In light of the Canadian federal election coming in 2025, it is important to examine where Canadians receive their information. With the rise of social media use among Canadian voters, politicians, and political activists, there are concerns about the media’s impact on political polarization.  

Grudz & Roy define political polarization as an echo chamber where people are only exposed to information that reinforces their views, and they are never offered any contrasting viewpoints. When individuals are isolated to one-sided ideas, they become more extreme. During recent elections, politicians and party organizers have used the media to promote their platforms and increase their supporters. However, because of the algorithms on social media platforms, past content that a user has engaged with increases or decreases their potential to view certain political content. In effect, they only view media that reinforces their viewpoints and nothing that challenges them.  

Research done by Gruzd & Roy in 2014 on Twitter found that users are grouped around their shared political views. This phenomenon happens because users tweet messages they see to other supporters of their political party, more than those who subscribe to parties with opposing views.  

What are the consequences? 

Social media platforms allow for misinformation and propaganda. Extremists and moral entrepreneurs use social media to promote their values and further their political agenda. When too much of one ideology is promoted, it hinders citizens’ ability to receive the full story.  

There is also the issue of the growing contrast between political parties. In Canada, we have a system with two main political parties: the Conservative Party and the Liberal Party. In a two-party system, elite political polarization dominates the media. Elite political polarization occurs when the party-in-power and the party-in-opposition are ideologically distinct. On social media, the parties maintain their stark contrasts by promoting their platform at the expense of the other. In 2015, when Trudeau was campaigning for prime minister, the Liberal Party ads focused on cutting taxes and helping working-class families. Trudeau also criticized Harper by saying, he was giving to the wealthy and harming the economy. Poilievre is now doing the same thing, as he guns for the prime minister position. The Conservative Party is promoting its agenda of axing the tax, building the homes, and criticizing Trudeau. In both cases, the opposing parties spread hostile messages about each other. While these ads succeed in promoting their party, they further the polarization between Canadian citizens. Political parties and activists are also aware that media users are pushed into corners of the internet and use this polarization to prey on these vulnerable populations. These polarized messages also offer no common ground. Not proposing any potential compromises, further polarizes Canadians on both sides of the political spectrum. It also leaves the middle ground and swing voters forced to choose between two sides.  

Newspapers and biases 

Bias media is not only found on social media, but it is also present in newspapers. From the Globe and Mail, Toronto Star, CBC, and other Canadian newspapers, most lean either to the left or the right. Media bias is when news sources favour and promote certain views over others. Bias can happen in numerous ways. Omission bias is very common in political news articles. Reporters must select the most important bits of the story, and they end up ignoring other parts as a result. Bias also happens through placement. Paragraph order, article placement, and headlines all play a role in how a newspaper is crafted. Eye-catching headlines and front-page articles are more likely to catch the attention of readers. What readers see first, impacts their understanding of news and can polarize them. While bias is something that journalists attempt to avoid in their writing, personal bias is difficult to exclude. When readers only consume newspapers that lean to one end of the political spectrum and only read the most interesting headlines, they do not receive full accounts of social issues and events. 

How does this affect Atlantic Canada? 

Research done in 2010 by Cochrane and in 2019 by Johnston shows that the Atlantic provinces do not have extremely wide divisions. There still exists an overlap where people could vote either way. However, gaps are slowly forming. Left-leaning parties cluster together and an increasing distance is forming between them and the conservatives.  

The polarization of mass media is the leading cause of the growing distance between Canadian voters. The social media algorithms, elite political polarization, and bias in the news leave no common ground for compromise or understanding. Most Canadians receive their political news from the media and these messages are leading to extremism. Online news is new, and we are still uncovering its effect on political knowledge and participation. The important message of this article is to be media literate. Every article has its biases. Do not accept anything at face value. Always look at both sides of the story, especially when it comes to important decisions like voting.