Ethnic Broadcasting and Ethnic Relations: A Comparative Study between Canada and China

Abstract

Ethnic broadcasting is a unique phenomenon of multiethnic countries that could reflect and influence a country's ethnic relations. This study examines the ethnic broadcasting policies and practices in Canada and China, to determine existing issues, and reflect on the countries' ethnic relations and ethnic policies. This thesis analyzes the ethnic broadcasting operations in the two countries comparatively through interpreting with critical lenses the data collected from government and university databases. This analysis is especially interested in the relationship between ethnic relations and the broadcasting media, between ethnic policies and broadcasting policies, and between ethnic politics and ethnic broadcasting content. Several issues in the two countries' ethnic policies and ethnic broadcasting operations are revealed through the comparative analysis, particularly the insufficiency of public broadcasting presence and governmental involvement in Canadian ethnic broadcasting, and the politicization of ethnic relations and ethnic broadcasting operations in China.