The Media’s Role in Shaping Canadian Civic and Political Engagement

Abstract

This article represents a modest attempt at establishing the role that the media plays in shaping political and civic engagement in Canada. The findings suggest that more focused attention to the media’s role would likely reap significant benefits in furthering our understanding of participation behaviour at the individual level. One of the questions framing this investigation is whether the media play a role in shaping the political and civic engagement of Canadians. The evidence suggests that they do. The media types employed by Canadians to follow politics and the frequency with which they follow such coverage each reveal an association to the number of activities in which respondents participate. Use of more traditional media – most notably television alone and in combination with newspapers – is associated with lower levels of engagement. Use of the Internet – most often employed in combination with more traditional media types – reveals an association with higher levels of engagement. Future research – more qualitative perhaps – ought to focus on addressing what it is about that these particular media type combinations that best addresses the needs and desires of those with more limited and more heightened engagement levels.