Here are some English-language books on Canadian media that I recommend as informative and a pleasure to read.
I’m claiming the top spot, for mercenary reasons. Otherwise, the list is in order of publication year.
Howard Law, Canada vs California: how Ottawa took on Netflix and the streaming giants (2024). A podcast interview with the author can be found here on Broadcast Dialogue.
Kim Kierans, Journalism for the Public Good (2024). Read the MediaPolicy review here.
Andy Lamey, The Canadian Mind (2023)
Ivor Shapiro, The Disputed Freedoms of a Disrupted Press (2023). Read the MediaPolicy interview with the author, here.
Hugh Stephens, In Defence of Copyright (2023). Read the MediaPolicy review, here.
David Taras and Chris Waddell, End of the CBC? (2020). Read the MediaPolicy interview with author Waddell, here.
Richard Stursberg, The Tangled Garden: A Canadian Cultural Manifesto for the Digital Age (2019). Read the MediaPolicy review here.
Garry Neil, Canadian Culture in a Globalized World: the impact of trade deals on Canada’s cultural life (2019)
Robert Armstrong, Broadcasting Policy in Canada (2016)
Wade Rowland, Saving the CBC: Balancing Profit and Public Service (2013)
Richard Stursberg, The Tower of Babble: Sins, Secrets and Successes Inside the CBC (2012). Read the guest MediaPolicy column from the author, here.
Mary Vipond, Mass Media in Canada: Who decides what we read, watch and hear? (2011)
Phil Ryan, Multicultiphobia (2010)
Kate Taylor, Northern Lights: Keeping Canadian culture ablaze (2010)
Ryan Edwardson, Canadian Content: Culture and the Quest for Nationhood (2008)
Peter Grant & Chris Wood, Blockbusters and Trade Wars: Popular Culture in a Globalized World (2006)
Another recommendation not strictly speaking about Canadian media, is Tim Wu’s The Master Switch (2011).
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