Close X
Friday, November 29, 2024
ADVT 
National

Experts weigh in on concentration of Canadian media ownership

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 07 Oct, 2014 10:59 AM

    TORONTO - Postmedia's plans to buy Quebecor's stable of English-language newspapers and websites may resurrect concerns about whether the concentration of media ownership in Canada will narrow the range of editorial voices the public relies on for information, experts say.

    But some say it may be the only way to keep newspapers alive in an industry that's struggling to survive.

    "What we're talking about here is one threatened company ... buying properties whose future was in doubt," said Ivor Shapiro, chair of the Ryerson School of Journalism in Toronto.

    If Calgary has two newspapers with the same owner, so be it, he said. It's been going on in Vancouver for years, with two papers competing editorially with areas of co-operation on the business side, such as advertising sales.

    "That is way better at the end of the day than seeing both of those news organizations close down," he added.

    Chris Dornan, associate dean of the faculty of public affairs at Ottawa's Carleton University, argues the concentration of newspaper ownership isn't a concern in the digital age, where there is no longer a centralized source of information for a dispersed group.

    Sources of information, types of content and ways in which people can communicate with each other have exploded on the Internet, he said.

    "In that environment, worrying that a smaller and smaller number of companies own a larger number of newspapers is kind of beside the point, because the newspapers themselves have been eclipsed in their social, political and economic prominence by the new digital concourses of communication," Dornan said.

    "So basically the old worry about concentration of ownership was a legitimate worry only when there were limited numbers and a limited variety of sources of information, but that simply doesn't obtain any more."

    Newspapers have struggled to compete with online media operators, who can offer better ad rates and massive reach to various demographics. Many newspapers have tried to generate revenue by charging readers to read their content online.

    Postmedia is in debt, owing nearly half a billion dollars and posting a loss of $20.6 million in its third quarter ended May 31. Quebecor, which also has a telecommunications division, posted a loss of $54.8 million in its second quarter, with revenues in its news media division down 7.3 per cent to $14.6 million.

    The proposed deal would allow Postmedia to offer "one-stop shopping" for advertising, where it could promise an extended and demographically segmented reach across its cross-Canada network, Dornan said. A business that wants to advertise in Edmonton can reach almost everyone in that city.

    "You could basically blanket a city with an advertising campaign going through just one company," Dornan said. "You don't have to make multiple advertising purchases and so there would be cost savings to the advertiser."

    The $316-million deal includes 175 newspapers and publications, including the Sun chain of daily newspapers, the 24 Hours free commuter papers in Toronto and Vancouver as well as Canoe.ca, which Postmedia chief executive Paul Godfrey said may become "the jewel of the deal" over time.

    The Competition Bureau said it will review the proposal, considering factors such as the definition of the relevant market to come to a determination of whether the deal is likely to prevent or lessen competition substantially.

    "While media ownership concentration can raise other public interest concerns, under the Competition Act, the Bureau's mandate is to review mergers exclusively to determine whether they are likely to result in a substantial lessening or prevention of competition," John Pecman, commissioner of competition, said in a release.

    Godfrey said things have changed since 1998, when Torstar made a hostile bid for Sun Media, sparking worries it would put control of Canada's newspapers into fewer hands. Quebecor ended up beating Torstar with a $983-million offer.

    Google, Facebook and other major websites are their big rivals now, he said.

    "The world is dramatically different," he said. "Newspapers aren't competitors with other newspapers anywhere close to what they were. In fact, I don't consider other newspapers competitors at all."

    Things have changed, but much of it is in the way people consume news and how it circulates, not the underlying sources of news, said Dwayne Winseck, a journalism professor at Carleton University who studies media concentration in Canada.

    Many people say they get their news on social media sites like Facebook, but they're clicking on links to news stories posted by their friends that brings them back to newspaper sites, he said.

    "Google nor Facebook nor Twitter — none of these social media giants are originators of content to any significant degree," Winseck said. "All have offered some tidbits, but none are significant contributors to the common pool of news."

    MORE National ARTICLES

    Quebecor sells English papers to Postmedia Network for $316 million

    Quebecor sells English papers to Postmedia Network for $316 million
    TORONTO - Quebecor (TSX:QBR.A, TSX:QBR.B) has signed a deal to sell Sun Media Corp.'s English-language operations to Postmedia Network Canada Corp. (TSX:PNC.B, TSX:PNC) for $316 million.

    Quebecor sells English papers to Postmedia Network for $316 million

    Detective to track Magnotta's movements in testimony as trial resumes

    Detective to track Magnotta's movements in testimony as trial resumes
    MONTREAL - Luka Rocco Magnotta's murder trial enters its second week today with a Montreal police homicide detective resuming her testimony about his activities after he killed Jun Lin.

    Detective to track Magnotta's movements in testimony as trial resumes

    Mounties charge Ottawa man with breaking federal Lobbying Act

    Mounties charge Ottawa man with breaking federal Lobbying Act
    OTTAWA - The Mounties have charged an Ottawa man with breaking the federal Lobbying Act.

    Mounties charge Ottawa man with breaking federal Lobbying Act

    Residents of small Alberta town to vote in plebiscite to allow alcohol sales

    Residents of small Alberta town to vote in plebiscite to allow alcohol sales
    CARDSTON, Alta. - A ban on alcohol sales that has been in place since Alberta became a province will be voted on in a plebiscite in the town of Cardston today.

    Residents of small Alberta town to vote in plebiscite to allow alcohol sales

    John O'Keefe, May-Britt Moser and Edvard Moser win Nobel Prize in medicine for brain GPS

    John O'Keefe, May-Britt Moser and Edvard Moser win Nobel Prize in medicine for brain GPS
    STOCKHOLM - U.S.-British scientist John O'Keefe and Norwegian scientists May-Britt Moser and Edvard Moser won the Nobel Prize in medicine on Monday for discovering the "inner GPS" that helps the brain navigate through the world.

    John O'Keefe, May-Britt Moser and Edvard Moser win Nobel Prize in medicine for brain GPS

    Today on the Hill: Parliament debates Harper government plan for Iraq

    Today on the Hill: Parliament debates Harper government plan for Iraq
    OTTAWA - Members of Parliament debate a motion today that will send Canada to war in Iraq — should it pass as widely expected.

    Today on the Hill: Parliament debates Harper government plan for Iraq