Abstract

The mainstream media are able to potentially influence attitudes and opinions in any society. This influence may extend to how individuals view other groups and people, including members of visible minority groups. This thesis examines whether or not Practices of Exclusion and Practices of Inclusion can be observed though Toronto television news, one of the largest television news markets. This research was conducted through a simple study of observing newscasts in the Spring of 2015 and a brief update in 2018 to see if there were any changes. The research illustrates how members of visible racialized minority communities are represented in local Canadian television newscasts both in being featured as central characters in news stories and presenting the news to the audience. It takes as its object of study the Toronto television news market and has a goal of bringing about further awareness about the possible imbalance of minority representation in Toronto news media, especially in a nation that prides itself on multicultural inclusion.
The purpose of this thesis is to examine Toronto news media and to assess how it represents visible minorities in their news coverage. This thesis rests upon the argument that media representation of visible minorities can result in supporting an underlying system of racism because of their invisibility in news media. There is no doubt that inclusion of the various ethnic voices in Canada has improved, but the discussion is far from over.