Volume 8, Number 1 - February, 1995

TELEVISION'S YEAR IN REVIEW --1994

THE PAST YEAR CAN BE SEEN IN MORE WAYS THAN ONE to have been a year of immense change and challenge. On the national front, 1994 was the first year of the Chretien mandate, internationally it was a year which saw the first multi-racial elections in South Africa. It was also a year where North America seemed obsessed with the O.J. Simpson double-murder case.

As we look back on 1994, we examine not only the domestic issues that topped the headlines, but which public figures attained the most notoriety. This year, as in any year of great change, came with a few surprises.

National unity tops the agenda

Click here to view: Issue of the Year -- CBC

Whereas 1993 saw a change in media emphasis from national unity to economic issues, 1994 saw a reversal of this trend. Once again the dominant issue for public policy on national television news was Quebec and national unity. Twenty-eight percent of CBC's and 33 percent of CTV's top ten issues focused on national unity and the prospect of Quebec separation.

Much of this attention crested with the Quebec election campaign and the Parti Quebecois win. In fact, of all provincial election campaigns in the last five years, this was the only campaign that received nearly constant daily attention.

As was reported in On Balance (vol 7, issues 6 and 7) despite low public interest in the campaign, both in Quebec and nationally, and the dearth of activity by the leaders, CBC and CTV continued to report the campaign on a daily basis. While the coverage of the campaign focused both on the separation question and on simply following the leaders' activities, little was said of what impact separation would have on the country.

In contrast, the most national television attention that other provincial campaigns received was limited to the campaign kick-off, followed by a midway report, and, finally, coverage of the election results. As the Parti Quebecois took over power, the attention to a Quebec referendum increased.

Economic issues second to national unity

Outside of the concerns with the possibility of Quebec separation, three of the top 10 issues focused on the economy. As was the case in 1993, jobs and the unemployment rate placed high on the agenda. Unlike 1993, however, news on jobs and unemployment was essentially positive. The networks reported the declining unemployment rate and the increasing number of jobs in the country. For example, on December 2, 1994 CBC's Ron Charles reported: "Overall, 422,000 jobs have been created since January--more than a third of them in manufacturing."

Similarly on August 5, 1994, CTV's Lloyd Robertson began the second story of the day announcing: "Some happy notes about the speed of Canada's economic recovery today. At home the war against unemployment continues and there's good news to report. The national unemployment rate for July was set at 10.2 percent. That's down from 10.3 percent the month before. According to Statistics Canada, 239,000 new jobs have been created since January putting employment levels back to where they were in April 1990. Most of the new job gains were confined to Quebec and Ontario. Most of the work was in manufacturing, products like electronics, rubber, plastics, and the all-important auto industry."

NHL strike edges out the debt/deficit

Although the unemployment rate and increase in the number of jobs were the second most frequently mentioned domestic issue, the debt and deficit ranked eighth on CBC's and CTV's top 10 issues. Health Care, taxation, immigration, aboriginal issues and even the NHL hockey strike attained more coverage than the debt/deficit issue.

It is not surprising then, that a Gallup poll released December 5, 1994 found that only 42 percent of Canadians polled could define what the "deficit" is. Moreover, "roughly one-half of respondents (49 percent) were aware that the size of the deficit was $40 billion." Further, only 37 percent of the respondents were aware that the debt is $550 billion. [Results are based on 1011 telephone interviews with adults, 18 years of age and older, conducted November 2-7, 1994. A sample of this size is accurate within a 3.1 percentage point margin of error, 19 in 20 times.] As the Gallup report speculated, this result was "quite possible because it is generally not mentioned in the media as often as the annual federal deficit."

Prime minister tops the list for politicians

Click here to view: Top Federal Politicians -- CBC

The most significant change in news coverage from 1993 was the change in federal politicians and the subsequent attention they received. The political realignment in Ottawa with the Bloc Quebecois and Reform parties completely overshadowing the Progressive Conservative and New Democratic parties was reflected in media attention to federal politicians.

Outside of the party leaders, the list of the top 10 federal politicians is completely dominated by Liberal members. The new media favourites that have emerged are Paul Martin, Andre Ouellet, Sergio Marchi, Lloyd Axworthy and David Collenette.

Women absent from top 10 list

Despite the female leadership of the NDP and the appointment of a woman to the position of deputy prime minister, no women made the top 10 list of federal politicians. While one may discount Audrey McLaughlin because of the NDP's abysmal showing at the polls, Jean Charest, the leader of the two-member caucus of the Progressive Conservative party, received more coverage than did McLaughlin on CBC.

Deputy Prime Minister Sheila Copps, too, received more prominent attention as a member of the so-called "Rat Pack" than she did as a member of the ruling government. Her media spotlight has dimmed significantly since 1990 and 1991 when she placed at the bottom of the top ten list.

In contrast, while Diane Marleau, the minister of health, did not place in the top 10 federal politicians list, she did amass twice as many television references as Ms. Copps.

Controversial MP makes list

One former Liberal who made the list was Jag Bhaduria, the member from Markham-Whitchurch-Stouffville. Mr. Bhaduria was asked to resign from the Liberal caucus to sit as an independent in January 1994. The controversy arose over allegations that Bhaduria misled his constituents and his party in his campaign literature. Ironically, it was the controversy over his election rather than any acts in the governing party that won him more television attention than most of the Liberal cabinet ministers.

Parizeau most frequently mentioned premier

Click here to view: Most Discussed Premiers -- CBC

Quebec premiers dominate domestic coverage

Given television's obsession with the possibility of Quebec separation and the Quebec election, it comes as no surprise to see Quebec premier Jacques Parizeau top the list of provincial politicians. What is somewhat disconcerting is the degree to which one provincial premier dominates the national stage. Fifty-three percent of CBC's and 46 percent of CTV's coverage of the top 10 provincial politicians went to Mr. Parizeau in 1994. Add to that the attention paid to former Quebec premiers Daniel Johnson and Robert Bourassa, 72 percent of CBC and 63 percent of CTV attention to the top ten provincial premiers went to Quebec premiers.

Ralph Klein's deficit-fighting raises Alberta's profile on national stage

Since 1992 Albertan premiers have hovered around the third and fourth position of most frequently mentioned provincial politician. This year was no exception, with Ralph Klein ranking third on the list. What is different this year, however, is that while the rank remains generally the same, the sheer amount of attention paid to Klein has increased. On CBC, his attention increased nearly fourfold and on CTV twofold from the previous year.

The reason? Unlike former Western-based premiers Bill Vander Zalm and Don Getty, Ralph Klein achieved this prominence for his strong economic policies rather than for his verbal faux pas or political manoeuvring in the constitutional negotiations.

For example, as Kelly Crowe reported on CBC's August 24, 1994 Prime Time: "Hospital closures, user fees, pay cuts. There are increasing examples of the effects of the Alberta government's dramatic plan to eliminate its deficit. But instead of hurting government popularity, the cuts seem to be helping it. A new Angus Reid poll shows that support for the government of Ralph Klein is growing." While the polls may have shown popular support for Klein's fiscal measures, national television news focused on the protests. For example, on March 19, 1994 CTV's Sandie Rinaldo reported: "Demonstrators came by the thousands to the steps of Alberta's legislature today. They were there to vent their anger at massive spending cuts in the recent provincial budget. Many are worried that premier Ralph Klein's self-declared war against the deficit will leave them out in the cold." Ralph Klein's image in the press will be the focus of next month's issue of On Balance.

Reality check update: Rwanda was a bigger story than O.J. Simpson

In the summer, On Balance examined the claims made by Oxfam that the O.J. Simpson double-murder received more attention than the slaughter of Tutsi tribe in Rwanda. At that time we found that, in fact, Rwanda was the subject of more stories than O.J. Simpson. In an interview with TV Guide, CTV News' Lloyd Robertson remarked: ". . . you'll see that Rwanda got much more coverage than O.J. over the long haul." That prediction certainly held out. As the year drew to a close, references to Rwanda outnumber those to O.J. Simpson by three to one on CBC, and by two to one on CTV.

Methodology

The Year in Review includes CBC's Prime Time News, Saturday Report, Sunday Report and Venture, along with CTV News from January 1, 1994 to December 31, 1994.

All occurences of places and names with more than one meaning were examined in the transcript.

Further information or details on the coding design and methods may be obtained by contacting the National Media Archive.

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