Freedom of the Press is for Those Who Own OneThe Irving Media Monopoly in New BrunswickBy Erin Steuter |
Footnotes |
1 | The Irvings own all three English language daily papers in the province: Fredericton Daily Gleaner, Moncton Times & Transcript and the Saint John Telegraph-Journal, which also circulates provincially in a slightly modified form as the New Brunswick Telegraph-Journal. In addition, the Irvings' publishing arm, Brunswick News, has recently acquired nine subscription-based community weekly papers and six free community weeklies. |
2 | "NBers Watching What Happens to Our Ex-MLAs" (Fredericton Daily Gleaner, Sept. 13, 2003, pA10) "Sliding Back into Patronage" (Moncton Times & Transcript, Sept. 10, 2003, pD7) "Stepping Across the Line to Patronage" (Sept. 23, 2003, pA8) |
3 | "Unions Must Be Realistic" (Moncton Times & Transcript, Oct. 2, 2003, pD7) "Should Province Be in the Business of Running Colleges?" (Fredericton Daily Gleaner, Oct. 11, 2003, pA10) "Stop Messing with Education" (Saint John Telegraph-Journal, Oct. 8, 2003, pA8) |
4 | DeMont, John (1991) Citizens Irving: K.C. Irving and his legacy Toronto: Doubleday Canada Limited. |
5 | Canadian Business Magazine: 100 wealthiest people in Canada (2002) |
6 | New Brunswick Department of Intergovernmental and International Relations news release Oct. 20, 2003 |
7 | Observers say that, if you want to know where the Irvings will expand next, look at their accounts payable. Irving companies deal with other Irving companies, when possible, and the ethos of the group is that "Irving families" will patronize Irving companies. The Irvings own Canada's largest oil refinery, and constructed a deep water port in Saint John, called Canaport, to import and export crude and refined oil via supertankers. They built gas stations, so they needed construction capacity. They established or bought Ocean Steel, Irving Equipment Ltd., Strescon Ltd., Thorne's Hardware, and so on, to keep the control and profits in the group. The Irvings have goods to move, so they bought or created trucking arms, like Midland Transport and Sunbury Transport, and shipping, including Kent Lines, and tug boat capacity, in the form of Atlantic Towing Ltd. To build ships, they acquired the major shipyards in Saint John and Halifax, Nova Scotia, as well as some lesser operations in the region. They bought both saw mills and wood land and these acquisitions supported each other. As they were producing forest products, they acquired a pulp and paper mill. To retail their lumber, they established a hardware/lumber yard chain, Kent Building Supplies. They also established Kent Homes, a house prefabrication company that ships pre-built homes all over the region, and increasingly, all over the world. It was logical to produce newsprint, and to acquire the major customers for newsprint. So over a period of time they acquired all of the provincial English-language daily newspapers, as well as other outlets for paper products, like Majesta paper towels and toilet paper and they have recently moved into diaper production as well. |
8 | On Nov. 21, 2002, at a joint meeting he chaired of two cabinet committees, Mr. Rock presented an incentive plan to aid struggling Canadian shipbuilders. The Irvings are Canada’s largest shipbuilders. On June 27, 2003, the federal Industry department gave the Irvings a $55-million grant to help convert an idle Irving shipyard in Saint John for other uses (Robert Fife, "Rock disregarded ethics ruling to advance Irvings’ cause," Ottawa Citizen, Oct. 16, 2003). |
9 | "Chipman workers picket Irving mill" (NB CBC Oct. 1, 2003) |
10 | "Mill workers walk out" (Fredericton Daily Gleaner, Oct. 1, 2002, pA1-2) |
11 | Bob Hicks, President of the New Brunswick Federation of Labour, quoted in Halifax Chronicle-Herald, Jan. 30, 1997 |
12 | Saint John Telegraph-Journal, June 13, 1996 |
13 | Saint John Telegraph-Journal, January 1997 |
14 | "Refinery Hires 1,000 for Maintenance Project" (Saint John Telegraph-Journal, Oct. 3, 2003) |
15 | Irving Oil Company news release re: Turnaround |
16 | DeMont, John. (1991). Citizens Irving: K.C. Irving and his legacy Toronto: Doubleday Canada Limited. |
17 | Leger, Mark. "He's Hired, He's Fired, He's Rehired, He's ..." (Ryerson Review of Journalism, Spring 1995) |
18 | Steuter, Erin. 1999. The Irvings Cover Themselves: Media Representations of the Irving Oil Refinery Strike, 1994-1996. Canadian Journal of Communication, Vol. 24, no.4., pp.629-647. |
19 | Steuter 1999 |
20 | "Time to get on with prosperity" (Saint John Telegraph-Journal, Oct. 10, 2003 pA1/A11) |
21 | Shah, Hemant (2003). Journalism in the Age of Mass Media Globalization. |