11 March 2004

Concentration costing jobs, editorial quality,
Guild leaders tell Senators studying media

OTTAWA | TNG Canada/CWA

Jobs are being lost and editorial quality is suffering under media concentration, a special Senate panel was told today by three labour leaders representing hundreds of Canada's print journalists.

Arnold Amber, Director of TNG Canada/CWA, led the presentation to the Transport and Communications Committee that is examining the state of Canada's media. The presidents of two Guild locals provided their shop-floor and newsroom perspectives.

Jan Ravensbergen, president of the Montreal Newspaper Guild, chronicled some of the tumult that has accompanied changes of ownership at the Gazette. Lois Kirkup, president of the Ottawa Newspaper Guild, did the same for The Ottawa Citizen. Both newspapers are part of the CanWest Global chain.

The Senate committee is chaired by Senator Joan Fraser, a former editor-in-chief of The Montreal Gazette.

Questions from senators on the committee pushed the hearing well beyond the originally scheduled hour, leading Senator Fraser to suggest the witnesses might be called on to provide further information.

Amber said he would be happy to do so, and volunteered that TNG Canada would next week be launching a special web site, YourMedia.ca, to help gather information on media concentration and serve as a sounding board for journalists who must deal with it daily.

In testifying today, the three witnesses' key message was that concentration of ownership is causing a reduction in staff and a lowering of the quality of journalism at many of Canada's major newspapers.

Ravensbergen emphasized that it was also limiting the diversity of voices that readers have traditionally sought from their newspapers, which he called a troubling development for the free and open debate that is a crucial part of our democratic values.

Kirkup noted that cuts to "backshop" operations of daily newspapers – such as reader sales and service, payroll – also contribute to a loss of local identity and connection with the community. Together, all these trends undermine credibility with readers.

Amber presented, as the core of his brief, the results of a March 2-4 poll of Guild members at 14 newspapers across Canada on the issue of media concentration. He explained to the committee that TNG Canada represents employees at CanWest, Irving, Osprey, Transcontinental and Sun Media papers.

The survey found a solid majority of editorial workers who believe the latest changes in ownership had lowered morale and led to a decrease in quality of editorial content.

Asked what they thought the future held if concentration continued unchecked, majorities expressed fears of a loss or reduction in local editorial independence, diversity of opinion, and overall quality of journalism.