The end of free speech

Many people have expressed concern over free speech within the media. The concern grows with the ever increasing concentration of media in BC, Canada and around the world. In BC we have become a case study posterchild for the media concentration.

Vancouver is served by four daily papers, two local and two national papers. The Vancouver Sun, The Province the two local dailies are owned by the same company that owns the National Post, CanWest. CanWest also owns Global TV and its flagship station BCTV. BCTV has a 70%+ market share in BC for the 5 to 7pm prime TV time slot.

A recent Senate committee was in BC to look at concentration of the media and not one reporter from CanWest was there. I am not that surprised, why would they want to tell people that the Senate is concerned about media concentration? Not in their profitable interest!

One of BC's independent source for online news, The Tyee askes, "What's it like to live in Canada's media concentration capital?" Check them out for news you won't find in CanWest or the Globe, unless they bury it deep inside.

Rafe Mair the often ugly anti-left columnist and radio talking head (aren't they all) wrote a column on freedom of the press for the Ryerson Review of Journalism. They spiked the story, luckily, Mair made the story available to a left leaning paper in Vancouver, The Republic.

The end of free speech
by Rafe Mair

There isn't a nook much less a cranny in Canada where the writer is not required to self-censor, with the exception of a couple of remaining privately-owned community newspapers and in our part of the country, the estimable Georgia Straight which, it is feared, may soon be sold. (I write for part of the David Black chain in BC and feel free to say what I wish). But even most of the community papers are owned by the Aspers or someone like them.

Read the rest of Rafe Mair's guest column at the The Republic.

You may also want an example of how media concentration decides what you read about government and political parties.