Thread by @Norlaine

A question for someone with in-depth knowledge of the legalities of this: What would the Canadian government have to do to repatriate our news media? Could they buy back Postmedia from the US hedge-fund? Can they pass laws to ensure Canadian ownership of our news? 1/23

Other countries have strict limits on who can "own" the news their citizens ingest. We used to, until Harper allowed American interests to buy up controlling shares in most of our daily newspapers. How do we reclaim our news sovereignty? 2/23
mediareform.org.uk/wp-content/upl…

There are extremely good reasons why a country would restrict control of the media. We have rules around foreign influence in elections because we don't want our democratic process being influenced to benefit a foreign power. But who has more influence than the news? 3/23

As much as people on the right claim our media has a left-bias, and as much as journalists protest that they are never directed to slant their coverage, the fact remains that most news media in Canada in recent years supports right-wing parties. 4/23

Organizations always have a culture. That culture is usually created by those in charge and workers are tacitly encouraged to fit into that culture. You don't need an editor yelling, "You can't write nice things about the government!" to know subconsciously that your story...5/23

Will get a better placement in the publication if you are critical of those the management does not like. It's not mind control, it's just the way organizations operate. I know a lot of journalists will deny this. Fair enough. 6/23

And I know some people will assume I am suggesting a "state-run media" like North Korea. I am not. In fact, I advocate for far less concentration of media into a few hands. And especially not foreign hands. 7/23

I would like to see a return to more local media outlets, independent ownership, more jobs for journalists, and less reliance on wire stories where the same thing is in every newspaper, said exactly the same way. 8/32

What we have right now is almost all our print media concentrated under just a few owners, and most of these are American (or other foreign nationals). This is not helping public discourse in Canada. 9/23

The lack of a variety of perspectives on current events may even contribute to the drain of readership to other, more extreme media outlets, also mostly American-based. Fox "news", Prager U, the Postmillennial, etc... 10/23

It can certainly be argued that it is economics which has led to the concentration of media in a few hands. And also economics which has led to the sensationalist "click-bait" we see so much of now. Our news media has been reduced to 2 functions. 11/23

The first is to sell eyeballs to advertisers. That has always been a thing; newsprint and ink and labour cost money. But it has superseded journalistic quality and even integrity in some cases. The business model has shifted. 12/23

There was a time when people subscribed to a newspaper because they enjoyed the writing, appreciated the clarity and informational quality. Subscriptions/newsstand sales were the mainstay and advertising rendered the profit margins. 13/23

"Corporate ownership within the industry incapacitates the ability to provide the community with the essential information and journalism to support a democracy." 14/23
clubs.waketech.edu/wake-review/ma…

People are not buying newspapers if they can find the information they want for free. The corporate structure of our news media does not allow news media to provide the kinds of writing people are willing to pay for. 15/23

If we are to continue a tradition of the fourth estate that fulfils the mandate of providing the public with unbiased information that supports the public good, the industry needs a rebirth and recommitment to community. 16/23
nytimes.com/2020/07/16/bus…

One paragraph worth noting: "Chatham owns the majority of Postmedia shares and the debt, but because of a Canadian law that limits non-Canadian control of media properties, it cannot exercise full control over the business.... 17/23

Still, Chatham can elect one-third of Postmedia’s board, and it has debt covenants that give it huge sway over its long-term plans." One-third of the Board, which does exercise control over business practices. And, by extension, corporate culture. 18/23

Which seems to be reflected in articles such as this: 19/23
canadaland.com/the-conservati…

The second function is to present a worldview that is beneficial to the other interests of the owners. The corporations that own our media also own shares in many other things. 20/23

The people who run Chatham Asset Management, owners of the Postmedia empire, "make money for their clients". And they are not pulling any punches. 21/23
fortune.com/2019/03/18/cha…

With Chatham's links to Michael Cohen, Donald Trump's fixer, & their somewhat dubious business practices, it seems wildly unlikely that Melchiorre and the Jersey Boys give a moment's thought to news coverage that is in the best interests of Canadians or Canadian democracy. 22/23

And so, I repeat my question. What levers of power exist for Canada and Canadians to wrest our news industry from the grips of a corporation that only views our news as a source of revenue and maybe political influence? 23/23