The media's role in shaping Canadian civic and political engagement

How does mediatised information affect attitudes and engagement in the civic/political spheres? The question is an important one, not only because of changing media forms but also because of the important role of the media in providing political information. As such, its intermediary role in shaping both political interest and political knowledge is heightened, both of which are important determinants of political engagement. This work uses the data from the 2003 General Social Survey to assess and compare variation in the effects of various media forms on civic engagement in Canada in order to provide a means of developing generalizable comparative claims regarding individual media effects. At the end, the author offers an assessment of what these findings suggest about the media's role in shaping engagement in Canada, particularly in the future.