Browsing by Author "Blackbird, Maizun Jayoussi"

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    The right to buy a piece of the public sphere: adbusters v. the media
    (2012) Blackbird, Maizun Jayoussi; Taras, David; Atkins, Chloe G.K.
    This thesis examines public communicative access rights in the public sphere of Canadian television, using the unresolved Adbusters court case as a reference point. This Charier case challenges the right of private and public broadcasters to arbitrarily decide who can and cannot purchase commercial airtime, which Adbusters claims is a violation of its right to freedom of expression in a public space (i.e. the public airwaves). Jn the context of relevant Canadian laws, policies and judicial decisions, the question of 'who should have the right to purchase commercial airtime on publicly owned but privately controlled airwaves?' is examined and compared from a legal perspective and from the theoretical concept of the public sphere. This legal issue raises some significant questions about the inherent relationship between the public sphere, democracy and communication. This thesis investigates the Canadian perspective and discusses some of the underlying tensions and contradictions it reveals.