ABSTRACT
In a globalised world, online transnational forums offer new and unprecedented opportunities for communication, interaction and the development of minoritised and even endangered languages (see e.g. Leppänen and Häkkinen 2012, 18). Nevertheless, the English language continues to have an important role as a medium of communication in international media. Also, English is also one of the official languages of Canada alongside French, and historically Canadian media developed along parallel lines in English and French (Raboy 1991). Web 2.0 provides affordances to minoritised languages and indeed more opportunities for Canadian English and French speakers to bridge the previously established ‘two solitudes’ gap that has been reinforced by the news media. However, it remains unclear if these affordances and opportunities are being drawn on by users. It also remains unclear the extent to which new and social media differ from traditional news media and whether these are simply being used to further the divide to a wider audience. Indeed, the fact that English Canadian media have ready access to an international English-speaking media audience suggests that English Canadians have greater capacity to propagate a ‘moral panic’. To explore the extent of this capacity, comparisons of national and international, news and social and English and French media are required.
