A marketplace of ideas

Editorial

Izzy Asper, the news magnate who will speak at the Canadian Friends of Hebrew
University dinner this weekend, is the current scourge of left-wing commentators and purveyors of media-related conspiracy theories.

Since Asper's company purchased from Conrad Black most of Canada's daily newspapers, including the National Post and both of Vancouver's English-language dailies, he has been painted as a meglomaniac destined to control Canadian thought. Asper's company already had extensive holdings in television broadcasting, so the issue of "convergence" entered the general lexicon of political discussion in Canada. Convergence is seen as the evil entity that allows one figure to control various forms of media. This is especially troubling in cities like Vancouver, where Canwest-Global controls both English dailies and most community newspapers as well.

Let's accept for the moment that this is the serious problem critics say it is. Who is to blame for this terrible state of affairs? Given the opportunity to amass an enormous corporate portfolio of newspapers and other media, who wouldn't leap at the opportunity? There is nothing illegal about what Asper has done.

Those who are most to blame are those who continually complain that there is a stifling of voices. It is true that not everyone has the money to start a newspaper. But there are certainly enough wealthy people in Canada whose views do not coincide with Asper's who have the wherewithal to create a challenge to what they view as hegemonic publishing. We assume someone would inform us if the Globe and Mail has stopped publishing.

One could argue that the two national newspapers represent a similar corporatist view of Canada. But there are literally thousands of alternative viewpoints to be found in alternative publications. Despite the statistical control of major Canadian media in fewer hands, there are more venues for the expression of alternative views than ever before.

But all of this is to accept that papers like the National Post are little more than political tools micromanaged by someone with an unbending political agenda. While it is true that the Post seems to have a positive perspective toward Israel and an unabashed objective of "uniting the right" in Canada, it also provides one of the most engaging sources of dissenting opinions one can find.

The proliferation of alternative media, such as the Internet, hundreds of TV channels, independent publications and talk radio, means we live in a time where ideas are more freely expressed than ever before. Asper's publications contribute to that exchange, they do not diminish it.

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