Parliamentarians and the Media.

AuthorComtois, Laurie

In October 2011 a symposium on on Democracy, Parliamentarians and the Media was held to mark the 125th anniversary of the Parliament Building and the 140th anniversary of the Quebec Parliament Press Gallery. Over 400 participants attended the event including Jacques Attali, special adviser to former French President Francois Mitterrand, and Vicente Fox, former President of Mexico wo gave the opening and closing addresses. Three ex-journalists who are now Members of the National Assembly shared their insights during a round-table discussion. The following is a summary of the topics broached and the thoughts expressed during the symposium.

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Media convergence, the development of new technologies and the expansion of online social networks and are all drivers of change that are fuelling the identity crisis journalism is currently going through. This upheaval is having an impact on both the balance between hard news and opinion and the relationship between the media and political institutions.

In his opening address, Jacques Attali highlighted the fact that media ownership by press conglomerates means higher expectations for short-term profitability. Journalism is caught in a financial vise, as it were, between owners who want a better return for their money on the one hand, and dwindling advertising revenue on the other. Mr. Attali also reminded his audience that democracy, the media and the market are interdependent parts of the same whole. Vicente Fox concurred in his closing address and described the emergence of media oligopolies and the tighter control of information for the benefit of private interests as major causes for concern.

Professor Jean Charron of the Laval University information and communications department stressed that journalistic content today is drowned in a flood of other media content of various types. Against this backdrop, the competition for two resources that are the lifeblood of journalism--money and the public's attention--is increasingly intense. Since advertisers can now choose from an unprecedented variety of media channels (mass or specialized, print, radio or Web media; local regional or national media, etc.) to promote their products and services, securing funding through advertising has become an additional challenge for the media. The explosion of choices offered by the media, online social networks and the Web are also contributing to making the public's attention a scarce, much-sought-after...

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