THE EXTENT AND &PACI' OF COMMUNICATIONSCARTELS ON PUBLIC EDUCATION:1980 - 2000 Beverley Moore A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Cumculum, Teaching and Learning Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto O Copyright by Beverley Moore 2000 National Library Bibliothèque nationale du Canada Acquisitions and Acquisitions et Bibliographie Services services bibliographiques 395 Wellington Street 395. rue Wellmgtm Ottawa ON K1A ON4 Ottawa ON K1A ON4 Canada Canada The author has granted a non- L'auteur a accordé une licence non exclusive licence aliowing the exclusive permettant à la National Library of Canada to Bibliothèque nationale du Canada de reproduce, loan, distribute or sel1 reproduire, prêter, distribuer ou copies of this thesis in microform, vendre des copies de cette thèse sous paper or electronic formats. la forme de microfiche/nlm, de reproduction sur papier ou sur format électronique. The author retains ownership of the L'auteur conserve la propriété du copyright in this thesis. Neither the droit d'auteur qui protège cette thèse. thesis nor substantial extracts fkom it Ni la thèse ni des extraits substantiels may be printed or othewise de celle-ci ne doivent être imprimés reproduced without the author's ou autrement reproduits sans son pernission. autorisation. THE EXTENT AND IMPACT OF COMMUNiCATIONS CARTELS ON PUBLIC EDUCATION: 198012000 BEVERLEY MOORE DOCTOR OF PHILA)SOPHY DEPARTMENT OF CURRICULUM, TEACHING AND LEARNING UNIVElRSITY OF TORONTO WW The phenomenal growth, consolidation and influence of corporate wntrol in the communications sphere is changing the very nature ofour systern of public education. In this thesis, 1examine the extent and impact that the transnational communications cartels have on Our access to information and the resulting implications for the public education systern. 1take an historical approach by outlining the main tuming points which have cantributed to the increasing concentration of communications systems. These include an examination of government policies of deregulation and fiee trade agreements. 1 argue that the notion of access to a diverse wmmunications system, which I maintain is necessary for a dernomtic society to exist, is being eroded and it is a corporate elite who more and more shape the way we see the world-from a right-wing, neo-liberal point of view. 1 clah that education is undergoing a radical transformation due to the powemil and persuasive forces of the global marketplace. Our midents have become clients; they are being trained to be consumen as the race for private profits gains momentum in the globai economy and we begin to lose a liberal education which would prepare students to bear the obligations of citizenship and to begin the exploration of an intellectual life. 1focus on ways the transnational communications cartels undennine public education. I examine the commerci~tionof ùiformation and knowledge, the corporate incursion into public schools by looking at the business partnerships ofChanne1One and Athena Educational Partners' Youth News Network, and the applications of business directives such as Outcornes-Based Education and the move to charter schools. 1 also look at information technologies and trace the development of the information highway as it moves fiom public control to control by private corporations thus limiting access to those who have the ability to access or pay for it. My research is theoretical, drawing on the works of established academics, populm press and fiom my own expenences as an educator in the field of idonnation sciences during the past twenty-five years. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 1 would Iike to th* my cornmittee mernbers Jack Miller and Les McLean for their encouragement and support. 1 am especidly gratetiil for the patience and guidance of my supervisor, Johan Aitken. In addition, 1thank John McMurtry7my extemai examiner, William Kennedy, fiiend and political activist, and Ruth Moore my proof-reader-she will soon be 84! 1 was extremely fortunate to have the understandimg and support of my fiends and family7 especially my sons John and James. Thank you Sandy Semeniuk (1952 - 1999). TABLE OF CONTENTS ... ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................. UI INTRODUCTION .................................................... 1 Endnotes to Introduction ............................................. 8 CHAPTER ONE THE EXTENT OF CORPORATE CONTROL OVER COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEMS .............................. 10 The United States of Amerka: Tuming Points ............................ 11 Canada:TuMngPoints ............................................. 30 The Global Economy: Trade Agreements ................................ 37 Endnotes to Chapter One ............................................ 48 CHAPTER TWO THE IMPACT OF CORPORATE CONTROL ........................... 57 Consensus is Shaped ............................................... 60 InfomationasCommodity ........................................... 73 The Deficit Made Me Do It "Myth" .................................... 77 Culture of CornplianceThe Official Language ............................ 80 Charter Schools: The Application of the Free Market Principle ............... 88 Endnotes to Chapter Two ........................................... 97 CHAPTER THREE: CORPORATE COMMERCIALISM GAINS DIRECT ENTRY TO SCHOOLS: CHANNELONEANGYNN ....................................... 108 ChannelOne ................................................. 108 Youth News Network ............................................. 124 Endnotes to Chapter Three ......................................... 139 CWTERFOUR CYBERSPACE-COMMERCIAL TOLL ROAD??? ....................... 146 The Information Highway: A Struggle for Control ........................ 147 Cyberspace and Public Libraries ...................................... 159 Computer TechnoIogy and Education ................................. 165 Equity and Access to Information .................................... 173 Endnotes to Chapter Four .......................................... 179 CHAPTER FIVE A TENTATIVE CONCLUSION ..................................... 186 References ......................................................... 217 INTRODUCTION By academic fieedom I understand the right to search for truth and to publish and teach what one holds to be true. This right implies also a duty: one must not conceal any part of what one has recognized to be true. It is evident that any restriction of academic fieedom acts in such a way as to hamper the dissemination of knowledge arnong the people and thereby impedes national judgement and action. Albert Einstein Many Canadians have believed in the notion that the state, responsive to a democratic electorate, had a right and a duty to establish the rules, support the structures, and nourish their cultural identity. To that end, critical legislation was introduced which enswed a Canadian welfare state. This included the establishment ofthe Bank of Canada Act, a variety of marketing boards and the Social Insurance Act. Then, Canadians pressed for other foms of social assistance. In 1956, Canada passed the Unemployment Assistance Act which marked the "first permanent federal cornmitment to social assistance for employables on welfare and provided a crucial bridgehead into the wider welfare reforms of the 1960s."' Federal hospital insurance was introduced in 1957, the Canada Pension Plan in 1965, nationwide medicare in 1966 and a greatly enhanced unemployment insurance program in 1971. In addition, many other social reforms were put in place. Ottawa made payrnents to the provincial governments sharing the cost of post-secondary education and social assistance programs. In 1975, a Guaranteed Incorne Supplement ensured that any Canadian living on a pension was assured of a minimum incorne.* Between 1956 and 2975, Canada became a modem welfare state as defined by the g: A Welfare State is a state in which organized power is deliberately used, through policies and administration, in an effori to modifL the play of market forces in three directions-first, by guaranteeing individuals and fimilies a minimum income irrespective of the market value of their work or their property; second, by narrowing the extent of insecurity by enabling individuals and families to meet certain social contingencies (for example, sickness, old age and unemployrnent), which would otherwise lead to individual and family crises; and third, by ensuring that al1 citizens, without distinction of status or class, are offered the best standards available in relation to a certain agreed range of social services.' The concept of universal education for Canadians was regarded as a nght that went unquestioned in Canada's weifiie state. Education for al1 Canadians regardles of economic costs or social barriers was a major institution of Our "civil commons." John MC MUR^ expressed the nature of the civil commons as follows: "It is society's organized and community-funded capacity of universaily accessible resources to provide for the me, preservation and growth of society 's members and their environmental life host . The civil cornmons is the vast social fabric of unpriced goods, protecting and enabling life in a wide and deep seamless web of historical evolution that sustains society and civilization.'" Public education enables "al1 of its members to flourish as individuals," and is grounded in a value program which should not be transacted in the