OTTAWA — An analysis of how ethnic media covered the federal election suggests it closely mirrored that of the mainstream press.
The study’s author says the findings also underscore a crucial fact about the so-called “ethnic vote” in Canada — it looks a lot like the mainstream one.
Andrew Griffith’s analysis found that ethics, relations with China and climate change were widely covered, as were the parties’ strategies and tactics, which was partially a reflection of English- or French-language stories on those subjects being translated.
When it came to the parties themselves, the Liberals and Conservatives received widespread coverage throughout the campaign, while the NDP saw a bump in its coverage after the English-language debate.
Griffith — who used to run multiculturalism programming for the federal government — says one takeaway is that those who use ethnic press as their primary news source are generally able to be as informed about national issues as those who turn to more popular media.
But he says another element of the findings is how important the ethnic press is to assisting with the political integration of Canada’s newcomers.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on Dec. 18, 2019.
The Canadian Press
The Canadian Press
