Is Influence Illusionary? The Effects of Ownership on Political Coverage In Hollinger and CanWest Owned Newspapers Paper for presentation at the Annual Meeting of the Canadian Political Science Association, London, ON, June 2, 2005. Cristina Howorun Department of Political Studies Queen’s University Kingston, ON
[email protected] In August 2000, CanWest Global Communication Corporation purchased the largest newspaper chain in Canada, Southam Inc. from Hollinger International Inc. CanWest is owned by the Asper family who has an amicable history with the Liberals, dating back to the years when the late family patriarch Israel Asper was leader of the Manitoba Liberals. Hollinger’s major shareholder at the time of sale was the conservative stalwart Conrad Black. This change in ownership had the potential to adversely affect Canada’s media landscape as not only had ownership changed hands but the partisanship of the owners as well. Under Black’s proprietorship many opponents, including Jean Chrétien, claimed that the National Post proliferated an ideology-driven view. The Post’s emphasis on conservative interests afforded it the reputation as the “… catalyst and cheerleader for the emergence of the Canadian Alliance Party, an intervention into national life that is almost unprecedented for a newspaper in the post-war era.”1 Black was accused of using his newspaper chain for the promotion of his political and financial interests- having neither regard for the informational needs of his readers, nor for quality, objective journalism. Black’s