Relationship Of Concentrated Ownership And The Canadian Newspaper Industry

Clay Shirky who wrote Newspapers and Thinking the Unthinkable (1993) argues that society doesn’t need newspapers society needs journalism to save society. Shirky supports this argument by giving a historical background to the problems newspapers face and how the problems have developed over time and the solutions society has came up with. The blogger concludes that in order for journalism to go farther new models must be created in place of past molds. Shirky directs this blog toward the current and future generations in attempt to motivate new models and methods of journalism.

It being the leading source of news since the printing press. We put our faith in the media to report accurate facts unbiasedly. Between 1983 and now the media industry has consolidated from 50 individual companies to 6. That means that though the impression given is that there are a multitude of sources to attain information, the messages being communicated are all one in the same. The limitation of media sources cause a ripple effect of limited information, allowing these companies to control the public’s perception on

The freedom and right to be able to freely express thoughts, opinions, and concerns are critical in the efficiency and fluency of American and Canadian democracy. With such a large and vast nation, there is bound to be a parallel in size of diverse thinking and perspective. In order to properly and directly voice these opinions,there needs to be a type of media to do so with. In her 1854 editorial, Mary Ann Shadd Cary goes on to discuss the importance of one particular form of media; the newspaper. Cary is able to explain that need for expression of opinion through media, the need for “colored canadians” to specifically have their own paper, and that need to inform misinformed citizens on Canada’s issues through her own style of diction to

Ever since the 17th century, the newspaper has been produced and blown out of proportion, known as mass media. George A. Krimsky shines his own opinion in his essay, “The Role of the Media in a Democracy.” Krimsky provides many examples, reasoning, and rhetoric devices to expand his argument even more, his argument being that; the press should send out straight facts, let people interpret them, and allow the free press to hold the government accountable.

Media corporations have been merging into fewer (and larger) entities which are better able to control the flow of information to the public. Because of their size and power, they can prevent unfavorable coverage of their activities in the media outlets they own. In 1983, 50 corporations controlled the vast majority of all news media in the U.S. In 1992, fewer than two dozen of these corporations owned and operated 90% of the mass media; controlling almost all of America's newspapers, magazines, TV and radio stations, books, records, movies, videos, wire services and photo agencies. Now only 5 huge corporations - Time Warner, Disney, Murdoch's News Corporation, Bertelsmann of Germany, and Viacom (formerly CBS) - now control most of the media industry in the U.S. General Electric's NBC is a close sixth. Democracy can't exist without an informed public. We rely on unbiased news from independent

Canada is considered to be a cultural mosaic, where all cultures are embraced opposed to a melting pot where it is expected to adopt one culture. Government regulated media is more favourable than policies based off of self-regulated solutions when addressing Canada’s media industries and cultural needs. Canadians place importance on national identity and without government regulated policies, the content in the media would have minimal Canadian information. According to the Aird Commission, when Canada’s media was operating through private enterprise, many stations expressed conflicting content, however, with state regulated media, broadcasting allows the nation to have a unified vocation. One unified message being sent to the nations citizens is more beneficial than multiple broadcasts on differentiated and insignificant information.

1. As the Canadian governmental committee put it, "magazines constitute the only national press .. in Canada, …..( it) can help foster in Canadians a sense of themselves." A legacy that is threatened by more than 100 US Magazines established in Canada. If the majority of magazines are printed in America, there will be no need for printing magazines in Canada. In an effort to preserve this identifying mark of Canadian identity, culminated into the Canadian magazine dispute. When thoroughly analyzed, America, the biggest foreign magazine contributor in Canada is to blame for the dispute. In an effort to monitor and control imports of foreign publications. Canada was only trying to protect what rightfully belongs to them.

The invasion of privacy can be argued to be the most problematic issue in Canadian media. Media has shifted from simply just being entertainment source to the intruding on private matters at the expense of analyzing political matters. Our society today, formal media is becoming entertainment and private information or stories become accessed publically. Intrusiveness is common characteristics in modern Canadian media, we see this happening today to political leaders and celebrities. This is common for these public figures who are being watched by the media all the time. A public figure in comparison to regular citizens are used to dealing with media and are able to publicly respond to any types of negative allegations. It is important

One of the major reasons that Canada needs public broadcasters to enhance democracy is because Canadians are heavily influenced by the media. One of the arguments against this notion is that Canada as a nation has been able to retain democracy before the introduction of media, according to Attallah (2008) there is no need for public broadcasting because democracy was able to thrive prior to the introduction of media (p.1). Attallah, however, has neglected the fact that the Canadian society like every other active society is forever evolving and changing. As we move into an era where the media plays a major role, it is imperative that our way of thinking about the society evolves as well. This means that though the nation was able to thrive without public broadcasting 2000 years ago, this is not the case now.

Horserace journalism can be understood as the media presenting political events, such as elections, as an intense race or competition, and over emphasizing who’s ‘winning’ (Anderson 2000:286). In the attempt to build this intense feeling of ‘the race’, media outlets overly focus on publicizing polling data, at the expense of covering election issues and policy (ibid). Many scholars, such as Strömbäck and Kaid (2008:63), have concluded that horserace journalism is the predominant way election coverage has become framed across all forms of media in Canada. The usage of polling allows for news outlets to convey actual numbers, whether they are correct or not, to the public and develop the ‘race-like’ competitive feel. Under government regulation, from both the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunication Commission and Canada Election Act, Canadian media is obligated to produce an adequate and equitable amount of political election coverage during election periods (ibid:60). However, the development of horserace journalism can be interpreted as a way that news organization can abide by their obligated regulation, while still creating appealing news. Ultimately, literature across the field agrees that horserace journalism has taken root in Canadian

Until the 1980s, the control of the media was in the hands of the national government. From then, the control shifted to private outlets and by the 1990’s, there were more than fifty multinational companies who controlled it (“Mass Media”). Today, only about six major companies control the larger fraction of media in America (Williams, Par. 1). Norman Solomon wrote in the New Political Science Journal that most reporters and editors work for just a few huge companies. These journalists and editors are on the payroll for “mega-media institutions”, of which, only about six exist (Solomon 297). How much will the public learn if these companies generally control the output of information?

News Corporation accounted for six popular national newspapers in the UK. This level of ownership impacts the variety of ideas and values that can circulate. Concentration of media ownership threatens democracy in political journalism(Baker, 2007), leading to over-representation of political viewpoints, values that are favoured by media owners. There is a negative correlation between media domination and levels of pluralism which is needed in society, to sustain representation. The concentration of media ownership leads to less competing suppliers, thus leaving a gap in a democratic political system. Due to Rupert Murdoch’s large media empire, it has been said that he has wielded political power through his influence over headlines. It could be interpreted this way when considering the support given by News Corporation owned newspapers, to Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s and Tony Blair in 1997. The impact of Rupert Murdoch can also be shown

In a contemporary society, the role of journalism is a varied one that covers many different aspects of people’s lives. As more and more outlets spring up around the world, many more stories are able to be covered by different outlets, and this means that journalism takes on a more and more important role in a contemporary society. Much of our lives centre on political and social happenings, and journalistic outlets are the public’s way of finding all the information on these event. Journalism also provides us with a way of finding out which of these stories are important and deserve our attention, and which stories can be ignored. The important role of journalism can be well observed in the recent coverage of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) in both New Zealand and around the world. This is a ground breaking economic deal, and holds a great deal of importance for the 800 million citizens of the countries involved, as well as the rest of the world. With worldwide coverage of this deal, it is inevitable that different types of reporting occurs, and that different outlets will provide different accounts. With so many different journalism outlets around the world and locally, many have to have a way of standing out from the crowd. This means that some extremely different coverage of very similar stories can occur. However it can also simply be down to different ownership, differing political views, and different socio-economic environments. Two outlets with

In 1760, The Boston News-Letter was the first newspaper to be continuously published in the United States. A 250-year legacy of printed news could not have lasted if it newspapers didn't not have it uses. Aside from the entertainment value, newspapers exist for the main purpose of bringing news of international, national, and local news to the doorsteps of the people. Without such frequent and stable form of communication, it would be difficult for any nation to call itself a free democracy. Today however, it cannot be expected that newsprint will last forever. Statistical data firmly suggests newspapers around the world are falling both in number and circulation. The past several years have been difficult for newspapers as other news

Newspaper Owner 1 is a “diversified media company that generates most of its revenues through newspapers sold around the country and around the world” (pg. 122). Competition for subscribers and advertising revenues