Anyone who examines North American entertainment and news media will notice that members of ethnic and visible minorities are inadequately represented in entertainment and news media, and that portrayals of minorities are often stereotypical and demeaning.
This tendency is particularly problematic in a multicultural country like Canada, where 15 per cent of the population are immigrants and visible minorities comprise 25 to 51 per cent of the larger urban centres. Toronto is the first city in the Western world in which the majority of inhabitants are people of colour. "Without much fuss," says historian Gwyn Dyer, "We’ve become the most spectacularly diverse country in the world." Why, then, have the media not kept pace?
This section explores the ways in which members of ethnic and visible minorities are portrayed in news coverage and entertainment media in Canada and the U.S. It also explores the representation of minority groups behind the scenes, as journalists and media producers. It provides the latest articles and reports on these topics, as well as a snapshot of federal policies aimed at combatting stereotyping and encouraging healthier, more realistic portrayals of ethnic and visible minorities.
