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THE LEGISLATURE HAS BEEN ACCORDED A SPECIAL POSITION AND ROLE IN PARLIAMENTARY DEMOCRACY. LEGISLATORS CLAIM THE RIGHT TO VOICE BOTH THE CONSCIENCE AND THE CONSENSUS OF SOCIETY. HOWEVER, BECAUSE THEY CANNOT POSSIBLY INTERACT DIRECTLY WITH THE WHOLE OF SOCIETY, LEGISLATORS MUST USE INTERMEDIARIES--THE MAJOR ONE BEING THE MASS MEDIA. THIS HAS BROUGHT THE LEGISLATORS AND THE MEDIA TO A POINT WHERE THEY ARE INDISPENSABLE TO ONE ANOTHER. INDEED, THEIR ROLES ARE COMPLEMENTARY.

In light of the importance of culture for the autonomy, sense of identity, and self-respect of individuals, cultural minorities have a right that their cultures flourish. Since cultural minorities are frequently in a disadvantaged position in the cultural market-place, a commitment to equality implies that the state ought to take steps to assist these minorities in preserving their cultures. This Article examines the ways the mass media can assist cultural minorities in preserving their cultures. For instance, when the media present contents that relate to the cultures of minorities, individual members of the minority group are exposed to their culture; media designated for cultural groups facilitate dialogue between group members, thus enabling the cultural group to determine which parts of its culture to retain and which parts to change. With that said, contemporary media frequently provide insufficient cultural contents due to the influence of commercial operational logic. This Article examines why the motivation for profit leads to under-production of cultural materials for minorities and to insufficient inclusion of cultural minorities in the public discourse. It is argued that the inequality caused by the media—which provide minorities with too little of the cultural contents so pertinent to the realization of their right to culture—merits corrective intervention. The Article examines possible forms of State intervention with the media on behalf of cultural minorities, taking into consideration that such intervention is a sensitive issue, since it has ramifications concerning the scope of the freedom of the press. Accordingly, it is argued that the State ought to be permitted to create legislation which intervenes, mainly by means of subsidies and structural regulation, to improve the manner in which the media fulfill their roles in a multicultural democracy. In contrast, there should be sparse use of conditionality in the issue of licenses for media operators.

The frame of reference of the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Bicul‐turalism postulates that both French‐speaking and English‐speaking Canadians have within their reach mass media that allow for their cultural development. This study examines the validity of this assertion by comparing it with observations related to mass media consumption among Montrealers. Diffusion techniques, even though unilingual, could be bicultural in their content and thus serve as instruments for reciprocal knowledge for anglophones and francophones. This does not seem to be the case. The objective of knowing one another could also rest upon the bilingualism of individuals and the consumption of media in both languages. A unilingualism‐bilingualism scale was constructed to evaluate this possibility. Among all linguistic groups, even the equilingual ones, there are very few who watch TV programmes and read newspapers in both languages. Unilin‐guals and bilinguals other than equilinguals mostly consume mass media products in the language they know best. The linguistic factor alone is incapable of explaining the attraction of the francophones for the English‐speaking media, nor does it offer satisfactory explanations for the behaviour of the equilinguals.Le cadre de référence de la Commission d'enquête sur le bilinguisme et le biculturalisme prétend que les Canadiens anglophones et francophones disposent des mass media qui leur permettent de se développer culturellement. La présente étude essaie d'en mesurer l'adéquation avec certains faits relatifs à la consommation des mass media chez les Montréalais. Les techniques de diffusion, tout en étant unilingues, pourraient être biculturelles dans leur contenu et ainsi servir d'instruments de connaissance réciproque pour les Canadiens anglophones et francophones. Telle ne semble pas être la situation. L'objectif de connaissance réciproque pourrait aussi reposer sur le bilinguisme des individus et la consommation des media dans les deux langues. Une échelle d'unilinguisme‐bilinguisme a été constituée. Chez tous les groupes linguistiques, même les équilingues, il y a peu de consommateurs de la télévision et des journaux dans les deux langues. Les unilingues et les bilingues autres que les équilingues consomment surtout dans les langues qu'ils comprennent le mieux, mais le f acteur linguistique reste inadéquat pour expliquer l'attrait des médiums de langue anglaise sur les francophones de même que le comportement des équilingues.

Mass media (MM) have been described as all-pervasive cultural institutions which both reflect & project society's values. They are shown to have played a role throughout history, whenever new developments have threatened established values, & often are singled out as important facilitators & accelerators of social change. As such, it is not surprising that various charges have been leveled against the MM for their purported role in the recent & significant escalation of psychoactive drug use & abuse. Some critics have attempted to relate the act of viewing or experiencing the MM to problems of drug use; others have focused their charges on, & label as villains, the contents of the media, as in advertising, TV entertainment, & popular song lyrics. Some of these accusations are examined, & the issues & the evidence in the current controversy over the role of MM in the use & abuse of psychoactive drugs are explored. HA.

Analysis of the communications industry in the US and Europe during the 1980s. Discusses business strategy, the decline of public television, increased consumption of communications products, increased functional integration among various media, and technological innovations.