Canada's Contemporary Press System: Shifting Industries, Formal Inquiries, and Journalistic Employment

This thesis examines the state of journalism in Canada with a focus on the quantity and quality of journalistic work. I find that journalism is not in crisis so much as a major and wrenching period of transformation. The Canadian press system is presently in a moment of change characterized by an array of different media players, shifting industry trends and a federal government inquiry. Amidst all the turmoil, data from Statistics Canada suggests there are more jobs in the field than there was prior to the emergence of the Internet. Further, my personal interviews reveal that newsworkers understand the role of the journalist as one that is being dramatically changed alongside the entire press system. However, to what end these changes point is not at all clear. Accordingly, the federal government and the CRTC play a crucial role in shaping the evolution of the Canadian journalistic environment.