Abstract

The rise of the corporate form of organization within the Canadian newspaper industry has raised concerns over the quality and diversity of information available to the public. In doing so, two competing theories have sought to explain the effects of such change on the editorial product being produced. In particular, the critical model has suggested that the economic imperatives of a corporate newspaper are incompatible with the production requirements of a high quality editorial product. Conversely, the corporate model maintains that such newspapers are better positioned to express alternate viewpoints and, as a result of their dominant market position, will place greater emphasis on the quality of its editorial product. These positions, however, have developed from two fundamentally different conceptions of what constitutes corporate ownership and, as a result, have been unable to effectively engage one another. In an effort to bridge this gap, this paper examines the nature of newspaper ownership in Canada. Through an analysis of the dominant newspaper institutions, it shows that the majority of Canadian newspapers exhibit many of the characteristics of corporate organization. Accordingly, it argues for a renewed debate on the effects of corporate ownership based upon a more accurate understanding of the newspapers involved