The Communication and Media Studies program’s 40th Anniversary is a good time to shine a spotlight on the role that its faculty, graduates and students have played in furthering understanding of the communication and media industries in Canada and the regulatory and policy traditions that have shaped those industries.

This panel brings together faculty, students, alumni and industry insiders to share their insights and experience as researchers and in the policy trenches as they strive to understand and influence the far-reaching changes that are remaking the media landscape for the internet- and mobile wireless-centric communications and media universe of the 21st Century. With a sweeping review of the Broadcasting Act, Telecommunications Act and Copyright Act now underway, and the global internet giants like Google, Facebook and Netflix under growing scrutiny, the timing for such an exercise is ripe. The panelists will reflect on the changes that might be needed to address new realities and the new possibilities and problems arising from the fast-expanding role that Google, Facebook, Amazon and Netflix, for instance, now play in Canada, and how they might be best harnessed to meeting the needs of Canadian citizens and consumers, the economy, society and democracy.

This event will follow a “critical conversations” model, with each of the speakers offering opening remarks of no more than 10 minutes on what they see as the key issues that will shape the media universe in the years and decades to come. These remarks will then be followed by a half-hour moderated Q and A session where the panelists will be invited to address three or four questions that emerge during their opening remarks with an eye to generating discussion and debate about the hot-button policy issues that we now face, as scholars, students of communication and media studies, as citizens, and as policy-makers, regulators and industry players. The event will culminate in a half-hour that is open to questions and discussion from the audience.

Light finger foods and a cash bar will be available after the panel discussion. The panelists for the evening are:

Valerie Steeves, Ph.D Communication, 2005, and Professor of Criminology at University Ottawa. Valerie is also an internationally renowned expert on privacy and surveillance, especially in relation to how children use the internet-connected devices, mobile phones and television services at their disposal, and has played an influential role with respect to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner, the Personal Information Protection and Electronics Documents Act, and at Media Smarts. She is currently the principal investigator of the eQuality Project, a seven-year SSHRC-funded partnership with 18 community and policy partners eploring young people’s experiences of privacy and equality in networked spaces.

Ben Klass, Ph.D. candidate in the Communication and Media Studies Department, and a leading internet and communications policy researcher, analyst and advocate in Canada. In addition, he serves as a Senior Research Associate at the Canadian Media Concentration Research Project, and as a Research Associate with the First Mile Connectivity Consortium. Ben’s regulatory interventions have led to landmark rulings at both the CRTC and the Federal Court of Appeals that have bolstered the strong net neutrality rules that Canada currently has and which stand as something of a “gold standard” internationally.

Sheehan Carter, MA, Communications, 2007, and currently Director, Television Programming at the CRTC. Sheehan has led most of the major regulatory processes in the television industry for the last decade. Most recently, he was one of the two lead authors on Harnessing Change: the Future of Program Distribution in Canada, a major report that tries to rethink media and cultural policy in the age of the internet and is now deeply involved in efforts to encourage legislative reform in Broadcasting and Telecommunications.

Lianrui Jia, M.A., School of Journalism and Communication, Carleton University, 2014, is a PhD candidate in the Communication and Culture program at York University and an instructor at University of Toronto’s Faculty of Information. She is also a research associate for Canadian Media Concentration Research Project and the York Centre of Asia Research. Her research focuses on the political economy of Chinese internet industries, and in particular the regulation, financialization and capitalization of Chinese internet companies. Her work appears in the International Communication Gazette, European Journal of Cultural Studies, Westminster Papers in Communication and Culture, as well as Communication and Public.

Len St. Aubin, Honours BJ 1978, School of Journalism, is former Director General of Telecommunications Policy at Industry Canada (2006-2009) and currently a policy and regulatory consultant for Netflix in Canada. Len’s work in government spanned broadcasting, telecoms and internet policy. He played a lead role in policy initiatives including: the 1991 Broadcasting Act, the 1993 Telecommunications Act; the 1995 Direct-to-Home Satellite Broadcasting Policy; the 1996 Convergence Policy; the Information Highway Advisory Council; the telecommunications Policy Direction to the CRTC (2006) the 2007 AWS Spectrum Auction Policy; the internet domain name system, and ISP self-regulation. As a Senior Officer, Director, and Director General of Telecommunications Policy, Len played a key role in the shift from monopoly to increased competition.

Jesse Hirsh, is based out of Lanark County, and has 25 years experience as a technology researcher, ethicist, broadcaster, and futurist. His company Metaviews works with organizations to help them use technology strategically and responsibly. He has an MA from Ryerson University in algorithmic media, and his current work focuses on the governance and ethics of artificial intelligence, data protection, and privacy. Jesse is a member of the Advisory Council for the Certificate in Machine Learning at York University’s School of Continuing Studies. He’s also the co-founder of the Academy of the Impossible, a peer to peer lifelong learning network. Appearing regularly on radio and television, Jesse explains technology in a way that empowers audiences and informs public policy.
This event is part of FPA Research Month