By Omission and Commission : 'Race'

National Library Bibliothbque nationale 1*1 of Canada du Canada Acquisitions and Direction des acquisitions et Bibliographic Services Branch des services bibliographiques 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa, Ontario Ottawa (Ontario) KIA ON4 KIA ON4 Your hie Votre ri2ference Our Me Notre reference The author has granted an L'auteur a accorde une licence irrevocable non-exclusive licence irriivocable et non exclusive allowing the National Library of permettant a la Bibliotheque Canada to reproduce, loan, nationale du Canada de distribute or sell copies of reproduire, prGter, distribuer ou his/her thesis by any means and vendre des copies de sa these in any form or format, making de quelque maniere et sous this thesis available to interested quelque forme que ce soit pour persons. mettre des exemplaires de cette these a la disposition des personnes interessees. The author retains ownership of L'auteur conserve la propriete du the copyright in his/her thesis. droit d'auteur qui protege sa Neither the thesis nor substantial these. Ni la these ni des extraits extracts from it may be printed or substantiels de celle-ci ne otherwise reproduced without doivent &re imprimes ou his/her permission. autrement reproduits sans son autorisation. ISBN 0-315-91241-3 BY OMISSION AND COMMISSION: 'RACE' AND REPRESENTATION IN CANADIAN TELEVISION NEWS by Yasmin Jiwani B.A., University of British Columbia, 1979 M.A., Simon Fraser University, 1984 THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in the Department of Communication @ Yasmin Jiwani 1993 SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY July, 1993 All rights reserved. This work may not be reproduced in whole or in part, by photocopy or other means, without permission of the author. APPROVAL NAME: Yasmin Jiwani DEGREE: Ph.D. (Communication) TITLE OF THESIS: By Omission and Commission: "Race" and Representation in Canadian Television News EXAMINING COMMITTEE: CHAIR: Dr. Robert Anderson, Professor - Dr. Paul Heyer, ~rol&ssM,genic6 Supervisor - ails, Professor, Senior Supervisor Dr. Robert Hackett, Associate Professor / - - -- Dr. Noga Gay~ructor,Sociology /Department, Capilano College and Sessional, University of Dr. Roy M&, ~kociateProfessor, Department of English Dr. Teun A. ban Dijk, ~rofbhor,\aedartment of Literary Studies, University of Amsterdam DATE APPROVED: 5 PARTIAL COPYRIGHT LICENCE I hereby grant to Simon Fraser University the right to lend my thesis or dissertation (the title of which is shown below) to users of the Simon Fraser University Library, and to make partial or single copies only for such users or in response to a request from the library of any other university, or other educational institution, on its own behalf or for one of its users. I further agree that permission for multiple copying of this thesis for scholarly purposes may be granted by me or the Dean of Graduate Studies. It is understood that copying or publication of this thesis for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. Title of Thesis/.Dissertation: Bv Omission and ~omrnission: "Race" and ~epresentationin -- pp pp - Canadian Television News Author: Yasmin Jiwani name July 29, 1993 date ABSTRACT I Numerous studies have examined the representations of racial groups and ethnic minorities in dominant western media. Within Canada, existing literature has focused on mass mediated representations of specific groups, events and issues. The majority of the studies conclude that racial minority groups tend to be under-represented, and stereotyped in Canadian mass media. This study departs from the existing literature in that it employs an historically informed, and qualitative analysis of media texts. The thesis focuses on the representations of Asian, South Asian and African Canadians, derived from a corpus of 74 newscasts aired on CBC and CTV and their local affiliates. The newscasts were collected over a 21 day period, between July and August, 1992. In addition, the study includes an analysis of the coverage aired on CTV and CBC that dealt with a controversial lapel pin. The pin portrayed black, Asian and South Asian characters surrounding a white male. The pin's caption read: "Who is the minority in Canada?" The analysis suggests that structural practices, prevailing beliefs, and organizational constraints within media organizations contribute to a contradictory discourse of news. The framing of racial minority groups is thus, also contradictory - vacillating between manichean iii representations, which themselves are part of the larger discourse on 'race,' and normalized representations when racial minorities are aligned with a popular cause, or with the media's positioning of an issue. The historical legacy of exclusion and racism, informs and underpins many of these representations. The liberal ethos within news organizations appears to motivate the media's concern with issues regarding racism. Media coverage situates these issues on the national agenda where racism is often cast as a moral transgression. Such coverage tends to reproduce dominant definitions of racism as an affective phenomenon, divorced from its material grounding in institutional and cultural practices. It locates racism within the actions of a few individuals from a specific class background, thus deflecting attention away from the role of elite organizations in perpetuating racism. The thesis concludes with an examination of possible ways in which representations of racial minority groups can be changed, and the structural limits to such change. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS L In the name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful. Although the contemporary western academic tradition evinces a strong negation of the spiritual dimension of life, this thesis owes a great deal to the inspiration and guidance I have received from the Ismaili tariqah of Islam and in particular, to the Imam of the time. Writing a thesis is a long, painful and lonely journey, occasionally punctuated by peak moments and flashes of insight. There are many individuals who enabled me to survive this journey, providing inspiration, support, courage and sustenance. This thesis is dedicated to my parents, Mansoor and Goolzar Jiwani whose faith and support have given me the strength to persevere. To Iqubal Velji, my companion in life and its many struggles, I can only say a humble thank you for the endless nights of editing, research, and immeasurable loving support; thanks also to my sisters, Sahira Jaipaul and Nazlin Bhimani whose belief in my abilities never wavered, as well as to A1 Bhimani for his supportive and critical comments. My heartfelt gratitude to my grandfather, Sultanaly Contractor, whose rich well of knowledge has informed my perceptions of colonial India and Africa, and whose sense of humour has lightened the load many a time. My deepest thanks to my friends, Lorraine Chan, Kirsten v McAllister, Sunera Thobani, Jyothi Gaddam, Firoozeh ~adjai, Katherine Tihanyi, Dorothy Kddd, and Balbinder Panesar for their constructive feedback and encouraging support. My gratitude also to Loretta Todd, Joy Hall, Ravida Din, Gabriella Moro, Santiago, Shamin Issa, Nancy Grout, Ameen Merchant, Shelina Kassam, Barbara Binns, Corinne Lee, Karim Karim, Patrice Leung, Richard Hawkins, and Ian Chunn for having been there for me in various ways through out this long process. I wish to acknowledge Neena Shahani, Michael Speier, Richard Jolen, Nilusha Paroo, Christine, Jeanette, Bruce, Jan and Joanne at the NFB, and so many others for their constant encouragement, support, and moments of much needed relief. I would like to take this opportunity to extend my warmest thanks to Lorraine Chan of the National Film Board of Canada for her continuous and active support. My gratitude also to Allen and Cynthia Dutton of the B.C. Organization to Fight Racism for moral, intellectual and other support; to Hayne Wai from the Human Rights commission for his critical feedback; Mansur Jamal from Statistics Canada for updated statistical information; to Aziz Khaki for giving me a chance to learn as much as I have from the various seminars and workshops organized by the Committee for Racial Justice, and finally, to Nora Greenway of the Vancouver School Board. Last but not least, I would like to acknowledge my supervisory committee for their support and comments, in particular, Paul Heyer for having introduced me to the many areas of communication studies; Jan Walls for his constancy and gentle pressure; Robert Hackett for his critical comments, especially on the last two chapters of this thesis, and Noga Gayle, without whom I could not have survived the process and whose perspective was a source of affirmation that solidified my own convictions. My thanks also to Liora Salter for her belief in me, and to Pam Parford, Lucie Menkveld and Neena Shahani who have done more than what is required to ease my passage through the graduate school experience. I wish to acknowledge the financial support I received from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, for making this research possible. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS APPROVAL ....................... ii ABSTRACT ...................... iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................... v TABLE OF CONTENTS .................. viii INTRODUCTION: SETTING THE STAGE . Race andRacism ...... From whose perspective?... Self reflexive assumptions . Goals and objectives .... Methodology ........ Textual analysis ...... Terminology ........ Latitudes in interpretation Minority perspectives ... The

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