Canadian Newspaper Coverage of Oil Sands
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University of Alberta Canadian newspaper coverage of the Alberta oil sands: The intractability of neoliberalism by Laura Anne Way A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Political Science ©Laura Anne Way Fall 2013 Edmonton, Alberta Permission is hereby granted to the University of Alberta Libraries to reproduce single copies of this thesis and to lend or sell such copies for private, scholarly or scientific research purposes only. Where the thesis is converted to, or otherwise made available in digital form, the University of Alberta will advise potential users of the thesis of these terms. The author reserves all other publication and other rights in association with the copyright in the thesis and, except as herein before provided, neither the thesis nor any substantial portion thereof may be printed or otherwise reproduced in any material form whatsoever without the author's prior written permission. This dissertation is dedicated to my husband, Paul, whose support made it all possible. i Abstract This dissertation examines the relationship between Canadian newspapers, the development of Alberta’s oil sands, and neoliberalism. It uses both content and discourse analysis to analyze coverage of oil sands development in six English-Canadian newspapers between October 1, 2005 and October 31, 2007. During this period of contestation, a variety of actors were questioning the central tenets of the neoliberal policy frame governing oil sands development. Policy frames do change over time, as transformative discourses—which challenge the empirical and normative bases of an existing policy frame—gain broader acceptance and replace an existing frame. Media coverage plays an important role in deconstructing and reconstructing policy frames by articulating transformative ideas and goals. The goal of this analysis is to determine the extent to which newspaper reporting about the oil sands reflected augmentative or transformative discourses, or both. My analysis found that, in general, these newspapers continued to embrace the augmentative discourses advanced by industry and government actors. While acknowledging some policy failures, these discourses reasserted solutions that fell within the normative boundaries of neoliberalism. Augmentative discourses prevailed across all news frames: economic, environmental, social, and those related to energy security. Transformative discourses, while not altogether absent from the coverage, were generally marginalized. That major dailies relegated the majority of their oil sands coverage to the business section served to institutionalize neoliberal values. Moreover, the newspapers repeatedly treated the normative values associated with neoliberalism as fact, requiring no further support or justification. Conversely, the newspapers viewed ii critiques as controversial. This triggered the need to provide ‘balance’ by giving industry and government actors who were publicly criticized the opportunity to respond, which further contributed to the strength of augmentative discourses. In addition, the newspapers primarily assigned responsibility to government, rather than industry, for policy failures. Paradoxically, by embracing neoliberal values, newspaper coverage delegitimized many of the policy instruments that government could use in their efforts to resolve these challenges. These findings demonstrate the limitations of journalistic practices to capture the complexity of policy issues surrounding oil sands development. I argue that the outcome of these limitations is the further entrenchment of neoliberalism. iii Acknowledgement I would like to acknowledge the continuous encouragement and support of my two supervisors, Ian Urquhart and Linda Trimble. Their support remained steadfast throughout my long road to completion, which involved relocating to Ottawa and the birth of my two children. Throughout the entire process, they pushed me to produce a better, more thoughtful, dissertation. I am just one of many students who have benefited from Linda and Ian’s passion for their subject matter and dedication to their students. Ian and Linda, please accept my heartfelt thanks. I would also like to express my appreciation to Roger Epp, who served as the third member of my supervisory committee, for his thoughtful review. In addition, I must acknowledge and thank Dave Whitson, who served on my committee until his retirement. I would like to extend my appreciation to my external committee members as well. I feel very fortunate that David Taras, who holds the Ralph Klein Chair in Media Studies at Mount Royal University and whose work on the Canadian media environment is renowned across the country, agreed to serve on my committee. Thank you for your generous comments and helpful suggestions. My thanks also, to Sara Dorow from the Department of Sociology at the University of Alberta who brought her insight gained from her research in Fort McMurray to her attentive review. I would feel fortunate for the opportunity to have more occasions to discuss and share ideas with both David and Sara. Although I researched and wrote my dissertation while in Ottawa, I benefited greatly from the friendship and support of my fellow U of A colleagues, most notably iv Stéphanie Martens, Shannon Sampert, and JD Crookshanks. I also would like to acknowledge and thank Kyla Sentes for all her editing assistance. Of course, none of this would have been possible without the support of my family. My husband, Paul, served as my sounding board, read countless drafts, and pushed me towards completion; I would not have finished without his encouragement. Spouses of PhD candidates should earn a special award for the emotional and financial support they provide their partners throughout what is often a much longer journey than initially planned. If such award existed, Paul would certainly be its top recipient. I would also like to thank my parents, Kerry and Judy Firth, for their ongoing support, particularly in this last year. To my children, Johnathan and Abby: Mom is finally done! v Table of Contents 1 Neoliberalism, newspapers, and the Alberta oil sands ......................................... 1 Research question ........................................................................................................... 9 Selection of news texts ................................................................................................. 16 Study period .................................................................................................................. 24 Importance of study ...................................................................................................... 28 Organization of the text ................................................................................................ 32 2 Contesting a 21st century staple ........................................................................ 36 An oil sands primer ....................................................................................................... 38 History of oil sands development ................................................................................. 45 The neoliberal oil sands era .......................................................................................... 50 Augmentative discourses .............................................................................................. 59 Transformative discourses ............................................................................................ 71 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................... 82 3 Newspapers, neoliberalism, and the possibilities for a transformative discourse 85 News frames ................................................................................................................. 86 The claim-makers: The impact of sources on the selection of story frame .................. 93 The journalist’s creed .................................................................................................... 98 Journalistic structural factors ...................................................................................... 100 Conclusion ................................................................................................................... 108 4 Making the papers .......................................................................................... 110 Research method ........................................................................................................ 111 About the stories ........................................................................................................ 117 Placement of story ...................................................................................................... 118 Type of story ............................................................................................................... 126 Conclusion ................................................................................................................... 135 5 Framing, sources, and evaluation .................................................................... 138 News frames ............................................................................................................... 139 Predominant sources .................................................................................................