contrast, on CTV, federal politicians Michael Wilson and Joe Clark placed third and fourth, respectively.

Liberal leadership race received much attention

The Liberal leadership race influenced the attention paid to federal politicians. The top three candidates all placed in the top ten list, in the same ranking as their final placement in the race.

INTERNATIONAL LEADERS/OFFICIALS IN THE NEWS

Click here to view Table: International Leaders/Officials in the News

COUNTRIES IN THE NEWS

Click here to view Table: Countries in the News

THE 1990 LAY OFF LIST

Over the past year the media have reported several major layoffs in Canada. The Globe and Mail's Report on Business Magazine1 complied a list of the biggest "downsizings" announced last year. Because of the sheer volume of individuals affected, The Globe and Mail's list of the number of people laid off was compared to the coverage of those layoffs by the networks.

Figure A indicates that the number of people laid off does not correlate to the amount of coverage the lay off received in television news. For example, while The Globe and Mail estimated that one-third of the job losses would be from the

...the number of people laid off does not correlate to the amount of coverage the lay off received...

construction industry, CBC provided only one mention of this fact. In contrast, while VIA's job losses accounted for three percent of the total job loss, it comprised over one-third of CTV and slightly less than one-third of CBC coverage of all layoffs.

Click here to view Figure A: 1990 Layoff List

Similarly, the coverage of layoffs at the CBC does not reflect the proportion of people who lost their jobs compared to those in other sectors of the economy. CBC gave their own layoff announcements almost one-quarter of total layoff attention. CTV also made the CBC layoffs a prominent story in their December 5th "CTV National", but it comprised 9 percent of total attention to layoff announcements.

An additional finding is the relative importance placed on jobs in fisheries. While job loss in fisheries comprised 2 percent of total job loss, it comprised one quarter of CBC and over one-quarter of CTV coverage on layoffs.

CANADIAN CITIES IN THE NEWS

Click here to view Table: Canadian Cities in the News

CANADIAN TV'S USE OF FOREIGN NETWORKS

Click here to view Table: Canadian TV's Use of Foreign Networks

METHODOLOGY

The lists were compiled to take into account topics which might not be identified with a single word search. Some issues, such as the environment or native affairs, consist of sub-topics. As a result, all the synonyms for the issue with more than one identifier were tabulated within the general category.

In terms of context, all occurrences of places and especially proper names were examined in the transcripts. For example, names like Bush, Baker and Wells had to be examined to ensure that they were not mistaken for regular nouns. Similarly, common Canadian names such as Bouchard, Martin and Clark had to be examined to ensure they were not confused with other sources in the news.

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Last Modified: Wednesday, October 20, 1999.