Dr. Gennadiy Chernov, a lecturer who teaches broadcast journalism and international media at the School of Journalism at the University of Regina, poses three thought-provoking questions in his study about commercial speech on television: Will the high occurrence of stealth advertising persist over an extended period of time? What kinds of news frames are used to legitimize commercially influenced messages in the news? How do news directors and sales managers of local stations define and interpret editorial and commercial content in a way that blends the border between them?

Chernov says that past research has demonstrated that local television news in Canada is vulnerable to the intrusion of commercially influenced messages.

"My research involved a provincial television news station for an eight-week period. The results concluded that commercially influenced messages were framed as regular news reports," says Chernov. "News makers reject the inclusion of content due to advertisers' pressure, however, they accept the inclusion of commercially tinted news segments assuming they cover business activities relevant to the community's interests, blending the divide between editorial and commercial content."

Join Chernov for the latest Coffee House Controversies lecture on January 28 at 7:30 p.m. in Chapters bookstore behind the Southland Mall (2625 Gordon Road). His talk will cover the public sphere theory that suggests commercial content calls into question the validity of truth claims in the news and suggests commercial speech in the news is legitimate editorial content.

Chernov has a PhD from the University of Oregon in Communication Studies. He was a correspondent, narrator and commentator for the Russian State Broadcasting Co. He gained his international broadcasting experience as a participant at the BBC World Service training program and as an intern at the International Desk at CNN. His interests include the commercialization of television news, psychological mechanisms of media effects and agenda-setting theory.

Coffee House Controversies speakers give an informal 20-minute talk focusing on a topic of interest to the general public. The talks are intended to encourage the open exchange of ideas. Twenty minutes of discussion follows each talk, during which members of the general public can ask questions or raise issues with the speaker or other audience members.

The events are free and open to the public. Contact the Faculty of Arts at 585-4226 for more information.