On Balance - Volume 7, Number 7

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Volume 7, Number 7

WHO'S RIGHT, WHO'S LEFT? A CATALOGUE OF TELEVISION'S NAMING CONVENTIONS

TELEVISION COVERAGE OF POLITICS AND PUBLIC policy is filled with short-hand ideological naming conventions. In attempting to quickly describe the sides in a dispute, event, or public policy option, reporters often resort to snappy two- or three-word descriptions such as "left-wing militias" or "right-wing extremists." Presumably, these naming conventions allow the viewer to quickly assess the sides in a dispute.

But how useful are these descriptions? Perhaps Canadians understand the right and left distinction in Canadian politics, but can we be expected to fully understand the connotations of these labels in an international context? To discern how much information is conveyed by this type of labelling, we examined the uses of right or left, and conservative or communist on national television news over 1993 to see if a) the labels were accurate, and b) whether they were used consistently.

Right-wing most frequently used label

On Monday September 19, 1994, NDP leader Audrey McLaughlin stood in the House of Commons applauding the election of the Social Democrats in Sweden. Her words, paraphrased by Jeffrey Simpson in the Globe and Mail, were that this victory was proof that the "left" was advancing all over the world. Despite Ms. McLaughlin's claim, television news rarely identified groups, individuals or policies as being "leftist" in 1993. As figure A illustrates, on CBC the label "right" or "conservative" was used three times as often as "left" or "communist." On CTV, the right, or conservative label was mentioned twenty percent more than left, or communist.

Click here to view Figure A: Right and Left on TV

What emerges in the examination of these labels is that more often than not, these naming conventions are invoked in specific contexts, namely, in the criticism of policies or individuals. In essence, the presence of a label denotes name-calling on the part of the media. In descriptions of the left, including communism, 84 percent of CBC and 96 percent of CTV usages were negative. Descriptions on CTV linked the "left" with words like repression, extremism, tyranny, shackles, overlords, vengeful, hacks, and Yeltsin's opponents. For example, on 5 June 1993, Robert Hurst reported: "Boris Yeltsin opened his constitutional conference vowing to excise the tyranny of communism."

Similarly on CBC, the negative connotations included totalitarians, fascist dictatorships, and Yeltsin's opponents. For instance, on 6 October 1993, Don Murray reported: "This was a man [Yeltsin] tonight still on the attack. His words for his adversaries were harsh. `They had planned an armed uprising to create a bloody communist fascist dictatorship; killing force had been required to protect democracy.'"

Yeltsin's opponents both right-wing and left-wing

That there were more uses of the right-wing label does not mean that the term received more favourable media attention than did left-wing. Sixty-one percent of CBC's and 80 percent of CTV's uses of right-wing were negative. In addition, right-wing was most frequently invoked to describe a negative policy or action. For example, Yeltsin's opponents--"the anti-democratic forces"--were also labelled right-wing on CBC four times, and conservative 14 times. On CTV they were called right-wing six times and conservative twice.

What is significant about the labels applied to Yeltsin's opponents is that he, and not the media, associated the negative labels with communism. When reporters described Yeltsin's opponents they favoured the description "conservative" over the more accurate "communist." For example, on the 3 April 1993 National, Kevin Newman introduced a segment saying: "Also watching all of this, Canadians with more than just a passing interest in Russia, Canadians who have business there. They got in because of Russian economic reforms. But now those same reforms are under attack from conservative politicians who are lining up against Boris Yeltsin." Similarly, on 24 September 1993 Brian Stewart reported on CBC Prime Time: "Russian president, Boris Yeltsin, cranked up the pressure on his conservative opponents today. On Yeltsin's orders, army and police took up positions around the parliament buildings where the conservatives are holed up."

The same pattern of reporting occurred on CTV where on 22 March 1993 CTV's Lloyd Robertson introduced a story on the situation in Russia saying: "Good evening. Russian president Boris Yeltsin kept himself out of the public eye today but he was very much on the minds of his people, friends and enemies alike. From behind closed doors, Yeltsin invoked special powers to control the national media. The move follows another controversial development over the weekend, a decision to bypass the parliament and rule by decree. Yeltsin's opponents, the conservative hardliners, are trying to throw him out. But in this political power struggle Yeltsin can count on popular support."

In the 26 March 1993 newscast, Sandie Rinaldo continued the portrayal of Yeltsin's opponents as conservatives saying: "After a week in which he lost his mother, his best friends turned against him and his political rivals tried to have him removed, Russian president Boris Yeltsin may finally be able to relax this weekend. Today's performance in parliament was played to perfection and his opposition withered. Yeltsin's fight against conservative hardliners isn't over, not by a long shot and while no one knows how long it will last, for now Yeltsin has the upper hand."

It would appear that the word "conservative" has a profoundly different meaning when used in the context of describing Russian hard-liners than describing for example, U.S. Republicans. Nonetheless that nuance is never explained in television news.

Left-wingers old: right-wingers violent

While communism and left-wing were mostly associated with out-dated practices, right wing and conservative were associated with violence. South African opponents to the end of apartheid, and Israeli settlers in the Gaza, to name just two groups, were lumped in the same group as neo-Nazis in Germany, and racists world-wide. What emerges from the list of those who are considered on the right is essentially a rogue's gallery of repression and violence. In fact, when they used the labels, only 12 percent of the time in CBC's case, and 25 percent of the time in CTV's case did the reporter go on to describe the groups as extremists, despite the fact that much of the acts and activities of some of the groups were violent.

Guilt by association

In Canada, when the media describe a group's or person's policies as right-wing, the term is most commonly pejorative, or at the very least, a cliché. On 15 March, 1993, Paul Adams, reporting a story on Conservative leadership hopefuls, provided this analysis: "Beatty, who was looking for support principally among right-wing and rural Tories, just couldn't find the money or backing to drive his campaign."

Even the NDP were not spared being linked with the right, even if it was tongue-in-cheek. On his 21 October 1993 commentary, Rex Murphy said of the NDP election campaign ads: "McLaughlin pitches herself as a conscience for hire, and, irony, they look like armbands for some right-wing fringe group."

Who's on the Right?

•    Arab protestors

•    Bloc Quebecios

•    C.D. Howe Institute

•    Catholics

•    Corporate Canada

•    Fraser Institute

•    German Protestors

•    Heritage Front

•    Israeli West Bank

•    Males

•    Neo-Nazis

•    PC Party

•    Pro-Apartheid Whites

•    Racists

•    Real Women

•    Reform Party

•    South African Blacks

•    Western Canada

•    Yeltsin's Opponents

Who's on the Left?

•    ANC

•    Azerbaijan

•    Bosnia

•    China

•    Colombia

•    Czech Republic

•    East Germany

•    El Salvador

•    Former Yugoslavia

•    Guatemala

•    Hungary

•    Israelis

•    Lithuania

•    Mexico

•    National Action Committee on the Status of Women

•    NDP

•    North Korea

•    Poland

•    South African Blacks

•    Yeltsin's Opponents

Summary on Right and Left labels

On both CBC and CTV, the term "right" was used eight times as often as "left."

Yeltsin's opponents have been considered both right-wing and left-wing. What is significant about the labelling of Yeltsin's opponents is that he, and not the media, associated the negative labels with communism. When the reporters described Yeltsin's opponents they favoured the description "conservative."

While the terms communism and left-wing were mostly associated with out-dated practices, the labels right wing or conservative were usually associated with violence.

Methodology on Right/Left

Using the National Media Archive's database, a text search was conducted to find the number of occurrences of left-wing, leftism, communism, conservative and right-wing. Results are based on CBC and CTV transcripts dating from January 1993 to August 30, 1994.

The Quebec Election Campaign Wrap-up

THERE WAS VERY LITTLE TO DISTINGUISH between the various media in their attention to the Quebec election campaign. What started out as a dreary summer campaign continued throughout the seven-week event. As we reported in the last issue of On Balance, despite English Canada's interest, reporters continued to comment on the lack of activity on the campaign trail.

Even with Quebeckers' low interest in the campaign, and the dearth of activity by the leaders, the networks continued to report the campaign on a daily basis. As was the case in the first half of the campaign, the final weeks focused on the issue of separation and where the leaders were campaigning.

Interest in consequences of Quebec sovereignty peaks in debate

There was some interest in the consequences of Quebec sovereignty around the time of the debate. Prior to the debate, The Fraser Institute released a study which calculated the indebtedness of a sovereign Quebec. While the study received a lot of attention in Quebec, both national networks reported the story in anchor-only segments. It was only with the debate, in which Daniel Johnson argued in the economics segment that Quebec independence would be costly, did the media pick up on the issue. On the night of the debate CBC ran clips from it in which Daniel Johnson discussed the costs of sovereignty: "Well, let's talk about Pierre Fortin, he appeared on a number of occasions, a number of economists, other economists have appeared before Belanger Campeau. What is remarkable is that since people invented accountancy, with assets and liabilities, Mr. Parizeau sees only one side, savings, 30 billion. I don't know where he said 30 billion. I never said that in my life. Perhaps we can see that later. But the reality is that there are also costs, if you want to embark on the adventure that the leader of the Parti Quebecois and his team want to embark us on as of the 13th of September."

Ironically, this was the most coverage either network devoted to the costs of separation. In the post-debate analysis, commentators focused more on the style of presentation and the issue of who won and who lost than on substantive issues.

Networks correctly pick winner

Another consistent theme throughout the campaign was predictions that the Parti-Quebecois would win a majority government. From the first to the last day of the campaign, the networks did not waver in their premonition that Jacques Parizeau would be elected premier. To their credit, even when polls showed an increase in Liberal support, the networks maintained that the increase was not enough to win a government. For example, on 24 August Alan Fryer explained the poll results to Lloyd Robertson: "Well, Lloyd, like so many other things about Quebec politics, even the numbers aren't always what they seem. Two things about this poll: first of all, we have to be a bit cautious, because the sample size is small-about half that used by Quebec-based polling firms-but, that said, it's still not the horse race it seems. In fact, this and other surveys like it are indicating a comfortable P.Q. majority. The reason is that the Liberals are enjoying massive, massive support among non-francophones. The problems is all of that support is concentrated in a relatively small number of ridings in the western part of Montreal, whereas the P.Q. support is much more broadly-based across the province and that means seats."

What the networks failed to identify was that the increase in Liberal support would translate into a healthy opposition. Most commentators expected the PQ to win at least 80 seats. For example, on the 11 September, 1994 Sunday Report, Michel C. Auger, a reporter for the Journal de Montréal made this prediction: "We all know who is going to win I think. The Parti Quebecois will win between 80 to 90 seats in the National Assembly out of 125, the only thing remaining to see is the, is how many seats the Liberals salvage, there's no doubt on this one."

No commentator or journalist correctly predicted that the PQ would end up with 77 and the Liberals 47 seats in the National Assembly.

Summary of the first half of the Quebec election

As was the case in the first half of the campaign, the final weeks focused on the issue of separation and reporting on the leaders' activities.

It was only with the debate, where Daniel Johnson argued about the economic costs of Quebec independence that the media picked up on the issue.

To their credit, even when polls showed an increase in Liberal support, the networks maintained that the increase was not enough to win a government.

Methodology on the Quebec campaign

Results are based on 61 CBC and 61 CTV news stories on the Quebec election campaign from July 25 to September 11, 1994. All stories appearing during that time were coded, representing a total population rather than a random sample of stories.

Crime Statistics: Crime is Down, So Why Is the Public So Afraid? The Media's Role

ON 23 AUGUST 1994, STATISTICS CANADA presented a study which found that crime had declined from 1992 to 1993. It also found that violent crime had decreased by 14 percent from 1992 to 1994. Many media outlets across the country reported the news with due irony, noting that most people are of the view that we are facing a crime wave. For example, Kevin Newman introduced the story saying: "If you believe the polls, crime is on everyone's mind these days. There are calls for longer jail sentences, more gun control, a crackdown on young offenders--all this because Canadians believe crime is on the rise." Criminologists blamed the media to a large extent for fostering the public perception that crime is on the increase.

The National Media Archive examined the number of stories on murder from 1989 to 1994. We found that during the period murders in Canada decreased, but reports on murders increased. As figure B illustrates, CBC and CTV reported crimes from 1989 to 1992 in a roughly constant manner. Some years had slightly higher instances of murder reporting, while other years showed slight declines in murder stories. However, in 1993 CBC provided 10 percent more stories on murder than in the previous year. On CTV, the increase in murder reports started in 1992 and continued to 1993.

Click here to view Figure B: Stories on Murder, January 1989 to August 31, 1994

What is even more interesting about the study is that it demonstrates that CBC allotted almost equal coverage on murders from January to August of 1994 as to the entire year of 1992. CTV's stories on murder were almost as frequent. We estimate that stories on murder in 1994 will equal or surpass those of 1993.

Methodology on Crime Statistics

Using the National Media Archive's database, a text search was conducted to find the number of stories on murder. Results are based on stories dating from January 1989 to August 31, 1994.

Television Coverage of the Economy in August

DESPITE THE QUEBEC ELECTION CAMPAIGN, there were plenty of upbeat economic stories to report in the month of August. Both networks reported the various positive economic trends: the higher employment rates, the increase in the value of the dollar, the increase in the GDP and of course the downward trend in interest rates.

While much of the news was positive, or at least illustrative of an economy moving in a favourable direction, the networks were not uniformly optimistic in their analyses. CBC presented over twice as many positive as negative assessments of the direction of the economy, while CTV took a more tempered approach to the numbers.

CTV gives more attention to economy in August than CBC

Of particular note is the finding that during August CTV reported more stories on the economic indicators, and gave the performance of more of those indicators than did CBC. For example, CBC did not examine the impact of the deficit on these indicators, nor did they report on the trend in exports and imports. As well, the increase in consumer spending was not mentioned in CBC's coverage of the main indicators in August.

Interest rates monitored by TV

As figures C1 and C2 show, the most frequently reported economic indicator in August 1994 was the rallying in the various interest rates in Canada. Over half of CBC's and nearly half of CTV's coverage of the economic indicators in August reported on the prime and the Bank of Canada rate. Coverage focused on the weekly fluctuations with special emphasis on decreasing rates. For instance, on 2 August, on CBC Prime Time, Brian Stewart began a rather lengthy story optimistically reporting: "A new trend in interest rates has taken hold, and that trend is down. Today the Bank of Canada rate fell for the sixth straight week. It's now 5.7 percent. The commercial banks also made a move. They lowered their Prime rates for the third time in 3 weeks to 7.25 percent. As the CBC's Lorne Matalon reports it's heartening news for consumers."

Click here to view Figure C1: Indicators Reported in August (CBC)

Click here to view Figure C2: Indicators Reported in August (CTV)

Despite the cheery beginning of the story, Matalon's piece ended with a sober warning from Ruth Getter, the Toronto Dominion Bank's economist: "Rates are not trending down forever. You know, tomorrow another poll could come out of Quebec and the markets will get hysterical. Or the Fed may decide to raise interest rates in the States."

For the most part, however, the networks provided little analysis or discussion of the impact of the rates or the future trend. Reports most often were descriptive, providing just the facts, as in Lloyd Robertson's report on 30 August: "The Bank of Canada rate fell slightly today. It was set at 5.60 percent. That's down 12 points from last week's setting of 5.72 percent. Economists say the continuing strength of the Canadian dollar is keeping the bank rate from rising."

Summary of August Economic Figures

Although much of economic news in August was positive, or at least illustrated that the economy was moving in a favourable direction, the networks were not uniformly optimistic in their analysis.

Of particular note is the finding that during August CTV reported more stories on the economic indicators, and gave the performance of more indicators than did CBC.

The most frequently reported economic indicator in August 1994 was the rallying in the various interest rates across Canada. Over half of CBC's and nearly half of CTV's coverage of economic indicators in August reported on the prime and the Bank of Canada rates.

Methodology on August Economic Figures

Results are based on CBC and CTV stories economic indicators from August 1 to 31, 1994. All stories appearing during that time were coded, representing a total population rather than a random sample of stories.

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Last Modified: Wednesday, October 20, 1999.