Welcome to our resource centre

Because some conglomerates' tentacles reach into several countries or continents, media ownership and domination has become a significant issue for those societies concerned about protecting democratic freedoms. For that reason, the resource materials presented here are international in scope.
We welcome your suggestions for additions to this compilation. If you are a pundit or an academic who would like to contribute to this resource material, we'd like to hear from you. Please visit Show & Tell to make a submission or send us a message.

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Canadian Media
Who's Whose

FYI Archives / Commentary

Project for Excellence in Journalism

Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism

March 2006

The State of the News Media 2006
This is the third annual comprehensive look at the state of American journalism.
From the Overview:

"For two years, we have tracked in this report the major trends in the American news media. What is occurring, we have concluded, is not the end of journalism that some have predicted. But we do see a seismic transformation in what and how people learn about the world around them. Power is moving away from journalists as gatekeepers over what the public knows. Citizens are assuming a more active role as assemblers, editors and even creators of their own news. Audiences are moving from old media such as television or newsprint to new media online. Journalists need to redefine their role and identify which of their core values they want to fight to preserve — something they have only begun to consider."

Project for Excellence in Journalism

Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism

March 2005

The State of the News Media 2005
From the Overview:

"In the last year, some trends have become clearer, and some popular notions seem to us exaggerated. The year saw the blossoming of citizen blogs, the emergence of a major new news source edited entirely by computers (Google News), and both triumph (exposing the Abu Ghraib prison scandal) and failure (Memogate) for one of the TV networks. Customization, and with it fragmentation, reached new levels; Reason magazine even sent each subscriber an issue so tailored it had a satellite photo of that person's own home on the cover."

Analysis of the Growing Threat to Media Democracy in the United States

Dr. Mark Cooper,
Director of Research,
Consumer Federation of America

Washington DC
September 2004

Media Ownership and Democracy in the Digital Information Age
Download PDF

A devastating, detailed indictment of cross-media ownership. Mark Cooper combines a detailed review of First Amendment jurisprudence with rigorous economic analysis to demonstrate the continuing need for structural limits on media ownership to promote democratic discourse in America.

Although this study is of the situation in the U.S., it is relevant in Canada. The section on newspapers (page 67) is of particular interest.

Canadian Media Research Consortium

Researchers from: University of British Columbia Graduate School of Journalism, York/ Ryerson Joint Graduate Program in Communication and Culture, Communications Program at Laval University

June 2004

Report Card on Canadian News Media
This study is the first independent national survey of Canadian attitudes and behaviour surrounding the news media and media credibility.

"Complaining about the media has become as commonplace as complaints about the weather. Citizens' concerns vary from issues such as sensationalism, bias, the impact of patriotism on the news, ownership and inaccuracies. Unfortunately much of the information about public attitudes towards the news is either anecdotal or originates from U.S. research.
"... We interviewed 3,012 Canadians, a sample considerably larger than the average for national surveys."

Project for Excellence in Journalism

Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism

March 2004

The State of the News Media 2004
This is an inaugural effort to provide a comprehensive look each year at the state of American journalism.
From the Overview:

"The journalists' role as intermediary, editor, verifier and synthesizer is weakening, and citizens do have more power to be proactive with the news. But most people will likely do so only episodically. And the proliferation of the false and misleading makes the demand for the journalist as referee, watchdog and interpreter all the greater.
"These conflicting movements toward fragmentation and convergence are not new to the culture in general or media in particular, but they have different consequences when they come to news. Journalism is how people learn about the world beyond their direct experiences. As our journalism fragments, it has consequences for what we know, how we are connected and our ability to solve problems."

The Clear Picture on Clear Channel Communications, Inc.:  Corporate Profile

Institute for Workplace Studies
School of Industrial & Labor Relations
Cornell University

January 2004

Clear Channel's Practices Show What's Wrong with Media Monopolies
From the press release issued by AFL-CIO, which commissioned the study:

The practices of Clear Channel, the nation’s largest radio station owner, illustrate what is wrong with federal media ownership policies that make it easier for companies to establish media monopolies, according to a Cornell University study for the AFL-CIO. In six years, Clear Channel has grown from owning 44 stations to 1,239 stations today, and the corporation now generates 20 percent of all radio industry revenues. Clear Channel also owns 44 amphitheaters, 51 theaters and various clubs and arenas. According to the report, The Clear Picture on Clear Channel, Clear Channel uses several cost-cutting measures that lead to homogenized news and entertainment — and in some cases, even endanger public safety.
 
“Clear Channel is the poster child for what’s wrong with media consolidation and the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) continued deregulation of this industry,” says Paul Almeida, president of the AFL-CIO Professional Employees.

Presentation to National Conference on Media Reform

Bill Moyers

Madison, Wisconsin
Nov. 8, 2003

Media Concentration Threatens Our Freedom
(Abridged version | Unabridged version | Audio download)

Journalists and media activists across North America are circulating and talking about this thoughtful call to arms by one of most respected and influential voices in American journalism. Bill Moyers, the host of the weekly PBS Television public affairs show, Now, has made it a personal mission to alert his fellow citizens to the serious threat to freedom posed by increasing concentration of media ownership.

Canadian Parliamentary Study

Committee on Canadian Heritage

June 11, 2003

OUR CULTURAL SOVEREIGNTY: The Second Century of Canadian Broadcasting

Key recommendations:

• Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) be directed to strengthen its policies on the separation of newsroom activities in cross-media ownership situations to ensure that editorial independence is upheld.

• CRTC put in place a mechanism to ensure the editorial independence of broadcasting operations. A report to Parliament should be made by an appropriate authority (e.g. the Canadian broadcasting monitor) on an annual basis.

• Government of Canada issue a clear and unequivocal policy statement concerning cross-media ownership before 30 June 2004.
  

CBC.ca

CBC Archives

1970-present

Concentration to Convergence: Media Ownership in Canada

"In the world of mega mergers and convergence, there's growing concern about a monopoly of ideas. Reporters argue increased ownership will shake the very foundation democracy is founded upon. Owners say it's the only way Canadian press can survive in the new global economy. Press ownership has been officially debated, studied and scrutinized in Canada since the 1969 Royal Commission on Newspapers. Is freedom of the press guaranteed only to those who own one? It's a debate that continues to percolate."

In this package put together by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, audio and video clips track the issue of newspaper ownership from the Davey Report in 1970, through the Kent Commission (1981), the 2003 Heritage Committee report (above) to the current study by a Senate panel, which was expected to release its final report in June 2006. In between, Conrad Black dominates the Canadian media, then hands off to CanWest Global Corporation.