The American Trojan Horse: U.S. Television Confronts Canadian Economic and Cultural Nationalism

The American Trojan Horse is a historical and descriptive study of the United States/Canadian mass communications border war. It centers on the millions of dollars spent annually by Canadian companies to advertise on U.S. border stations. Canada’s measures to retain this money led to a protracted international dispute. Barry Berlin chronicles this dispute as it evolves through its two stages: Canadian action (1970 to 1976) and U.S. response (1976 to 1988). Berlin identifies the roots of the conflict; taking center stage is Canada’s vision of U.S. media: a modern Trojan Horse penetrating domestic media and ultimately absorbing Canadian culture and identity.

Barry Berlin meticulously guides his readers through each stage of the U.S./Canadian border war which began in the early 1970s and continued through several administrations both in Washington, D.C., and Ottawa. He identifies four interrelated roots to the conflict that places primary focus on Canadian nationalism–Canada’s understandable fear of cultural and economic absorption by its formidable southern neighbor. Berlin begins by identifying the problem, its evolution, and its causes. He then chronicles Canadian advertising controls–deletion days and legislation. Border station response to these controls is broken down into four stages: initial moves, new tacks, pull it together, and finally war winds down. A summary concludes this volume.