Canadian online media
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Canadian online media is content aimed at a
Types of online media
News and magazines
As information is increasingly going digital, the Newspaper Audience Databank (NADbank) claims online readership for most Canadian newspapers have surpassed the numbers in print readership.[1] However, there is also lack of evidence that newspapers are coming to an end in Canada. For some of Canada's larger newspapers, readership has increased in both print and online formats. After The Globe and Mail's redesign, they claim to have fueled a 10.2% increase in both their print and online readers.[2] Highlights from a 2010 study conducted by NADbank revealed the national newspaper readership remains high. Though the migration from print to online newspapers is still ongoing, print editions are still the most popular amongst Canadians.[3]
Many news writers are beginning to have an active
Online-only news
Openfile.ca was an online-only newspaper that concentrated on community-powered news, with the intent of connecting people with reporters to cover specific communities. Launched in May 2010, OpenFile aimed to promote citizen journalism by enabling anyone to suggest a story to cover, and then a paid journalist would conduct research and produce a polished piece. Stories were also geotagged to improve accessibility to citizens who wanted stories in their immediate neighbourhoods.[5] By 2012, the site saw about 400,000 unique visitors per month, but it was suddenly shuttered in September of that year due to reported financial problems.[6] As of 2014, the Openfile website simply states, "on hiatus".
Though news and magazine companies are increasing their presence online, publications such as Dose magazine have discontinued their print editions, but have gone on to develop their news website as it strategically targets a younger demographic.
FlipNews CA is a digital news platform that offers its users the ability to access the latest news in a concise and summarized format. Available both as a mobile application and a website, FlipNews CA distinguishes itself from traditional news outlets by delivering the essence of news stories in just three clear bullet points. This innovative approach caters to the modern news consumer's preference for quick and efficient information consumption.
For right wing Canadians their Rebel News, founded by a former staff from the Sun News Networks; True North, founded as a charity version of a news network.
Television
In the digital age, large media conglomerates are taking the opportunity to broaden their audiences by pushing to start up their own online platforms for multimedia content. Rogers, one of Canada's largest communication companies, made the move in 2009 to create its version of Hulu.com, a popular on-demand streaming video service from the US. The concept was to provide free television programs in pursuance of promoting online content in Canada. It has also been noted as a way to secure Canada's future in broadcasting, as major cable companies were already losing customers to service cancellations in the United States. Much of the efforts to promote Canadian online content have proven to be difficult as the federal broadcast regulators are still in uncharted territories.[9]
Many satellite companies in Canada also own TV stations. In September 2011, the
Launched in June 2011, Shaw Communications have received legal complaints that their online video-streaming consists of movies from major film studios, some of which aren't licensed to be broadcast through their video-streaming platform. The objective was to work towards a development that would adjust to the shifting viewer trends.[11]
Entertainment and gaming consoles
Rogers Communications have started targeting specific Toronto Blue Jays fans by supplying them with the major league team's live games online, regardless if they have cable or not.[13]
Online content on other media platforms
In November 2011, Amazon released the
For four days in October, the Canadian company
Research has also revealed more than 50% of Canadians are banking and shopping online. The demographics for these statistics no longer side with the younger generation, as older people are finding instant online transactions convenient.[16]
Social media
American online content is popular in Canada. In the spring of 2011, the Canadian federal election was reported as the "Twitter election" by news media,[17][18] as the result of the wide usage of online social media for citizen discussions and for candidates' exposure. It was not possible to prevent the transmission of poll results to a district (in a different time zone) whose polls had yet to close. This objective is nearly impossible with the vast amount of instant blogging and sharing of information on the election. Hashtags along the lines of #tweettheresults were being used by tweeters. Citizens discussed and deliberated that certain laws had to be changed to adjust to present day conditions.[19][20]
Elections Act: Section 329
No person shall transmit the result or purported result of the vote in an electoral district to the public in another electoral district before the close of all of the polling stations in that other electoral district.[21] |
The 73-year-old law became the subject of debate with the advent of instant social media. Meant to prevent influencing citizens of the
A recent study conducted by the
Social media use in agricultural and rural development sectors in Canada is rapidly growing in recent years. Facebook and Twitter are the most used social media tools by the stakeholders of agriculture and rural development. Although there are numerous research and development initiatives of social and collaborative media the interest about social media in agriculture has just grown recently. Some of the few researches done on this topic indicates that social media use is mainly realized as a linear communication flows[25] among stakeholders of Canadian agriculture. Therefore, it is necessary to move beyond and include strategies and capacity building initiatives for dialogical and social interaction approach to support innovative practices of stakeholders in this sector.
Interactive media and advertisements
In 2015 the
Ethnic online media
In Canada, immigrant minorities' access to ethnic media online serves as a source of news from their home countries.
Canadian laws on online media
The
The request to conduct a formal review on TV content on the internet was turned down. Companies like Netflix Inc. were criticized[by whom?] for posing a threat to the domestic broadcasting system, and accused of having a competitive advantage. Since the prolonged consultation revealed there is no evidence that these internet-based movie services are negatively affecting the Canadian broadcasting system, companies like Netflix aren't compelled to follow the same rules and regulations, and don't have to fund Canadian broadcasting content or face the same regulations as cable and satellite distributors.[29][30]
Immediacy of communication and advanced connectivity
In the summer of 2011, a study by
As usage of data and bandwidth is increasing due to the growing availability of high definition videos online, CRTC recently created a pricing model for ISP providers to follow. The model, which acts as a
Arctic communities in Canada have poor communication infrastructures. Due to the residents' geographical isolation, proper access to web content can act as their window to domestic affairs and global matters.[33]
Specialization
Canadian telecommunications and media companies are also taking the opportunity to provide specialized content online as a means to cater to and attract specific audiences. Rogers Communications recently started making Toronto Maple Leafs hockey games accessible on the web for their cable subscribers as a television on-demand service. The media company acquired the Toronto Blue Jays baseball team in 2000, anticipating an increase in on-demand viewership.[34]
Criticism
In 2011
Future trends
As viewership steadily overtakes readership, a survey conducted by Rogers has revealed that Canadians' lives are continually becoming richer online and the sharing of photos are growing exponentially more popular. For the youth in Canada, digital media is the only media they have grown to know, and the Internet is the primary source of information and entertainment they have grown accustomed to.[36] The research of journalism professor Alfred Hermida at the University of British Columbia shows a total of 17 million Facebook users in Canada.[37] With social media, individuals tailor the news that comes to them as a means of efficiency, and share specific news to their immediate online community.[36]
See also
- Demographics of the Canadian political blogosphere
- Media of Canada
- Internet in Canada
- Internet Marketing
References
- ^ Krashinsky, Susan (March 17, 2010). "Online news readership rising: NADbank". The Globe and Mail.
- ^ "Globe readership grows, both for print and online". The Globe and Mail. September 28, 2011.
- ^ "2010 Overview of Results".
- ^ Lynch, Lisa (Nov 10, 2011). "Participatory Journalism: an interview with Alfred Hermida". The Canadian Journalism Project.
- ^ "About Openfile". Openfile. Archived from the original on 2011-12-28. Retrieved 2011-12-14.
- ^ Houpt, Simon (21 February 2013). "We wanted to believe in OpenFile's community journalism - but the dream is dead". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 8 April 2014.
- ^ "Welcome to rabble.ca". rabble.ca.
- ^ "Corporate Profile". Canoe inc. Archived from the original on July 30, 2012.
- ^ Surridge, Grant (March 10, 2009). "Rogers talks up Canadian version of Hulu.com". Financial Post.
- ^ "Rogers hopes Leafs score with subscribers". The Globe and Mail. Oct 13, 2011.
- ^ Sturgeon, Jamie (Aug 26, 2011). "Shaw steps on Hollywood's toes over rights". National Post.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Microsoft to offer Canadians TV over their Xbox". The Globe and Mail. Oct 5, 2011.
- ^ Sturgeon, Jamie (Aug 3, 2011). "Jays games go online - if you're with Rogers". The National Post.[permanent dead link]
- ^ Braga, Matthew (Sep 30, 2011). "Kindle's Fire will be dampened in Canada by lack of streaming services". The Globe and Mail.
- ^ Elizabeth, Renzetti (Oct 14, 2011). "The Great Berry Crisis of '11: We almost had to actually speak to each other". The Globe and Mail.
- ProQuest 190344230.
- ^ "The House: The Twitter election". CBC News. Retrieved 2017-12-08.
- ^ "The Big Data Election: Political parties building detailed voter records". Ottawa Citizen. 2014-10-18. Retrieved 2017-12-08.
- ^ "'Tweet-in' to flout Elections Canada blackout law". CBC News. April 21, 2011.
- ^ Norris, Gary (May 2, 2011). "Canada Election Result Bloggers Face Fines Under 1938 Law". Bloomberg.
- ^ a b Dobby, Christine (August 2, 2011). "Canadian Internet ads hit $2.2-billion, outpace print in 2010". Financial Post.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Foreign Admits - India's Most Trusted Abroad Studies Guidance Platform". foreignadmits.com. Retrieved 2021-09-28.
- ^ a b Humphreys, Adrian (Apr 20, 2011). "Elections Canada warns against posting results on social media". The National Post.
- ^ "Canadians' Usage of Social Media" (PDF). PMB Print Measurement Bureau. 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-11-25. Retrieved 2011-12-14.
- ISSN 1712-8277.
- ^ Fraser, Jeff (2015-09-22). "Government of Canada names programmatic partner". marketingmag.ca. Retrieved 2023-04-29.
- ProQuest 866215072.
- ^ Sturgeon, Jamie (October 6, 2011). "CRTC won't regulate online streaming". Financial Post. Archived from the original on November 13, 2011. Retrieved December 14, 2011.
- ^ Argitis, Theophilos (October 1, 2011). "Netflix won't face Canadian regulations". Financial Post. Archived from the original on November 13, 2011. Retrieved December 14, 2011.
- ^ Sturgeon, Jamie (Oct 5, 2011). "CRTC punts prospect of online television regulations to next year". The National Post. Archived from the original on November 13, 2011. Retrieved December 14, 2011.
- ^ a b Thompson, Hugh (October 5, 2011). "With Fibre Internet, the future is here, but not for most Canadians". The Globe and Mail.
- ^ Marlow, Iain (Nov 15, 2011). "CRTC unveils compromise for usage-based billing". The Globe and Mail.
- ^ Weber, Bob (Sep 3, 2011). "Poor Arctic communications threaten development, Canadian sovereignty: study". The Globe and Mail.
- ^ Krashinsky, Susan (October 13, 2011). "Rogers hopes Leafs score with subscribers". The Globe and Mail.
- ^ Wyatt, Nelson (September 16, 2011). "Huffington Post creator says Canadian media need to focus more effort online". The Canadian Press. Marketing Magazine.
- ^ a b Murray, James (October 6, 2011). "CRTC Gets It Right with New Media". Net News Ledger.
- ^ McKeon, Lauren (Nov 16, 2011). "Future of News: What happens next?". The Canadian Journalism Project.