Democracy Gone Astray

Democracy, being a human construct, needs to be thought of as directionality rather than an object. As such, to understand it requires not so much a description of existing structures and/or other related phenomena but a declaration of intentionality.
This blog aims at creating labeled lists of published infringements of such intentionality, of points in time where democracy strays from its intended directionality. In addition to outright infringements, this blog also collects important contemporary information and/or discussions that impact our socio-political landscape.

All the posts here were published in the electronic media – main-stream as well as fringe, and maintain links to the original texts.

[NOTE: Due to changes I haven't caught on time in the blogging software, all of the 'Original Article' links were nullified between September 11, 2012 and December 11, 2012. My apologies.]

Thursday, April 26, 2012

Federal Subsidy For Sexy Summum Magazine Under Fire

Federal grants worth $190,000 for two Quebec magazines featuring scantily-clad models are under fire in the wake of broad arts cuts announced in the last Conservative budget.

Radio-Canada is reporting that Canadian Heritage approved the financing for Summum and Summum Girls, as part of the federal periodical fund earmarked for Canadian publications.

Summum features a selection of current affairs articles, but the Genex publication is best known for glossy pin-up photos of young Quebec women in various states of undress.

Summum Girl features pictures of young, muscular shirtless men.

Summum received $114, 478 this year, while Summum Girl was granted $77,241.

Quebec producer and director Yanick Létourneau said he's outraged the Genex magazines benefit from public subsidies.

"When we see private companies like Genex get financial support and it's for magazines like Summum and Summum Girl, we have to ask ourselves serious questions about what is going on in Canada in terms of cultural financing."

Summum's editor-in-chief Alain Rochette defended the grants and said the magazines are "easy targets" because they cater to a niche market in Quebec.

"We're doing something that not that many are doing here, and that's producing content that's glamour and sexy."

Rochette points out that other Canadian magazines such as Reader's Digest and TVA Publications enjoy larger grants than his publications.

Original Article
Source: Huff
Author: cbc

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