The Media in Canada

I interviewed my friend Jobie Waughman and he is from British Columbia, Canada. He told me that in Canada, the news is worldier and has to do with global issues, whereas American news is mainly about American issues. He also said that actual Canadian films are very hard to find, but American films that are produced in Canada are much more readily available. The radio is pretty much the same except for the fact that Canadian radio stations receive new songs a lot slower than American radio stations do. They are usually at least a few weeks behind. The same thing goes for TV: if a new TV show comes out, American cable stations will reach the public much faster than Canadian cable stations will. He pointed out that the first thing he noticed about the media in America was how much Americans love to talk about themselves. A news broadcast in Canada usually will show 90% global issues and 10% Canadian issues, and he was shocked to see how much of an American news broadcast is about American issues that simply are not as important as such things as the War in Iraq and global warming. I had always heard that other countries thought Americans were extremely self-absorbed, but to hear this face-to-face was even more convincing than all the claims I've heard on this foreign opinion. Jobie does not think the Americans take their freedom of press for granted. From this interview, I learned that the media is used in Canada in a very different way than it is used in the United States, from the news broadcasts being more "global" to the media obtaining information slower than American media. The thing that shocked me the most from the interview was how much other countries really do think America needs to "get over itself", especially a country that is right next door! I thought this was a very educational experience and opened my eyes to the views of other countries.