The main issues involving ownership in the Canadian newspaper industry tend to centralize around money and making a profit. The three main effects that can be seen through concentrated ownership in the newspaper industry are: biased journalism, profit being the main goal, and loss of variety or lack of info. Media has become a significant aspect of most economies and corporations tend to change depending on how much profit is being made. Through research it is evident that the Canadian newspaper industry limits the production of high quality content because economic pressures suppress, rather than encourage, quality journalism.
The first argument surrounding concentrated ownership is that content is typically biased. Picard (1998) argued that, …show more content…
Barker (2000) argues that “Newspapers were originally intended for the conveyance of important intelligence, which concerns the public in general” (pg 3). Barker’s research is guided towards understanding the development of the newspaper industry and what changes have been made. This message compares to other arguments that newspapers are no longer intended to transfer important information to people in society, but instead to entertain the public and generate an income. Picard (1998) examined the relationship between newspapers and media and the effect that can be noticed from the work. Through research, it was evident that the concentrated media seen from newspaper monopolies would have a decrease in the diversity of information and that most of the important information sometimes would be seen in the depth of the newspaper while less, more entertaining information was in the headlines (Picard, 1998, 140). Picard (1998) found through his research that the traditions of journalism would focus on news values and ethical standards, such as objectivity and fairness (129). Picard wrote that the homogenizing influence of these traditions on news content dated back to 1972 (130). Robinson’s (2004) research found that The Kent Commission, which originated in 1981, argued that Thomson was squeezing the quality out of the newspapers in exchange to gain a profit. The purpose of newspapers was no longer focused around giving out the most information to the community but instead to release information that could be interesting and would entertain and grab the attention of its readers. This change in the newspaper industry is what led to magazines being made (139-140). This argument can have a massive effect on the quality of journalism that people are exposed to. People are being exposed to a substantially lower quality of
The first argument surrounding concentrated ownership is that content is typically biased. Picard (1998) argued that, …show more content…
Barker (2000) argues that “Newspapers were originally intended for the conveyance of important intelligence, which concerns the public in general” (pg 3). Barker’s research is guided towards understanding the development of the newspaper industry and what changes have been made. This message compares to other arguments that newspapers are no longer intended to transfer important information to people in society, but instead to entertain the public and generate an income. Picard (1998) examined the relationship between newspapers and media and the effect that can be noticed from the work. Through research, it was evident that the concentrated media seen from newspaper monopolies would have a decrease in the diversity of information and that most of the important information sometimes would be seen in the depth of the newspaper while less, more entertaining information was in the headlines (Picard, 1998, 140). Picard (1998) found through his research that the traditions of journalism would focus on news values and ethical standards, such as objectivity and fairness (129). Picard wrote that the homogenizing influence of these traditions on news content dated back to 1972 (130). Robinson’s (2004) research found that The Kent Commission, which originated in 1981, argued that Thomson was squeezing the quality out of the newspapers in exchange to gain a profit. The purpose of newspapers was no longer focused around giving out the most information to the community but instead to release information that could be interesting and would entertain and grab the attention of its readers. This change in the newspaper industry is what led to magazines being made (139-140). This argument can have a massive effect on the quality of journalism that people are exposed to. People are being exposed to a substantially lower quality of