Framed: Media and the Coverage of Race in Canadian Politics

Framed is a wake-up call for those who think that race does not matter in Canada. Combining an empirical analysis of print media with in-depth interviews of elected officials, former candidates, political staffers, and journalists, this book uncovers the connections between race, media coverage, and politics in Canada. As Erin Tolley reveals, overt racism rarely occurs in the pages of Canadian newspapers, but assumptions about race and diversity often influence media coverage. Consequently, as reporters go about selecting which political issues and events to cover, who to quote, and how to frame stories to make them resonate with the public, they give visible minorities less prominent and more negative media coverage than their white counterparts. Visible minority politicians are also more likely to be portrayed as products of their socio-demographic backgrounds, as uninterested in pressing policy issues, and as less electorally viable. The resulting news coverage, Tolley argues, does much to weaken Canadas commitment to a robust, inclusive democracy.