Between the Lines: Canadian Foreign Correspondents and the Construction of Canada's Cold War Identity

atmire.migration.oldid2271
dc.contributor.advisorKeren, Michael
dc.contributor.authorSteward, Gillian
dc.date.accessioned2014-07-04T15:26:31Z
dc.date.available2014-11-17T08:00:35Z
dc.date.issued2014-07-04
dc.date.submitted2014en
dc.description.abstractThe purpose of this study was to reveal how Canadian foreign correspondents constructed a Canadian perspective in their reports on key Cold War conflicts. Four Cold War conflicts and four correspondents were selected; The Suez Crisis (1956) as reported by Peter Worthington for The (Toronto) Telegram; erection of the Berlin Wall (1961) as reported by Stanley Burke for CBC Television; the Vietnam War (1971-73) as reported by Joe Schlesinger for CBC Television; Nicaragua’s civil war (1981-1984) as reported by Oakland Ross for The Globe and Mail. With the application of critical discourse analysis the reportage revealed that there was a common, unspoken, Canadian perspective or sensibility expressed by the correspondents. Most of their reports focus on people who are victimized by the clashes between the super powers. They dwell on the people who are caught in the middle of violent Cold War conflicts over which they have very little control. Analysis also revealed that except for Worthington’s reports from The Suez Zone in 1957-58, the mention of Canada or Canadians is rare, as is the posturing by the Soviet Union and the United States, posturing that sometimes threatened to break out into nuclear war. Instead, these Canadian correspondents were more concerned about the hapless men, women and children, caught in the crossfire of the proxy wars fought by the Soviet Union, the United States, and China. Although interviews with correspondents revealed that they hadn’t given much thought to what a Canadian perspective would entail, the perspective in their reportage reflects Canada’s history and identity as a country that values surviving rather than domination. It also reflects Canada’s history as a country that often found itself caught between the demands of two super-powers – Britain and the United States. During the Cold War federal leaders sought to carve out a role for Canada in which it sought common ground with smaller nations rather than become completely subservient to the demands of its key ally – the United States. This public shunning of the U.S. is another key theme in the reports of the four foreign correspondents.en_US
dc.identifier.citationSteward, G. (2014). Between the Lines: Canadian Foreign Correspondents and the Construction of Canada's Cold War Identity (Doctoral thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca. doi:10.11575/PRISM/25113en_US
dc.identifier.doihttp://dx.doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/25113
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11023/1603
dc.language.isoeng
dc.publisher.facultyGraduate Studies
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Calgaryen
dc.publisher.placeCalgaryen
dc.rightsUniversity of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission.
dc.subjectCanadian Studies
dc.subject.classificationCanadaen_US
dc.subject.classificationCold Waren_US
dc.subject.classificationSuezen_US
dc.subject.classificationBerlinen_US
dc.subject.classificationVietnamen_US
dc.subject.classificationNicaraguaen_US
dc.subject.classificationCanadian Identityen_US
dc.subject.classificationForeign Correspondentsen_US
dc.subject.classificationWar Journalismen_US
dc.subject.classificationJournalismen_US
dc.subject.classificationCritical Discourse Analysisen_US
dc.titleBetween the Lines: Canadian Foreign Correspondents and the Construction of Canada's Cold War Identity
dc.typedoctoral thesis
thesis.degree.disciplineCommunications Studies
thesis.degree.grantorUniversity of Calgary
thesis.degree.nameDoctor of Philosophy (PhD)
ucalgary.item.requestcopytrue
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