About
Welcome to the blog!
I am a policy consultant specializing in communications, media, and copyright. I hold a MA in Communications and Cultural Studies from York and Ryerson and a honours BA in Humanities and Philosophy from Carleton University.
As a policy analyst, I spend a considerable time on the internet, especially blogs and twitter, finding out about the newest developments and happenings in the current media policy environment. Although some of you may have seen my comments via twitter on the various policy hearings and developments in Canada, I have yet to contribute any in depth analysis of what I think is going on in long form.
This blog will serve many functions. First, it will aggregate all of my twitter-posts and re-postings. Second, I will provide a weekly, or whenever I feel like it, posts about what is going on in the media policy world. Finally, it is a gateway to media regulation and policy around the world. If you’re lucky, I may publish a graph or two from my research on Canadian media that you can use.
I’m always looking for new contacts and contracts, so feel free to email me or add me on LinkedIn for more information about my services and rates.
As a now-former employee of the Saskatchewan Communications Network (SCN), I’d like to thank the people of Saskatchewan, and across Canada, for the support they’ve given SCN, especially over the past month, whether it was a honk from a car (or bus) passing one of the rallies, the many letters to the editor and calls to talk radio programs and MLA’s, or the thousands who signed up to the SCN Matters Facebook page.
I loved working at SCN, and that’s something I’ve never been able to say about a workplace. The people I was lucky enough to share my time with were intelligent, creative, passionate individuals, from which I learned a great deal, and SCN gave me the opportunity to be part of something that was truly unique.
It would be fair to say that I’m more than a little angry about the decision to shut the operation down. Not only did it rob me of my livelihood and vision for the future, it did the same thing to my colleagues, and destroyed an internationally-recognized, 20-year cultural institution. What angered me the most, however, was that in attempting to justify the decision to the public, the government misrepresented the facts in order to downplay SCN and its achievements.
The government claims that it will save $5 million a year with this closure, but since SCN operated distance-education and internet over satellite services, in order to provide access to remote communities – services that will still be performed, and funded, through SaskTel – this simply isn’t true.
The money and leverage SCN contributed to local film and television productions drew millions of dollars into Saskatchewan, boasting a return on investment averaging about 800 percent, and facilitated the creation of hundreds of jobs.
Ken Schaffer, executive producer of Infinity Films and Metcom Productions was about to launch a national Metis television network using SCN’s infrastructure, and this would have provided additional revenue to SCN. Now, like so many of the entrepreneurs affected by the closure, Mr. Schaffer is forced to look outside the province in order to keep his dream alive.
So the economic narrative simply doesn’t stand up to scrutiny.
When SCN relocated its broadcast operations from the University of Saskatoon to the CBC building here in Regina, it created the most innovative and efficient broadcast stream in the country, and the second of its kind in North America. For successfully bringing the system on-line, as well as his achievements in the expansion of the distance-education program, SCN’s then-Director of Technology, David Stanchuk, was awarded a Premier’s Award for Excellence in Public Service in 2007.
Dustin Duncan, the Minister of Tourism, Parks, Culture and Sport – whose mandate is to support Saskatchewan culture and promote the province, both tasks that were served by SCN – claimed that poor viewership was the other half of the equation, and told the public that SCN only drew a 4% rating.
However, what he referred to is a rather narrow analysis by BBM Corporation, which only polls urban centres and counts households, regardless of the number of residents (and possible viewers) in them. More detailed rating analyses which included rural Saskatchewan, where the highest percentage of SCN viewers resides, show SCN averaging at least four times that number, which is actually a very good rating.
So again, the numbers don’t add up.
The announcement has been a great promotional campaign for SCN. People across the country are talking about (and watching) SCN, and I’m sure that if measurements were taken over the past month, they would show a sharp spike in viewership.
Minister Duncan implied that SCN is irrelevant “in a 500-channel universe”, but the current state of the media is what makes SCN is so vital.
Most television stations are concentrated in the hands of a small number of corporations whose only mandate is to deliver viewers to advertisers. Much of what is offered through satellite and cable packages is identical – the exact same network feed rebroadcast from different cities. In most cases, their only local content is news, and most “local” newscasts feature stories created by the parent network.
But through SCN, the people of Saskatchewan owned one of these channels, allowing Saskatchewan stories, arts, and culture to gain exposure on a national and often international stage, and giving the people of the province a voice. What SCN offered was special; a commercial-free outlet for regional programs you won’t find anywhere else.
When the facts are examined, this was a terrible decision all around, one that will cost the province millions in outside investment and hundreds of jobs, and hasn’t scored any political points for the Sask. Party. Its misconceptions about SCN caused it to alienate and anger many rural voters, who say the decision has made them question their support for the party.
I believe the government should reverse its decision, and spare SCN from fading to black on April 30. This would demonstrate that they are responsive to the public (which in this case, overwhelmingly opposes the loss of their public educational broadcaster), is capable of acknowledging a bad policy decision, and isn’t afraid of acting to correct a mistake.
If they refuse, then I think the people of Saskatchewan deserve a better explanation, one which actually stands up to scrutiny.
Supporters and producers have set up a website to challenge this decision. It’s http://www.scnmatters.ca and they are also on Facebook “SCN Matters”, if you want to look into this.
Any “noise” and support would be greatly appreciated.
All the best,
Jordan Thornton
Regina