| There is ongoing debate in the feminist community over the impact of television on women's lives and whether or not mainstream television can be used as a means for social change. The Women's Television Network, which began broadcasting in Canada on January 1, 1995, reflects the feminist debate in its struggle to define women's television and also provides a concrete example of the practical applications of liberal feminist media theory in the commercial television industry.;This thesis explores the paradoxes and contradictions which arise from WTN's relationships to feminism and commercial television. It does so through qualitative research conducted at WTN, textual analysis, an examination of the political economy of the television industry and an overview of the shifting theoretical paradigms in feminist media studies. It asks why a women's channel was licenced at this point in Canadian history? Why a women's channel with a feminist mandate? Is this mandate compatible with commercial television? Will a women's channel, run by women, necessarily affect in a progressive way, the discourses of gender encoded in the texts the channel broadcasts? In considering these questions the study sets out to demonstrate that despite the many compromises a 'feminist' women's channel must make, to have a voice on mainstream television is to participate in a powerful discourse.;An eighteen minute video, titled Carole Gets a TV, was also produced as part of this research project. It is an attempt to explore the feminist debates presented in this thesis in a visual format, which might be used as an educational tool through which to address issues about the impact of the media on the construction of identity. |
