American Media Dominating Canadian Culture Essay, Research Paper
American Media Dominating Canadian Culture
The possibility of the American media taking over Canadian culture has always been an intimidating issue for Canadians over the past few decades. It has been known that the American model of life is one that is very different from ours and that the ?americanization? of Canada could prove to be a threat of losing our own values and beliefs. The presence of the American media is very tempting for Canadians to forget about our own nation?s people and their various talents. Although many of us share our views with the Americans, it is important not to forget that we have people of our own that are important in preserving our own Canadian culture.
The most important thing to do in order to ensure that Canadian media is presented to our people is to regulate the amount of American media on radio stations, television, etc. Many radio stations in Canada already support this idea by making sure that 30% of the music they play is from Canadian artists. There are many different television stations that are devoted to Canadians topics and issues, such as CBC and Sportsnet. This is a very effective way of preserving the Canadian media because it guarantees that the American media isn?t dominating the entertainment and news industry here in Canada.
Another simple and effective plan would be to promote events and awards to celebrate the achievements of Canadian entertainers. For example, Canada has established a number of annual events such as the Juno Awards that recognize and reward the talents of Canadian artists in the music industry. This idea could also increase the consumption of Canadian television in our country as many fellow Canadians would like to watch such events being broadcasted at their convenience.
Setting up Canadian radio stations and television networks at the government?s expense is another reasonable alternative to encourage the publishing of Canadian media. This will help promote the production of Canadian media and also its popularity as Canadians will have easier access to it. This idea will help preserve our unique culture as well as the Canadian economy.
Lastly, there is another controversial proposal to help encourage the production and sales of Canadian media. The government has been working on a plan recently to propose a tax levee on all recordable compact discs, blank cassette tapes and videocassettes in order to distribute the extra money to Canadian entertainers to help compensate for the illegal copying of their copyrighted work. The purpose of this idea is to encourage Canadians to buy the real products instead of discs, cassettes and tapes used to copy their work because they would cost around the same price as the products sold in stores. Many Canadians argue that this proposal would actually have no effect on the sales of the Canadian media as other Canadians would rather buy the discs and tapes needed to copy the work in the United States instead.
In conclusion, I think that the Canadian government should take the necessary procedures to help solve this problem before it?s too late and also to encourage the consumption of Canadian media.