2023-10-24 04:00:00
“The mistake for decades has been that we have made songs for children, others for the young, the old, and now immigrants. While the song must unite generations,” said singer Guy Béart.
This quote came to mind last week when I read a text on immigrants and Quebec television published in The duty.
A TV “FOR THE MAJORITY”
According to a survey carried out last year by Media Technologies Observer, a division of CBC/Radio-Canada, immigrants watch little Quebec television.
In the month preceding the survey, only 22% of immigrants who arrived in Quebec over the last five years had tuned into TVA at least once. For Radio-Canada, the percentage was even lower: 16%. And 6% for Noovo.
While during the same period, 70% of Quebecers born in the country had tuned into TVA, 64% Radio-Canada and 50% Noovo.
In short, immigrants don’t watch our TV.
However, the time when we only saw “native” white people on Quebec TV is long gone! In recent years, our broadcasters have made efforts to diversify.
We see it in series and even in advertisements (where, sometimes, we don’t even see white people).
So how can we explain these results?
For Jean-Yves Roux, general director of Natyf TV, a channel which specifically targets “Afro-descendant” cultural communities (what we previously called “blacks”), “yes, efforts have been made on Quebec television to better represent diversity. But these are cosmetic changes.
“As long as we don’t make shows specifically designed for newcomers, Quebec TV won’t reach them. For the moment, the big networks prefer to focus on the majority…”
“THEM” AND “US”
You read correctly.
It is not enough to have more actors, presenters and journalists from cultural communities.
We should produce programs that “are aimed at them”.
Maybe I’m stupid, or too old, but there was a time when native Quebecers were blamed for not integrating immigrants into the “Great Collective Us.”
People who come from other countries are as much a part of Quebec as those who were born here, we were told.
And with good reason.
But today, we are told that we must produce programs for “Them”!
Address “Them”!
If we want “Them” to listen to us and be interested in “Us”!
Uh…
Am I alone in being mixed up?
Are immigrants part of the gang, or do they form a separate gang?
We should explain, because we no longer understand anything…
What will the next step be?
It will no longer be enough to show more immigrants on TV or broadcast more programs for immigrants, but will it have to be done in “THEIR” language?
So, are we traveling on the same ship or are we each in our own little boat?
Is that your living together?
Programs for “native” Quebecers and others for immigrants?
Who talks regarding things that interest immigrants in languages spoken by immigrants?
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#Quick #immigrants