"If a parent...would prefer for them to be referred to as she or he...that's a parent's right": A Critical Discourse Analysis of CBC New Brunswick's Heteronormative Media Bias in the Coverage of Policy 713 Changes


Courtney Pyrke, University of New Brunswick; Void Clark-Nason, University of New Brunswick; Katherine (KD) Merritt, University of New Brunswick

In Canada there is a long history of mainstream media bias when covering stories about 2SLGBTQIA+ communities (Morrison et al., 2021; Tompkins, 2020; Craig et al., 2015; Herriot, 2011). This bias can shape public opinion, education, and perception about important topics, such as New Brunswick’s (NB) Policy 713: Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (Policy 713), an educational policy meant to create a safe and welcoming space for transgender and gender diverse students (Department of Education and Early Childhood Development, 2020). This media bias can exert negatively upon the health and well-being of 2SLGTQIA+ people, specifically children whose sense of personal and sexual identity is still in development and are particularly vulnerable. In May 2023 NB’s Progressive Conservative government pulled back protections for 2SLGBTQIA+ students through controversial edits to Policy 713. As a result, the 2SLGBTQIA+ community in NB faced a significant rise in anti-2SLGBTQIA+ rhetoric and violence from the public and local politicians. NB Premier Blaine Higgs and his education minister fanned the flames of this discursive framing by joining protestors on the legislative lawn and shaking the hands of people carrying signs denouncing sex education and 2SLGBTQIA+ rights. Premier Blaine Higgs and the education minister both chose to ignore the group of pro-2SLGBTQIA+ protesters situated across the street. Before, during, and in the aftermath of NB’s changes to Policy 713, news organizations both locally and nationally covered the situation, including Canada’s largest news organization, the Canadian Broadcast Corporation (CBC). We draw from critical discourse analysis (CDA) to explore CBC New Brunswick’s (CBC NB) handling of rising queerphobia and transphobia in New Brunswick. In total, we analyzed 75 CBC NB news articles published from May 2023 to December 2023 which report directly on Policy 713. CDA enables us to contextualise these news reports and understand the relationships between the discursive practices in CBC NBs reporting to broader social relations, structures, culture, and processes. Drawing from Fairclough’s (1993; 2010; 2013) understanding of CDA we work to uncover how these discourses connect to ideology and power relations. Through our CDA analysis, we bring to light the patterns involved in CBC NBs reporting on 2SLGBTQIA+ issue in NB and reveal how CBC NB functions as a key site in the (re)production of ideology in promoting narratives of power and heteronormativity in media discussions of Policy 713. Through our research, we found that CBC NB’s coverage of the Policy 713 situation involved the spreading of disinformation, evangelical bias, and heteronormative discourses. As both academics and members of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community, we believe it paramount to engage the public in conversations about the uninformed and uneducated ways journalists in NB frequently write about 2SLGBTQIA+ issues. Mobilizing the strategies discussed by Buroway (2005), these research findings will inform an open public discussion facilitated on Instagram live – which enables us to meet the public where they are at – detailing our findings and outlining strategies for critical digital literacy when engaging with media. As a multi-disciplinary group of researchers, we understand the importance of collaborative knowledge that transcends arbitrary boundaries. Our research findings allow for dialogue between academics and the public about not only the way Policy 713 topics were reported, but how NBs mainstream media more broadly writes about 2SLGBTQIA+ topics to empower individuals with the necessary tools needed to critically analyze the news articles they consume. 

This paper will be presented at the following session: