See all and hear all, but don’t understand !
Not surprisingly, the student conflict in spring 2012 was extensively covered by the media. Does this mean that Quebeckers were well informed ? We beg to disagree. A study conducted by the Le Centre d’études sur les médias of Université Laval reveals that the interviewed citizens were sufficiently knowledgeable about the facts (e.g., demonstrations, violence, negotiations), yet less so about the underlying issues, which they felt the media had not clarified to their satisfaction. In this regard, the student conflict appears to be another example of the difficulties which the traditional media have in providing “a truthful, comprehensive and intelligent account of the day’s events in a context which gives them meaning,” in the words of the famous Commission on Freedom of the Press of the United States in 1947. Using data analysis and comments gathered at meetings with citizens and a group of Quebec intellectuals, we analyze the context of this media coverage and the issues that were not or insufficiently covered by the Quebec media. We also provide possible explanations of the difficulties faced by the media to adequately inform the public about these substantive issues during the student conflict, as well as some possible solutions.