Reform or Alternatives? Limits and Pressures on Changing the Canadian Mediascape

Abstract

In the wake of trade deals and recession, patterns of consolidation have characterized much of Canadian industry over the last decade, Perhaps nowhere else are effects of economic restructuring felt more strongly than in Canada's media industries, and most particularly, in the television news and newspaper businesses. This paper examines some of the recent problems associated with the ongoing concentration of ownership of Canada's newspaper and broadcast media, It considers some of the major impediments to comprehensive regulation controlling concentration and, in the face of these problems, argues that more effort should be focused on developing alternatives to corporate media. Taking a cue from the corporate media, it also considers two models for developing alternative media that build upon economies of scale and scope.