加拿大廣播電視公司與網上互動 - 政大學術集成

全文

(1)國立政治大學國際傳播英語碩士學程 International Master‟s Program in International Communication Studies College of Communication National Chengchi University. 立. 碩士論文政治Thesis Master‟s 大. ‧ 國. 學 ‧. 論文題目 The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and Online Interactivity: An Empirical Investigation of User Generated Content at CBC.CA al 加拿大廣播電視公司與網上互動 iv. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. Ch. n engchi U. Student: Ryan Whalen (王銳言) Advisor: Dr. Leticia Fang (方念萱副教授). 中華民國 99 年 3 月 March 2010.

(2) 論文題目 The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and Online Interactivity: An Empirical Investigation of User Generated Content at CBC.CA 加拿大廣播電視公司與網上互動 Student: Ryan Whalen(王銳言) Advisor: Dr. Leticia Fang(方念萱副教授) 國立政治大學. 碩士論文. 學. ‧ 國. 政治大立國際傳播英語碩士學程. y. ‧. Nat. io. sit. A Thesis. al. er. Submitted to the International Master‟s Program. n. iv n C in International Studies h e nCommunication gchi U National Chengchi University. In partial fulfillment of the Requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in International Communication Studies. 中華民國 99 年 3 月 March 2010.

(3) The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and Online Interactivity: An Empirical Investigation of User Generated Content at CBC.CA. 立. 政治大 A Master Thesis. ‧ 國. 學. National Chengchi University. ‧ er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. v. n. ↓ In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Art. Ch. engchi. i Un. by Ryan Whalen March 23, 2010.

(4) Acknowledgment First and foremost, I would like to thank my entire support network at NCCU. My advisor Dr. Fang has been gracious and insightful, but has never hesitated to let me know when I‟ve stopped making sense. I have appreciated her help and guidance along the way. Dr. Zhu has been kind and generous with both his time and insight during my entire stay at NCCU. My outside panel member Dr. Lin provided insightful critique and made sure that I received her notes despite the fact that she was hit by a truck the day before my proposal defense. On the administrative side of things, Huiting has consistently gone above and beyond the call of duty. I most certainly would not be graduating now were it not for her help and guidance along the way.. 政治大. My family deserves “mad props” as the kids say. Throughout my education they have offered nothing but support, encouragement and help. My brother Liam has been a welcomed. 立. confidant over the past few years and my parents have kept me sane and on track. By ignoring. ‧ 國. 學. the fact that she is seven years my junior and consistently doing everything before me, my sisterAlison has provided a bit of sibling rivalry to keep me motivated. And of course there is. ‧. my brother Conor who remains always with me and an inspiration for my conduct. I wish you were here to share this.. y. Nat. sit. Finally, I would like to extend my acknowledgment to the hardworking folks at my. er. io. breakfast restaurant. I don‟t know their names, but without their yummy yummy breakfasts I don‟t think I would have survived this long.. n. al. Ch. engchi. i Un. v. Ryan Whalen March 2010. I.

(5) Abstract The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and Online Interactivity: An Empirical Investigation of User Generated Content at CBC.CA By Ryan Whalen Following an exploration of the CBC‟s history and role in Canadian society, this study offers an empirical examination of user generated content (UGC) at cbc.ca. 政治大 national identity relevance of user comments. The entire comment threads of 立 eleven stories from early 2010 are sampled and content analyzed. Results measuring the comment type, interactive exchange level, address features and. ‧ 國. 學. demonstrate that the vast majority of UGC at cbc.ca is not one-way as opposed. ‧. to two-wayin nature and that – contrary to the CBC‟s historic role – the national discussion is divisive as opposed to unifying. Finally, a discussion of how the. y. Nat. sit. CBC could improve its interactive functionalityis presented.. Suggestions. er. io. include recommending that the CBC clearly state the intention for interactive. n. al functionality, that the government re-formulate thei vCBC‟s mandate and budget, n. C. h eCBC and, most importantly, that the h i U a re-design of its interactive n g cconsider functionality.. Keywords: Interactivity, User Generated Content, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Public Broadcasting, Online News, Web 2.0. II.

(6) TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 Chapter One: Background……………………………………………………........... 1.1 History of the CBC……………………………………………………………. 1.2 The Historic Role of the CBC…………………………………………………. 1.3 The Role of the CBC in the Current Media Environment…………………….. 1.4 Interactivity at the CBC Website……………………………………………… 1.5 A New Role for the CBC? ……………………………………………………. 1.51 New Media Potential……………………………………………………… 1.52 Prescriptions for Public Broadcasters…………………………………….. 1.6 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………….. 2 Chapter Two: Interactivity at cbc.ca………………………………………………... 2.1 Previous Studies of Interaction at News Websites…………………………….. 2.2 Interactivity……………………………………………………………………. 2.21 Interpersonality…………………………………………………………… 2.3 Why Study the Interpersonal/Expressive Split at cbc.ca……………………… 2.31 Goals……………………………………………………………………… 2.32 History…………………………………………………………………….. 2.33 Mandate…………………………………………………………………… 2.34 Digital Commons…………………………………………………………. 3 Chapter Three: Method……………………………………………………………... 3.1 Research Questions……………………………………………………………. 3.2 Method………………………………………………………………………… 3.21 Research Question 1a……………………………………………………... 3.22 Research Question 1b……………………………………………………... 3.23 Research Question 2………………………………………………………. 3.24 Research Question 3………………………………………………………. 4 Chapter Four: Findings……………………………………………………………... 4.1 The Stories…………………………………………………………………….. 4.2 Descriptives……………………………………………………………………. 4.3 Research Question 1a………………………………………………………….. 4.4 Research Question 1b………………………………………………………….. 4.5 Research Question 2…………………………………………………………… 4.6 Research Question 3…………………………………………………………… 5 Chapter Five: Discussion…………………………………………………………… 5.1 The CBC‟s Claims…………………………………………………………….. 5.2 History and Mandate…………………………………………………………... 5.3 The Digital Commons…………………………………………………………. 5.4 Explanations for Observed Phenomena……………………………………….. 5.5 New Media versus Old Media………………………………………………… 5.6 Limitations…………………………………………………………………….. 5.7 Future Research………………………………………………………………... 5.8 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………….. 6 Works Cited………………………………………………………………………… 7 Appendices ………………………………………………………………………….. 立. 政治大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. III. i Un. v. 1 1 3 4 6 9 11 11 13 15 15 16 20 22 23 23 24 26 28 31 32 34 35 35 36 37 39 41 43 48 50 52 61 61 61 64 65 69 71 72 73 75 81.

(7) List of Tables Table 1.1 CBC.CA Interactive Features………………….……………………........... Table 2.1 McMillan‟s Interactivity Model……………………………………………. Table 3.1 McMillan‟s Interactivity Model……………………………………………. Table 3.2 Number of Comments………………………………..…………………….. Table 3.3 Valence * Story Issue……….……………………………………………… Table 3.4 Number of Comments * Story Issue………………………………….……. Table 4.1 Stories……………………………………………………………………… Table 4.2 Comment Length…………………….…………………………………….. Table 4.3 Comment Frequency……………………………………………………….. Table 4.4 Story * Comment Type …………………..………………………………... Table 4.5 Agreement/Disagreement Means…………….…………………………….. Table 4.6 Comment Type * Feedback…..……………………………………………. Table 4.7 Address * Feedback..……………………………………………………… Table 4.8 Story * Exchange…………………………………..……………………… Table 4.9 Story * Address.…………………………………………………………… Table 4.10 Type * Address..…………………………………………………………... 立. 政治大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. IV. i Un. v. 8 18 29 32 33 33 37 42 42 43 47 47 48 50 51 52.

(8) Introduction There are two issues at the heart of this thesis. The first is the trend towards more and more public discourse online. The second is the process of digitization as public broadcasters like the CBC seek to redefine themselves within the context of the new media environment. These two issues intersect at the CBC‟s website, where public discourse is facilitated by Canada‟s national broadcaster. This intersection raises questions about how effective the CBC is at facilitating interaction, how well the CBC‟s current role accords with its history and mission, and what the potential for future developments are. In order to begin answering these questions, we need to first look back to the history of the CBC.. History of the CBC. 立. 政治大. ‧ 國. 學. Public broadcasting has had a place on the Canadian media landscape since the early 1920s. In 1932 this place was formalized with the creation of a national public broadcaster, the. ‧. Canadian Radio Broadcasting Commission (CRBC). This new regulator and broadcaster. y. Nat. attempted to balance the public service system, as exemplified by the British Broadcasting. sit. Corporation (BBC), and the commercial system in place south of the border. While it was. er. io. motivated out of both democratic ideals and the desire to curtail American media incursion,. al. n. iv n C It was both conceived h e and n gdesigned c h i Uwith national ideals in mind (Raboy,. perhaps the most defining characteristic of the new broadcasting commission was its national characteristics. 1990).. The CRBC was charged with balancing both public and commercial interests. However, when tough economic times brought increased public discord, the Mackenzie King government felt that the public interest would be better served with a distinct public service broadcaster. In order to accomplish this goal, the Broadcasting Act of 1936 created the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). Through the age of radio and the rise of television, the CBC acted as a national broadcaster, providing content in both English and French on both radio and television platforms. During this broadcasting era, the CBC was defined by its role as the public portion. 1.

(9) of the Canadian public-private broadcasting duality. This left the CBC in an at times delicate position. It was forced to differentiate itself from private broadcasters, and yet forced to remain relevant to audience needs and interests. Following the Second World War Canada reassessed the importance of the CBC and its role vis-à-vis its private counterparts.. Charged with this reassessment, the Massey. Commission confirmed the status quo when it tabled its report in mid-1951. The report argued that the CBC had fulfilled most of the desires of the earlier Aird commission, including contributing “to a sense of Canadian unity” (Canada, 1951, p. 28). As such, there were few changes suggested.. The major contributions of the Massey commission were its. recognition of the validity of private broadcasting enterprises and its characterization of them as elements of a broadcasting system which was essentially a “public service”(Canada, 1951,. 政治大 The status quo was 立 again upheld when the Fowler commission tabled its report in. p. 283).. ‧ 國. This Royal Commission on Broadcasting further solidified the. 學. 1957 (Raboy, 1990).. Canadian broadcasting reality as one defined by “national” objectives. It characterized the CBC as an integral element of the Canadian broadcasting mediascape (Canada, 1957).. ‧. The next major change to the media environment to influence the CBC was the. sit. y. Nat. creation of the Canadian Radio and Television Commission in 1968 and its subsequent. io. er. change into the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) in 1976. This regulatory body was charged with administering radio and television bandwidth,. n. al. i Un. v. regulating broadcast distributors, and enforcing Canadian content regulations (Canada, 2009).. Ch. engchi. The CRTC was effectively a new authority for the CBC to answer to. Raboy indicates that this resulted in increased accountability as the CRTC tried to make the CBC more answerable to interested parties such as audience groups, competing broadcasters, and regional interests (1990). During the 1980s the CBC's importance as a cultural institution declined. The rise of cable television and more competition in an increasingly diverse media environment, led to lower ratings and a crisis of identity for the CBC (Raboy, 1990). The most recent articulation of the CBC‟s responsibilities came in the form of the 1991 Broadcasting act. This act requires the CBC to:. 2.

(10) i.. be predominantly and distinctively Canadian,. ii.. reflect Canada and its regions to national and regional audiences, while serving the special needs of those regions,. iii.. actively contribute to the flow and exchange of cultural expression,. iv.. be in English and in French, reflecting the different needs and circumstances of each official language community, including the particular needs and circumstances of English and French linguistic minorities,. v.. strive to be of equivalent quality in English and French,. vi.. contribute to shared national consciousness and identity,. vii.. be made available throughout Canada by the most appropriate and efficient means and as resources become available for the purpose, and. 政治大 Raboy (1995)indicates 立that this new iteration of broadcasting policy was very much. viii.. reflect the multicultural and multiracial nature of Canada. (Canada, 1991). ‧ 國. 學. shaped by the degree of influence enjoyed by various interest groups. These groups include industry, regional groups, public groups and the state. The resulting policy implementations attempted to more clearly define the role of the CBC. However, readers will note that there is. ‧. no mention of how the CBC is to deal with new media and the accompanying changes in the. sit. y. Nat. way broadcasters are able to interact with audiences. Section vii seems to give the CBC. io. er. authority to expand beyond its traditional media focus on television and radio. However, there is no direction as to how that expansion is to take place. In order to better understand. n. al. i Un. v. this current shortcoming between the CBC‟s mandate and its role on the Canadian media. Ch. engchi. landscape, we must first examine the various functions the CBC has served throughout its history.. The Historic Role of the CBC Throughout its history, the CBC has served a number of functions. It has tried to serve public, national, and state interests.. Raboy argues that while it has purported to serve. “public” interests, those interests have often been confounded with those of the state or the nation. He refers to this as “administrative broadcasting” (Raboy, 1990, p. 11).. 3.

(11) One of the chief concerns of this administrative broadcasting has been the construction and maintenance of national identity. National identity – as an “imagined community” well beyond the possible bounds of personal association – is discursively created (Anderson, 1983; de Cilla, Reisigl, & Wodak, 1999). However, this discursive creation of national identity does not always need to be explicit. It can manifest in the more “banal nationalism” of shared everyday references, such as those presented by the CBC (Billig, 1995). The motivation for the administrative broadcasting policies that led to the CBC‟s role as a discursive creator and maintainer of Canadian national identity, are rooted in Canadian history. As a bi-national country the relationship between French and English Canada has long been problematic. As an administrative broadcaster, the CBC has often been used in attempts to bridge the divide between French and English Canada. Similarly, the CBC has. 政治大 The immigrant nature of Canada‟s population leaves立 the country without strong claims for linguistic, ethnic or sought to bring other disparate communities closer together.. ‧ 國. 學. religious nationalism. As a response, the CBC has engaged throughout the years in attempts to create a unitary sense of Canadianess.. With a present-day media environment much changed from the time the last. ‧. Broadcasting Act was passed and a decrease in tensions regarding the Quebec question, the. sit. y. Nat. role of the CBC has come under increased scrutiny. While the private press has a long tradition of questioning the CBC, the current crisis of identity has brought this discussion to. io. n. al. er. the fore again. For instance, recent editorials in major newspapers question both the CBC‟s. i Un. v. funding structure and the validity of the CBC itself (see: Barmak, 2009; Simpson, 2009).. Ch. engchi. Changes to the media environment have brought about the identity crisis that has spurred much of the present day discord with the CBC. The role of administrative broadcaster, and maintainer of national identity seem outdated in a world of global communications. In order to better understand the CBC's current identity crisis we must look to the changes in the media environment that have fundamentally altered its place on the media landscape.. The Role of the CBC in the Current Media Environment Developments in media technology have substantially changed the media environment from its state when public broadcasters like the CBC were founded. The most important changes. 4.

(12) have been brought by the development of new information and communication technologies (ICTs) such as the internet and increasingly capable mobile phones. Of these technologies, the internet has contributed those media environment changes most significant to the CBC and other public broadcasters. Online content consumption has become so important that major ratings corporations such as Nielsen have begun to conduct internet ratings alongside their ratings for traditional media (Nielsen, 2009). While there have been other significant ICT developments to impact the CBC – such as the rise of cable and digital television and satellite radio – none offers such a complex change of media potential as the rise of the internet. These changes include a reduction in user anonymity, an increase in archived information and access to it, and increased user control and interaction (Havick, 2000). These changes to the media environment have had enormous consequences for media. 政治大 effectively capitalize on the立 changes to the media environment. corporations.. Traditional private media corporations have struggled to find ways to However, private media. ‧ 國. 學. corporations at least enjoy the luxury of fairly straightforward goals.. As capitalist. organizations, their principle aim is profit. While the transition to a media environment which features increased user generated content (UGC), vast amounts of free content, and increased. ‧. user control has been difficult for private media corporations, their essential raison d’être On the other hand, public media like the CBC do not enjoy such. sit. y. Nat. remains the same.. io. er. straightforward motivations. And, as we saw above, the CBC‟s mandate does little to help the CBC find its way in the new media environment. This has led to a lack of clear motivation. n. al. for the CBC‟s activities online.. Ch. engchi. i Un. v. Like other public broadcasters, the CBC was fairly quick to venture onto the World Wide Web with its own website presence in 1995. It has, by numerous metrics, been fairly successful in blazing new trails online and attracting online audiences (O'Neill, 2006). Indeed, even though internet activities are not expressly covered in the CBC‟s mandate and even though the internet is a medium, as-of-yet, unregulated by the CRTC, the CBC‟s President in 1998 declared that the corporation was intent on an “aggressive approach to new media” and on becoming “the premiere source of Canadian news and culture on the web” (Beatty, 1998). While this stance seems quite optimistic, Beatty - the former President and CEO of the CBC – suggests that the motivation was largely one of market demand. He claims that the motivation for cbc.ca was because “Canadians expect no less of us” and that. 5.

(13) “the newly empowered consumer is the boss” (Beatty, 1999a). Beatty also acknowledges how important the internet is to the CBC‟s role as national broadcaster by allowing it to provide Canadian content in the “freewheeling environment of new media”(Beatty, 1999b). These comments suggest that the CBC has viewed new communication technologies in a pragmatic market-driven manner. While it has been responsive to audience demands, it has been hesitant to stray too far from its traditional role of content provider. It was not until 2008 that the CBC started adding interactive functions to its website (CBC, 2008). This cautiously pragmatic approach is perhaps fitting, considering that the CBC has received so little direction about its official role on the internet. As mentioned above, the Broadcasting Act does not address new media. In fact, after almost 15 years online the CBC‟s budget still does notprovide funding for its web. 政治大 Adding to the complication, the CRTC – the CBC‟s. presence. Funding must be taken from specialty service funds or siphoned off from radio and. 立. television funding (CBC, 2009a).. ‧ 國. 學. regulator – is not responsible for regulating internet content. So, we see that the CBC has moved online, but with some trepidation, little clarity of purpose and uncertainty about what the future holds.. ‧. al. er. io. sit. y. Nat. Interactivity at the CBC Website. n. While it is difficult to determine why users visit cbc.ca, there is no doubt that they have been. Ch. i Un. v. visiting. According to Google‟s web traffic monitoring the CBC has been very successful in. engchi. attracting web surfers.1 The CBC‟s online efforts include basic information like access to television and radio schedules as well as more in depth information like news, entertainment and sports coverage. There are also increasingly comprehensive archives as well as region specific information.. However, the functions of cbc.ca which are of most interest to this. study are the newer interactive functions of the website. While the other content is interesting and useful, it remains consistent with the CBC‟s earlier role as a content provider. The new trend towards integration of user generated content (UGC) changes the role that the CBC plays on the Canadian media landscape. It is no longer a monolithic broadcaster of content. 1. www.google.com/trends indicates that cbc.ca has considerably more web traffic than competing websites such as ctv.ca, theglobeandmail.com or thestar.com.. 6.

(14) There are now cracks in the monolith and an increasing diversity of voices represented at cbc.ca. There are a variety of ways users can interact with content at cbc.ca. See Table 1.1 for a list of the different interactive features. While the CBC began its online presence in 1995, the addition of interactive features is a fairly new phenomenon. CBC.ca began allowing users to comment on news stories in February of 2008. By March of 2009, the site had over a quarter of a million registered users and often received over 10 000 comments per day (CBC, 2009c). The intended function of all of this interactivity is difficult to ascertain. In many ways it follows broader internet trends towards Web 2.0 functionality, and thus represents the CBC trying to meet the demands of the market. On its submission guidelines page, the CBC. 政治大 advocate, debate. Inspire, entertain, 立 enjoy. Your contributions make our website and on-air provides the following advice for would be commenters: “Probe, analyze, inform. Challenge,. ‧ 國. 學. programming richer, the conversations more lively and diverse.” The CBC later suggests that. comments are meant “to create a thriving conversation”(CBC, 2009b). This suggests that the intention for the interactivity allowed at cbc.ca is to both expose user voices to a broader. ‧. public and to put users in touch with one another allowing them to converse.. sit. y. Nat. In the previous media environment the CBC functioned almost solely as a content. io. er. creator and provider. The new interactive features at cbc.ca give the broadcaster the added element of social nexus. Especially considering how popular the cbc.ca website is and how. n. al. i Un. v. many members it has signed up, this is no small change. These changes raise the question of. Ch. engchi. how interactivity impacts the CBC‟s traditional roles and ideals and how – or whether - it changes the way users perceive both media content and one another.. 7.

(15) Table CBC.CA Interactive Features Feature Comment Threads. 1.1. Agree/Disagree Polls Your Assignment Your Photos Your Videos Your View Citizen Bytes Your Interview Your Best Stuff. 立. 政治大. ‧ 國. 學. Social Website Tie-ins From http://www.cbc.ca/news (accessed Dec. 28, 2009). Details Most prominent interactive feature, appended to most news and editorial items The ability to vote „agree‟ or „disagree‟ to other users‟ comments Topical polls to measure user opinions Solicitations for UGC on specific topics Unsolicited photos uploaded to cbc.ca and then posted to website by web editors Unsolicited videos uploaded to cbc.ca and then posted to website by web editors “Your thoughts on the news: Daily questions on your opinions and experiences.” Similar to Your Viewbut based on a news topic not a specific question. Users submit questions for topical interviews with public figures A selection of the most recommended comments and the “best” photos of the day Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Youtube, Digg. This interactivity has given rise to a large body of UGC at the CBC website. While this content is – by definition – created by the CBC users, the CBC does have a role to play in. ‧. determining how that content is shaped.. Most basically, the CBC provides a list of. y. Nat. submission guidelines.2 These guidelines contain the fairly typical requests that users stay on. n. al. er. io. infringement.. sit. topic, remain “civil,” refrain from anti-social behavior, and refrain from copyright. i Un. v. User generated content is also influenced by the CBC‟s moderation practices.. Ch. engchi. Because it all happens behind closed doors, it is difficult to determine exactly how moderation is practiced by the CBC. Some stories are pre-moderated, having comments screened before publication. In these cases we cannot know what has failed to make it past the moderators‟ watchful eyes. Other stories are post-moderated. However, when a comment is removed there is no reason provided beyond the curt phrase: “This comment has been removed for violating our submissions guidelines.” So unless we see the comment before it is removed and then later make note of its removal, the moderation process is difficult to understand. In addition, the CBC‟s design shapes content by limiting comments to 1800 characters in length. 2. For a submission guildeines outline see: http://www.cbc.ca/aboutcbc/discover/submissions.html. 8.

(16) The CBC‟s traditional role as an administrative broadcaster used to maintain national identity is difficult to parse with the new media reality. Rather than offering a dominant oneway voice and simultaneously subjecting millions of Canadians to identical content, the new CBC allows users to both pick and choose their own content as well as contribute their own voices to the media discourse. This pluralization of voices is in some ways antithetical to the prior unitarian role played by the CBC. These issues raise questions about an appropriate role for the CBC in the present media environment.. A New Role for the CBC? While the CBC has made impressive progress towards adopting interactive features on its. 政治大. website, the intention of these features and – more broadly – the role of the CBC online. 立. remains unclear. Savage (2006)– a former CBC employee who has studied the broadcaster –. ‧ 國. 學. argues that the CBC‟s current conception of its audience is overly market driven. This focus leaves little room for the unique role of a public (i.e. not commercial) broadcaster. Market. ‧. orientation is also reflected in cbc.ca‟s participatory features that mimic the commenting functions at many other websites, but are not justified with a clear statement of purpose. In. Nat. sit. y. 2006 a Senate commission came to similar conclusions when it argued that the CBC needs to. io. er. work harder to distinguish itself from private broadcasters (Senate, 2006). The same report suggested that the government should seriously consider clarifying the CBC‟s mandate to. n. al. Ch. address the challenges it is now facing.. engchi. i Un. v. In addition to its overly market-oriented approach, the CBC has otherwise strayed from its traditional roles. Ferguson argues that the original pillars the CBC has rested upon – democracy and nationalism – have become unbalanced. The current justification for much CBC activity seems to be solely national. However, if the CBC wishes to remain relevant – especially in the context of a changed media environment – it must provide improved access, participation and publicness (Ferguson, 2007). In order to fulfill its unique role as a public broadcaster, the CBC cannot simply follow in the footsteps of commercial online content providers. It needs to attempt to carve out a unique Canadian public space on the internet. The status quo is lacking in a number of ways. Deuze points out that new ICTs lead to increasingly narrowly targeted media (2006).. 9.

(17) As a national institution, charged with contributing “to a shared sense of national consciousness and identity” (Canada, 1991) the CBC should take it upon itself to resist these narrowing impulses and create a broadly Canadian space. Domingo and colleagues (2008) point out that much of the so-called participation that takes place at commercial news websites consists almost exclusively of debate about current affairs. While debate about current issues is important, the CBC should not be satisfied with simply facilitating debate, but should strive to facilitate more diverse communication. Communication diversity would help the CBC use its new website capabilities to achieve mandated goals such as “contribut[ing] to the flow and exchange of cultural expression” and “reflect[ing] the multicultural and multiracial nature of Canada” (Canada, 1991). The difficulties carving out an appropriate space for itself that the CBC has encountered in its transition to online media. 政治大 difficulties during their digital 立transitions. corporation are not unique.. Public broadcasters around the world have experienced. ‧ 國. 學. Bardoel and d‟Haenens confirm that the CBC is not the only public service. broadcaster experiencing growing pains as it expands onto the internet. The Dutch public broadcaster has also experienced difficulties in applying its public service mandate to new. ‧. ICTs.. They suggest that the Dutch public broadcaster also needs to focus less on. sit. y. Nat. marketization and more on providing unique content and capabilities to audiences, especially. io. er. youth, the audiences of the future (Bardoel & d'Haenens, 2008).. Likewise, Moe argues that the BBC and the German public broadcasters have had. n. al. i Un. v. trouble adjusting to the internet as a medium. He concludes that both models restrict potential. Ch. engchi. by reflecting internet activities back to public broadcasters traditional role as broadcasters. The Dutch, British and German examples demonstrate that the CBC‟s situation is not unique. They also suggest that in order to successfully navigate the move online, the CBC and other public broadcasters should eschew overly market-driven approaches and seek out new ways to make themselves relevant. Moe echoes these suggestions with his assessment of the Norwegian public broadcaster.. The increased dynamism that Norway‟s public. broadcaster has demonstrated has led to unique services and content that other countries with more limited broadcasters have not be able to offer (Moe, 2008, p. 235). The hope is that, if public broadcasters are able to successfully navigate the transition online, they may help to achieve some of the new media potential that has long been discussed.. 10.

(18) New Media Potential Blumler and Gurevitch argue that interactive media have the potential to provide new and improved forms of civic participation.. However, they characterize that potential as. “vulnerable” and in need of “appropriate policy support and imaginative institution building” (Blumler & Gurevitch, 2001, p. 1). The CBC has yet to receive the necessary policy support, and the imaginative powers of its online institution building remain questionable. Dahlberg also comments on the – as-of-yet unrealized – potential of the internet as a space for civic participation. He concludes that, in order to encourage improved deliberative collaboration online, we need to develop better meeting spaces and attract broader. 政治大. participation from users who may not be accustomed to such forms of participation. 立. (Dahlberg, 2001).. ‧ 國. 學. Bohman makes similar judgments about the potential for interactive communications to create public spaces. He argues that the internet can potentially offer a “distributed public. ‧. space” but that it is essential to facilitate meaningful dialogue (Bohman, 2004, p. 138). And so we see that many perceive the internet as a space with vast potential, but it is. sit. y. Nat. potential that hasn‟t yet been realized. Similarly, we see that the CBC has dabbled in its online role and encouraged a degree of participation, but has not yet received the necessary. io. n. al. er. policy or public support to create a truly unique – i.e. different from the commercial alternatives – space online. What to do?. Ch. engchi. i Un. v. Prescriptions for Public Broadcasters This question of what to do about public broadcasters online has been answered in a similar fashion by several scholars. They suggest that the CBC and other public service broadcasters should re-cast their roles on the internet in order to provide a digital commons. Murdock (2004) has put forth one of the most explicit and comprehensive calls for this re-casting. He argues that the current identity crisis public broadcasters are suffering does not represent a setback.. Rather, it is an opportunity to finally fulfill the philosophical goals of public. broadcasting. In order to successfully transition into the new communications era, Murdock. 11.

(19) argues that public broadcasters need to stop thinking of themselves as “stand alone organization[s]”. They need to provide a place and means for connection between public and civil initiatives and provide a “shared cultural space” for “new communal connections,” all of which he refers to as the “digital commons” (Murdock, 2004, p. 2). Coleman has similar prescriptions for public broadcasters in new media environment. He argues that the role of public broadcasters in the 21st century should "embrace two principles": universal access to content that is in the public interest, and the broadest opportunities of interactive communications (Coleman, 2004, p. 96). Nissen agrees that public broadcasters have the potential to re-new themselves online. He suggests that public service broadcasting be re-cast as “public service media” (PSM) in order to better encapsulate new roles both online and offline. He suggests three central roles for PSM providers:. 立. 政治大. Enhancing social, political and cultural cohesion. . Sustaining national culture and democratic society. . Serving minority groups and the individual citizen (Nissen, 2006, p. 16).. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. . These suggestions accord with both Murdock and Coleman‟s prescriptions for public. y. Nat. sit. broadcasters in the 21st century and with the CBC‟s mandate and historic role.. al. er. io. So, in order to remain relevant, distinct from commercial content providers, and true. v. n. to their spirit, public service broadcasters such as the CBC can create a digital commons. Ch. i Un. online where people can gather, create community, and engage in meaningful dialogue.. engchi. Benkler and Nissenbaum argue that – provided these sorts of communities allow for meaningful contributions – they can help to create virtuous societies with more engaged citizens (Benkler & Nissenbaum, 2006). An attempt to encourage a virtuous society would be coherent with the history and ideals of public broadcasting. Likewise, Eriksen points out that online news provision and virtual communities can strengthen national identification (2007). This too accords with the CBC's traditional role as a generator of national identity. The changes that these scholars suggest public broadcasters undertake in order to create a digital commons are similar.. They argue that, in the new media environment, public. broadcasters should change their roles from the original focus on content-provision, to one. 12.

(20) that balances this prior role with the new role of social nexus. They point out that public service broadcasters have a unique opportunity to create public space online where social and civil dialogue can take place. They also argue that connections on a personal basis and a sense of community are essential to an online public space. For instance, Coleman states that “firstly, there is the conventionally political field of citizenship and activism, where the internet could enable new modes of communication between members of social and political movements and parties. Secondly, there is perhaps the more fundamental political field of friendship and association" (2004, p. 91 emphasis added). Likewise, referring to Mepham, Murdock argues that “[i]n order to … deal fairly and justly with other people's claims … we first need to ask '[w]hat is it like to be someone else, to be particular kinds of other people? How does it come about that these people can be like that?”(2004, p. 6).. 政治大 p. 2).Similarly, Coleman‟s. Ultimately Murdock sees the digital commons as something that “can help forge new. 立. communal connections”(2004,. (2004)call for a new public. ‧ 國. 學. broadcasting role advocates for a shift “from transmission to interaction” (p. 93) in order to enable an “inclusive range of online deliberation” (p. 97). Most fundamentally what these visions have in common is a need for broadcasters to start putting people in touch with one. ‧. another.. Communal connections, online deliberation, and friendship need two-sided. sit. y. Nat. communication to flourish. If the CBC‟s new interactive features do not engender user-to-. io. er. user communication, there is little chance that the new sort of community and public broadcaster role that Coleman and Murdock envision will emerge in Canada.. n. al. Conclusion. Ch. engchi. i Un. v. The above has made two general arguments. First, we see that the role of the CBC in the changed media environment is unclear. This has subsequently led to a lack of clarity in regards to the motivation for and function of the interactivity at cbc.ca. Second, a new role as a digital commons has been suggested for the CBC. This role conforms to the CBC‟s mandate and its historic roles. While the digital commons may eventually evolve into a place of democratic debate and social and civic dialogue, most fundamentally it requires interpersonal communication in order to develop.. 13.

(21) In order to address the issues raised above, this study will now move on to an exploration of the role interactivity plays in the CBC‟s current online incarnation.. The. following chapter will explore the concepts of interactivity and interpersonal communication as they relate to the CBC.. 立. 政治大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. 14. i Un. v.

(22) Chapter 2: Interactivity at the CBC Website The preceding chapter sketched out the CBC‟s history, talked about its transition online and its current identity crisis, and mentioned how the concept of a digital commons offers a potential direction for CBC evolution. This chapter will look more closely at interactivity at the CBC‟s website. These interactive features represent the most distinct difference between the way the CBC is now vis-à-vis the way it once was. As mentioned above, the CBC is no longer a monolithic content creator and provider. It now has the potential to facilitate a broader array of communication types and foster an increasingly diverse set of voices. However, many questions remain about how users are utilizing these interactive features.. 政治大 Previous Studies of Interaction at News Websites 立. ‧ 國. 學. A quick review of the literature regarding how interactivity manifests at other news sites demonstrates the scholarly focus on journalistic norms. Chung (2007)indicates that while. ‧. there is a steady trend towards more interactivity, many website editors and journalists are. y. Nat. troubled by the widespread changes to previous journalistic norms and are therefore unlikely. io. sit. to fully accept interactivity as a key part of the news cycle. Hermida and Thurman had. er. similar findings when they examined how British news media were incorporating UGC.. al. n. iv n C h e n(Hermida attitudes towards increased interactivity g c h i& UThurman, 2007, 2008).. Issues involving journalistic standards, trust, reputation and legalities all led to cautious The concerns. regarding journalistic standards observed by Hermida and Thurman are echoed by Lowrey and Anderson who suggest that interactivity weakens the authority of traditional journalism and thus makes it vulnerable to competition from other sources such as weblogs(Lowrey & Anderson, 2005). Paulussen and colleagues also indicate that journalistic conservatism has slowed the incorporation of interactivity in online news media contexts (Paulussen, Heinonen, Domingo, & Quandt, 2007; Paulussen & Ugille, 2008). In a further examination of news media and interactivity, Thurman (2008)downplays the role of journalistic conservatism and instead suggests that local organizational issues and technical limitations have been the. 15.

(23) principle factors limiting the emergence of more comprehensive forms of audience interactivity. While a good deal of work has been done examining how interactivity has impacted journalistic standards, there is a lack of research exploring the interactivity itself. The need for research that examines how UGC manifests on media websites is exacerbated in the case of the CBC. As discussed above, the CBC‟s mandate is not clear regarding its responsibilities and rights when it comes to so-called “new media.” If the CBC is to continue to function online it will be necessary to better understand its interactivity, better understand the role it does and the roles it could play online.. Interactivity. 立. 政治大. When examining the UGC in cbc.ca comment threads we need to ask ourselves, “what kind. ‧ 國. 學. of interaction is possible at cbc.ca?” This first requires us to define interactivity. At its most basic, in a media context the term “interactive” is generally contrasted with the term. ‧. “passive.” Thus, the shift from radio and television to online content provision represents not just a change of medium for the CBC, but also a change from passive to interactive interfaces. Nat. sit. y. for the audience. That said, the development is not entirely new. Some types of earlier. io. er. programming such as radio phone-in shows offered at least some degree of interactivity. In this regard, interactivity suggests media that can be in some way engaged with.. n. al. Ch. i Un. v. There is little agreement on what exactly interactivity is. Bucy has commented on the. engchi. difficulty faced when trying to define interactivity. He argues that “after nearly three decades of study and analysis, we scarcely know what interactivity is, let alone what it does” (Bucy, 2004, p. 373). The first issue to consider regarding interactivity is the various levels of possible interaction. Massey and Levy (1999) identify two categorizations for interactivity: content interactivity and interpersonal interactivity. As the names self-evidently suggest, content interactivity denotes users‟ ability to manipulate what content they are confronted with (i.e. hyperlinks) while interpersonal interactivity suggests two-way communication. The major distinction here is that interpersonal interactivity involves users interfacing with one another. While content interactivity denotes an engaged way to interface with media content.. 16.

(24) Ha and James (1998) offer a more complete, but still conceptually comparable definition.. They break interactivity down into five parts: playfulness, connectedness,. information collection, reciprocal communication and choice.3 While Ha and James use more categories, the distinction between content and interpersonal interaction generally remains. Most of their scheme sketches out different types of content interactivity.. Choice,. playfulness, and connectedness all represent ways to interact with content. Meanwhile, reciprocal communication offers potential interpersonal interactivity.. Ha and James‟. information collection is somewhat difficult to fit into the interpersonal/content typology because they include the ability of websites to gather information about users without their knowledge as a type of interactivity. Bucy rejects the inclusion of content interactivity.. For him, all interactivity is. 政治大 be reserved to describe reciprocal 立 communication exchanges that involve some form of interpersonal interactivity. He argues that the term “interactivity, first and foremost, should. ‧ 國. 學. media, or information and communication technology” (2004, p. 375).. This excludes. hyperlink type interactivity because it does not involve reciprocal communication exchanges. While this definition is much more limiting, it is also much more precise. What Massey and. ‧. Levy refer to as content interactivity is certainly an important phenomenon. However, it has. sit. y. Nat. little in common with interpersonal interactivity. Making them conceptually separate, as does Bucy, helps to enforce the distinction.. io. er. In line with Bucy‟s definition, Pavlik argues that “interactivity means two-way. n. asource v l C and receiver, or,n i more broadly multidirectional U h eofnsources i receivers” (1998, p. 137). Similarly, communication between any number g c hand communication. between. Rafaelli‟s definition of interactivity agrees with the reciprocal criteria. He defines interaction as "an expression of the extent that in any given series of communication exchanges, any third (or later) transmission (or message) is related to the degree to which previous exchanges referred to an even earlier transmission" (Rafaeli, 1998, p. 111). According to this definition, to be considered interactive, a series – or thread in internet terminology – of communication exchanges must be related to earlier exchanges within the same series or thread. This goes a 3. For Ha and James, play interactivity manifests as website games, choice is the ability to select the content one desires, connectedness is the sense of connection that hypertext engenders, information collection is how websites can interactively derive information from visitors, reciprocal communication is interactivity that provides two way communicative exchanges.. 17.

(25) step beyond Bucy‟s definition by not only requiring reciprocal communication, but also setting a threshold of at least three exchanges. Kiousis‟ (2002) definition of interactivity differs somewhat from the reciprocal one advocated by Bucy, Pavlik and Rafaeli. He defines interactivity as: The degree to which a communication technology can create a mediated environment in which participants can communicate (one-to-one, one-to-many, and many-to-many), both synchronously and asynchronously, and participate in reciprocal message exchanges (Kiousis, 2002, p. 372). This includes reciprocal exchanges but also includes other types of communication. For Kiousis communication technology is considered interactive provided it allows users to communicate. That communication could be reciprocal but it could also be one-way.. 政治大 definition. She includes both reciprocal and one-way communication as types of interactivity. 立 McMillan offers a more complete model of interactivity by suggesting a four-part typology:. In her discussion of user-to-user interactivity, McMillan (2002)agrees with Kiousis‟. ‧ 國. 學. Feedback, Monologue, Mutual Discourse, and Responsive Dialogue. These four types can be organized by their constitution as one-way or two-way interactions and by level of receiver. y Two-Way. Feedback. Mutual Discourse. n. al. Ch S. S = Sender R = Receiver P= Participant. sit. One-Way. er. of High. io. Level Receiver Control. McMillan’s Interactivity Model. Nat. Table 2.1. ‧. control as in Table 2.1.. e n g c hRi. Monologue. i Un. v. P. P. Responsive Dialogue. Low R. S. S. R. Adapted from McMillan, S. J. (2002). Exploring Models of Interactivity from Multiple Research Traditions: Users, Documents, and Systems. In L. Lievrouw & S. M. Livingstone (Eds.), Handbook of New Media: Social Shaping and Consequences of ICTs. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. 18.

(26) McMillan‟s four types of interactivity are distinguished as follows: . Feedback: Leaving opinions or reactions to content. . Monologue: One-way sender controlled communications. . Mutual Discourse: Reciprocal communication with more egalitarian control for all participants. . Responsive Dialogue: Reciprocal communication where the sender retains primary control. We can see that Rafaelli, Pavlik and Bucy‟s definition of interactivity as reciprocal could apply to mutual discourse and responsive dialogue, but not necessarily to feedback or. 治政大 represent is a departure from the What Kiousis‟ definition and McMillan‟s model 立 reciprocal view on interactivity. They includes reciprocal communication but also includes monologue because these are one-way types of communication.. ‧ 國. 學. situations in which users make communicative utterances that are not necessarily engaging with or engaged by other users. This distinction within interactivity is an important one,. ‧. especially in regards to the CBC and the type of interactivity its website facilitates. However, McMillan‟s model is problematic in that the categories are not necessarily mutually exclusive.. y. Nat. er. io. dialogue.. sit. Feedback could at times be considered monologue and could also develop into discourse or. al. n. iv n C user-to-document interactivity. This to Massey h eis nsimilar i U and Levy‟s content interactivity h c g referred to above. This distinction between two major types of interactivity: As well as user-to-user interactivity, McMillan also addresses what she refers to as. interpersonal/user-to-user and content/document interactivity clearly establishes these types of interactivity as conceptually distinct. The first – interpersonal or user-to-user interactivity – involves users being granted the power to communicate both with one another individually and with the readership at large. The second – content or document interactivity – involves users being able to interface with their content in a more engaged manner. The above discussion of interactivity has revealed two major distinctions. First, there are two types of interactivity: that between users, and that between users and content. Secondly the inter-user interactivity is also bifurcated into one-way and two-way interactions.. 19.

(27) These distinctions are both important in terms of our analysis of UGC at cbc.ca.. As. mentioned in Chapter one, the addition of a UGC system represents a significant step from the CBC‟s traditions. Canada‟s public content provider has also become a public interaction facilitator. While, the CBC‟s website does include content-type interactivity, the user-to-user type interactivity is a more significant change for the corporation. The commenting system providesthe most obvious way for CBC website users to engage in what McMillan refers to as user-to-user interactivity and Massey and Levy refer to as interpersonal interactivity. Because of its significance, this study will focus on this inter-user type of interactivity. The analysis will need to take into account both one-way and two-way types of interactivity.. Interactivity cannot be limited to reciprocal exchanges as Bucy and Rafaelli. would have it. If it were, comments left by readers at cbc.ca that garnered no response, would. 政治大 interaction with the content立 and potentially with one another.. not be considered interactive in nature even though they are clearly expressions of readers‟ That said, the reciprocal. ‧ 國. 學. criterion is a useful one when defining two-way or interpersonal interactivity.. ‧. Interpersonality. Nat. sit. y. Much like interactivity, interpersonality is itself a contested term. Some definitions are highly. io. er. specific and preclude characterizing mediated communication as interpersonal. For example, Hartley (1999) defines three necessary conditions for interpersonality:. n. al.   . i n Communication from oneC individual to another U hengchi. v. Communication which is face-to-face. Both the form and content of the communication reflect the personal characteristics of the individuals as well as their social roles and relationships (p. 20). Both of Hartley‟s first two conditions – especially the second – would put comments at cbc.ca outside the scope of interpersonal communication. However others argue that interpersonal communication can take place in mediated contexts, it just differs from its unmediated counterpart. In his study of computer bulletin board system communication Chesebro identified five differences between online and offline interpersonal communication. These include:. 20.

(28) . Channel: Face-to-face includes non-verbal channel with body language and other signals. . Discursive Mode: Written messages use different discourse structures than spoken. . Feedback: BBS communication is asynchronous, making feedback slower. . Social Roles: Norms associated with social roles and status are less important online. . Use of Time: BBS communication allows users more control over their response time frames.. Chesebro‟s findings imply that mediated interpersonal communication such as that at BBSs differs from offline interpersonal communication. However, it still serves many important functions.. 政治大 interpersonality in discussion forums increased participation and the breadth of discussion. 立. In an online education context, Beuchot and Bullen (2005) found that increased. However, their definition of interpersonal was different than the reciprocal one used above.. ‧ 國. 學. They focused instead on certain communication topics as indicative of interpersonality. Trenholm and Jensen (2000) define interpersonal communication as that which “takes place. ‧. whenever two individuals, sharing the roles of sender and receiver, become connected. sit. y. Nat. through the mutual activity of creating meaning” (p. 28). This definition is much broader allowing for non-face-to-face interpersonal communication - and agrees with the conditions. io. n. al. er. for two-way or interpersonal interactivity suggested above. Adopting this perspective, we can. i Un. v. classify user interaction at the CBC website which involves at least two individuals sharing. Ch. engchi. the roles of sender and receiver as interpersonal interactivity. This leaves us to classify what McMillan refers to as “one-way” interactivity. We could use McMillan‟s term “one way” to refer to these types of interactivity at the CBC website; however it is itself somewhat problematic. The term one-way infers a direction of communication. Communication requires a receiver. The problem with this model is that we cannot be sure to what extent content at cbc.ca is received. It is certainly possible that many comments are posted into the internet ether and go largely unnoticed. In addition, we cannot be sure that commenters even intend their remarks to be read. It could be that for them the act of writing their opinion is more important than communicating with other readers. For these reasons we will refer to these one-way types of interactivity as expressive interactivity.. 21.

(29) To sum up, we have narrowed inter-user interactivity down into two types: interpersonal interactivity and expressive interactivity. Interpersonal interactivity is defined by exchanges between at least two users whereas communications that do not elicit response are considered expressive interactivity. The UGC at cbc.ca will be made up of a proportion of each of these types of interactivity. The next question is: why do we care to know how much of the CBC website interactivity is interpersonal and how much is expressive.. Why Study the Interpersonal/Expressive Split at cbc.ca Where it was once a broadcaster creating and disseminating content, the CBC‟s new interactive features have the potential to drastically change the organization‟s role within. 政治大. Canadian society.This is especially important because - as we saw above - the CBC has. 立. struggled with the transition online, its current role in Canadian society is unclear and often. ‧ 國. 學. questioned, and its online activities are not yet fully institutionalized.If the CBC is to continue to develop its website and particularly the interactive features on it, we need to better. ‧. understand how those features are used and to what extent they support the CBC‟s mandate and contribute to a viable future role for the CBC.. Nat. sit. y. This paper argues that the CBC should use the new media technology at its disposal to. io. er. encourage interpersonal interactivity. The contention that the CBC should facilitate this type of interactivity is supported by four factors:. n. al. . Ch. engchi. i Un. v. The CBC‟s own explanation of its interactive features suggests that interpersonal interactivity is one of its chief goals. . Congruency with the CBC‟s historic role. . The potential for interpersonal interactivity to help the CBC achieve its mandated mission. . Calls for a viable future role for the CBC – i.e. a digital commons – require interpersonal interactivity.. 22.

(30) Goals At the most basic level, it makes sense to assess to what degree the interactivity at cbc.ca is interpersonal, because the CBC itself has claimed that discussion and conversation are the reason for these interactive features. In order to “create a thriving conversation” (CBC, 2009b) as the CBC wishes to do, its interactive features must facilitate interpersonality. Otherwise, the UGC runs the risk of being a sort of online graffiti where users leave their marks, but rarely engage with one another. If users simply react to stories, leaving their personal opinions but not interacting with one another, there will be no conversation in the true sense of the word.. History. 立. 政治大. ‧ 國. 學. Interpersonal interactivity at the CBC‟s website can also help it to fulfill its historic role in the community as a facilitator of interpersonal communication. The type of interpersonal. ‧. interactivity that the comment threads at the CBC‟s website can engender is in many ways similar to the type of interactivity that takes place via radio phone-in shows. The CBC has a. Nat. sit. y. long history of providing these sorts of shows. In a study of talk-radio listeners and callers,. io. er. Turow (1974) argued that phone-in shows should be considered a type of mediated interpersonal communication. He found that the “principle urge motivating people to call a. n. al. Ch. i Un. v. „talk station‟ is rooted in a highly personal need for communication – for contact with the. engchi. outside world” (p. 171). Building on studies by Turow and others, Avery and Ellis (1979) also argue that talk radio can be considered an interpersonal medium. Similarly, O‟Keefe‟s (2002) description of talk radio echoes their position.. She argues that talk radio listeners are. “brought into contact with other ordinary people‟s problems and … with other people‟s opinions.” We can see the obvious parallels here to online commenting systems. Whereas there is little precedent for the CBC‟s provision of expressive interactivity, the long tradition of CBC radio phone-in programming provides precedent for online interpersonal interactivity.. 23.

(31) Mandate. On a deeper, level it makes sense to assess the interpersonality of UGC at cbc.ca because interpersonal interactions may offer the potential to help the CBC to achieve its mandated mission. As we saw above, the Broadcasting Act mandates that the CBC: i.. be predominantly and distinctively Canadian,. ii.. reflect Canada and its regions to national and regional audiences, while serving the special needs of those regions,. iii.. actively contribute to the flow and exchange of cultural expression,. iv.. be in English and in French, reflecting the different needs and circumstances of. v.. 政治大 circumstances of English and French linguistic minorities, 立 strive to be of equivalent quality in English and French,. vi.. contribute to shared national consciousness and identity,. vii.. be made available throughout Canada by the most appropriate and efficient. each official language community, including the particular needs and. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. means and as resources become available for the purpose, and reflect the multicultural and multiracial nature of Canada. (Canada, 1991). y. Nat. viii.. sit. Interpersonal interactivity can help the CBC to fulfill this mandate in a number of ways. Item. er. io. VI has perhaps the most to gain from in interpersonal interactivity at cbc.ca.. al. The. n. iv n C These terms are conceptual cans of worms that,if opened too wide, run the risk of he ngchi U. Broadcasting act does not define exactly what it means by national consciousness and identity.. complicating any study they are involved in. For this reason, this study will use fairly straight forward definitions of each.. This study assumes national consciousness to mean the. awareness of the existence of a particular nation – in this context Canada. I take national identity to mean the degree to which one sees him or herself as a member of a nation. Shared national identity suggests that the CBC is mandated with unifying national identification in Canada. As mentioned above, national imperatives have long been one of the chief driving forces for CBC policy and programming. The newfound ability to allow citizens from across the nation to engage with one another offers the CBC potential nation-building tools that until. 24.

(32) a few years ago it did not have. As Deuze (2006) points out, participatory media can contribute to individual consumers‟ sense of group identity and the awareness of their roots. The contribution interpersonal interactivity at cbc.ca potentially plays in national identity development is similar to the role Anderson (1983) suggests the traditional media have played. Anderson argues that consuming similar news content simultaneously and in a shared language helped the citizens of nascent nations to imagine themselves as members of the same group – in this case a nation. While the CBC played up this role in the pre-internet age, the inclusion of interactive features has the potential to strengthen this role as national identity facilitator. Now, as well as sharing content consumption, CBC audience members can directly engage with one another and share their opinions and reactions to that content. However, it is important to note that this level of interaction will not necessarily create. 政治大 like at cbc.ca may weaken 立 the sense of a unitary Canadian identity.. a shared unified sense of Canadian identity. In fact, interpersonal interaction in news contexts Whereas in previous. ‧ 國. 學. years, there was a sense of a unified voice within English-language Canadian media, interactive features potentially undermine that voice. Nonetheless, as Billig (1995) points out, this type of discussion can strengthen national consciousness through “banal nationalist”. ‧. means. Because the stories at CBC are framed within a national context – it is after all the. sit. y. Nat. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation – and the discussion at cbc.ca is similarly framed,. io. er. engaging in this discussion enforces a social construct of Canadianess. This is true regardless of the degree to which conversants agree on what defines Canada. User 1 may disagree with. n. al. i Un. v. user 2 about Canadian immigration reforms, but the simple fact that the conversation is with. Ch. engchi. other Canadians, 4 framed in a Canadian context, and facilitated by a Canadian public institution helps to fulfill item vi of the Broadcasting Act. Item ii also provides a natural fit for the CBC‟s new interactive features. The UGC created at cbc.ca helps the CBC to reflect Canada and its regions. However, the current design at cbc.ca does not allow us to know to what degree audiences pay attention to these reflections. Comment threads run the risk of suffering from the “tree falling in a forest” phenomenon. If commenters leave opinions that reflect their region, do those reflections exist if nobody reads them? One way to deal with this issue is to measure to what degree these comments constitute interpersonal interactivity. If these regional and national reflections take 4. My previous research indicates that cbc.ca commenters are overwhelmingly (i.e. upwards of 99%) Canadian.. 25.