CANADIAN NEWSPAPER OWNERSHIP: Rediscovering Social Responsibility - Softcover

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Softcover

ISBN 10: 0888644396 ISBN 13: 9780888644398

Publisher: UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA PRESS, 2005

Synopsis

Canadian Newspaper Ownership in the Era of Convergence investigates the current state of Canada's newspaper industry in light of recent developments-increasing concentration of ownership, multi-media convergence, and controversy over the actions of proprietors. Case studies examine how Conrad Black's acquisition of newspapers in the mid-1990s, bringing his total ownership to over half of the country's dailies, followed by the subsequent purchase of the most important of these by CanWest Global, has actually influenced the content of newspapers. Canadian Newspaper Ownership revisits "social responsibility" in the context of the changed media landscape as a means of prescribing how newspaper owners and employees might conduct themselves in the public interest.

About this title

About the Authors

Walter C. Soderlund is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Political Science at the University of Windsor.

Kai Hildebrandt is Associate Professor Emeritus in the Department of Communication, Media and Film at the University of Windsor.

From the Back Cover

By 1996 Conrad Black controlled over half of the daily newspapers in Canada. In 2000 the bulk of those holdings were purchased by CanWest Global Communications, a broadcast network controlled by the Asper family. These unprecedented developments prompt a key public policy question: how much control over newspaper content should be in the hands of owners, given the need for diversity of information in the exercise of healthy democracy? Canadian Newspaper Ownership in the Era of Convergence takes up this question as it investigates the current state of Canada's newspaper industry in light of increasing concentration of ownership, multi-media or cross-platform convergence, and controversy over the actions of proprietors. Walter Soderlund and Kai Hildebrandt have assembled a groundbreaking study to empirically test the consequences of ownership on the content of newspaper chains. In a wide ranging discussion the authors set the public policy debate by examining the relationship between the press and democratic politics and by reviewing Canada's failed attempts at regulating newspaper ownership. In Part One they analyze the nature of conventional chain ownership and specifically assess the effects of Conrad Black's and Hollinger's acquisition of the Thompson, Armadale, and Southam newspapers. In Part Two the authors examine the impact of the convergence strategies of the Aspers' CanWest Global as well as their national editorial policy, the firing of Russell Mills, and the CanWest News Service initiative. In conclusion the authors propose a reasoned balance between ownership rights and social responsibility in the behaviour of newspaper proprietors.

Edition details

• Publisher: UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA PRESS
• Publication date: 2005
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0888644396
• ISBN 13: 9780888644398
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 1