18
the group of eight prime ministers and presidents is in a remote
Alberta resort for a summit on peace and aid for the poor. But
already there are signs of some tension at the G-8 summit. Prime
Minister Jean Chrétien’s best-laid plans to focus on African
development are being overtaken by events, specifically, a US plan
to end terrorism in the Middle East.
36
This theme continued on to the next day when Roger Smith reported on
CTV news, “on day one, talk about terrorism and the economy was
overshadowed by the Middle East and by confusion about where Canada
stands.”
37
While CTV did include protest messages in the stories on the June 25
th
broadcast, it is only on June 26 that a story is devoted to protesters and their
messages. Lloyd Robertson introduced the story by summarizing the protest
activity.
Leaders in the Kananaskis summit were concerned, ah condemned,
by demonstrators at protest rallies in cities nationwide today. The
largest rally was in Ottawa, where more than one thousand
students and other protesters march on the US embassy. Police in
Ottawa arrested one demonstrator who had scuffled with officers.
Other marchers burned an effigy of George Bush wrapped in the
US flag. There were no injuries or incidents at the American
embassy. But on Parliament Hill, demonstrators stripped and
smoked marijuana in a supposed protest against foreign
investment. Rainfall kept the size of the rally smaller than
organizers had anticipated. The City of Calgary, much closer to the
actual summit site, saw protests of its own. But they were mild
compared to what police had feared in co-coordinating a multi-
million dollar security crackdown.
38
Kathy Tomlinson then proceeded to interview protesters and academics
discussing the efficacy of the events, as well as the strategies and tactics of
police.
Due to their inability to attract media coverage, some citizen groups did
go to extreme measures to obtain attention. At the Ottawa event, television
news reported instances of nudity and public disobedience (for example
protesters openly smoking marijuana, as in the above cited CTV story). This
however received less than one percent of both networks’ attention to the event.
When we look at the volume of coverage we can also see that for CBC
attention to international meetings was highest for the G-8 conference. APEC
36
Roger Smith, “Leaders Arrive at Kananaskis for Summit,”
CTV News
, (June 25, 2002).
37
Roger Smith, “G-8 Summit,”
CTV News
, (June 26, 2002).
38
Kathy Tomlinson, “G-8 Demonstrations in Ottawa,”
CTV News
, (June 26, 2002).
Convention