The Canadian News Media Industry

By the press, we mean news media and news agencies, particularly newspapers. This is not exactly the same as the broadcast industry, which basically covers radio and television. Historically, there has not been any written law specifically meant to control the press as an industry. Some general laws concerning contempt of court, obscenity, criminal libel, civil defamation, public incitement of hatred, etc. make specific acts or expressions by journalists illegal, but there has never been a statute explicitly intended to regulate the press in Canada (Osler, 2001, p. 234)..

In the 1970s and early 1980s, the ownership structure of the Canadian press industry was changing fast. A few powerful firms were acquiring many newspapers and beginning to

This was strong evidence that the two corporations were conspiring together to increase their control of Canadian printed media, and their positions in the market became extremely powerful. In particular, Southam now owned "the only English-language daily newspaper in each of Montreal and Ottawa" and Thompson owned "the only daily newspaper" in Winnipeg (p. 234).

Meanwhile, independent newspapers were struggling because competitive conditions in the industry were becoming too much. The Toronto Telegram, Montreal Star, Montréal-Matin, and l'Action all closed during this time (p. 234). At the same time, the corporations were growing bigger and bigger. In January 1980, Thompson bought the FP Publications group and got its hands on eight more newspapers. Together, these two companies (Thompson and Southam) now had control of 58.7 percent of the market (p. 234).

These events caused a great deal of panic in the industry and something had to be done. The government responded with the Royal Commission on Newspapers (i.e. the Kent

However, the author argues that newspapers are not just a product like any other product, and this is for three reasons.

First, newspapers have the job of supplying the general public with information about everything that has been happening in the world. This job is very important in a democracy. We must make sure that the news is being written by many people with different backgrounds and different agendas. If citizens have no choice but to get their information from just a few news agencies, the function and purpose of the news would be put in danger (Osler, 2001, p. 238).

Second, while small newspapers are run by professional journalists who are trying to do their job, huge newspapers tend to be run by tycoons and magnates as a business. To a corporation, maximizing profit from a newspaper is more important than the journalistic quality of the newspaper (p. 238).

Third, newspapers are not just any product; a newspaper represents power and influence over readers and their information and beliefs. If one firm has too large of a market share in the press industry, it also has too much power, and this power could be easily abused (p.