2. What happened

CanWest Global Communications Corp., a major owner of television interests in Canada and abroad controlled by the Asper family of Winnipeg, became Canada's largest newspaper publisher in 2000 when it bought most of the papers owned by Hollinger Inc. It now owns The National Post, 14 big-city daily newspapers, 126 smaller newspapers and the Global television network. Many of its newspapers are the only ones published in their communities. Its 27 largest newspapers are grouped together in the Southam News chain. CanWest Global says its newspapers account for about one-third of English-language daily newspaper circulation in Canada; other estimates put the proportion at about 40 per cent. By its own estimate, its dailies employ between 1,200 and 1,300 journalists.(1)

In the fall of 2001, CanWest Global resolved to begin running chain editorials in the Southam newspapers. The first of these was written by Southam editor-in-chief Murdoch Davis at CanWest Global headquarters in Winnipeg and ordered published in 14 newspapers. Asked at the time about the move, Davis said the CanWest editorials would appear once a week and that within a year the chain hoped to increase the frequency to three a week. The first editorial urged the federal government to allow private charitable foundations to enjoy the same tax credits as registered charities.

In protest against the new policy, many reporters at The [Montreal] Gazette withheld their bylines from stories for two days. In an open letter dated December 10, they explained their reasons. (As of Jan. 23, 77 Gazette employees had signed this letter.) It said, in part:

We believe this is an attempt to centralize opinion to serve the corporate interests of CanWest. Far from offering additional content to Canadians, this will practically vacate the power of the editorial boards of Southam newspapers ….
Each editorial will set the policy for that topic in such a way as to constrain the editorial boards of each newspaper to follow this policy. Essentially, CanWest will be imposing editorial policy on its papers on all issues of national significance. Without question, this decision will undermine the independence and diversity of each newspaper's editorial board and thereby give Canadians a greatly reduced variety of opinion, debate and editorial discussion ….
We believe this centralizing process will weaken the credibility of every Southam paper. Last week's first editorial, for example, calls on the federal government to reduce and eventually to abolish capital-gains taxes for private foundations. Who would blame a reader for thinking the editorial simply serves the interests of the foundation run by the Asper family, owners of CanWest and Southam? Credibility is the most precious asset a newspaper possesses. When the power of the press is abused, that credibility dies ….
The company is narrowing debate and corrupting both news coverage and commentary to suit corporate interests. A free press is no longer free when competing voices disappear …. (2)

In the first of several controversies over the handling of columns at Southam papers, Gazette columnist Don Macpherson was apparently coaxed into changing the wording of a piece. As submitted, it read in part: "A policy that forbids a newspaper from deciding for itself where the interests of its readers lie is not only bad journalism, it's also bad business." The published version read: "A uniquely Canadian policy that allows for editorials written from both local and national viewpoints, and occasional lively disagreement between the two, could be good for business." References to the byline withdrawal were also removed. (3)

The byline withdrawal ended and Gazette reporters stopped speaking publicly about the matter after they were warned in an internal memo that "case law supports sanctions, including suspension or termination, against those who persist in disregarding their obligations to the employer after warning." Davis later wrote that the open letter had contained factual errors, but did not say what they were. He also said Gazette employees had acted improperly by faxing company material to other media.(4) The staffers also dismantled a web site they had set up including their open letter and stories about the case. The web site was taken over by the Fédération des Journalistes Professionels du Québec (FPJQ).

Amid growing unease at the level of concentration and cross-ownership among major media, commentators were quick to denounce the new CanWest policy. The Winnipeg Free Press was quick off the mark with a commentary by its editor, Nicholas Hirst. In the following weeks, a plethora of leading Canadian journalism figures, from a wide range of philosophical perspectives, assailed the CanWest move. They included Peter Desbarats, Norman Webster, Joan Fraser, Mark Harrison, Christopher Dornan, Haroon Siddiqui, Michael Cobden, Martin O'Malley and William Thorsell. The sheer numbers indicated a widespread feeling that CanWest had breached norms of journalistic conduct in its dealings with its own employees. (5)

In a published rebuttal to Hirst, CanWest Executive Committee member David Asper explained the Southam chain-wide editorial policy as an attempt to 1) override local interests on matters of national concern, 2) provide a counterweight to the amount of published opinion emanating from southern Ontario and 3) provide quality editorials written by Davis. Asper, who is chairman of the publications committee of CanWest Global and chairman of the editorial board of Southam News Services, said the chain wanted to broaden the range of published opinion, not narrow it. "Our newspapers have and will continue to publish a wide range of views, many of which are anathema to the ownership," he wrote.(6)

Two days later, Asper expanded on these views in a speech delivered in Oakville, Ontario. In his prepared text, he said the new CanWest policy was part of a strategy of a national "converged" company. As an example of the type of editorial CanWest might have produced in the past, he pointed to the federal government's decision to award maintenance contracts for CF-18 fighters to a firm in Quebec, not Manitoba. "We would have eagerly published a view in the [Montreal] Gazette which questioned the value of ongoing centralization of economic opportunity in Quebec and Ontario," he said.

Asper then took on his critics, accusing them of advocating "censorship" of CanWest. He described the protest of the Gazette reporters as "childish" and accused unnamed members of the staff of leaking information about the editorial issue to competitors. He described this as "part of the ongoing pathetic politics of the Canadian left" and added:

If those people in Montreal are so committed, why don't they just quit and have the courage of their convictions? Maybe they should go out and, for the first time in their lives, take a risk, put their money where their mouth is, and start their own newspaper?

Asper used the term "snide" to describe news reports that pointed out his family stood to benefit if the policy changes advocated in the first editorial were made. Such reporting, he said, was "part of a vacuous strategy of professional whiners." He also said those who disagreed with the CanWest policy included "the bleeding hearts of the journalist community," "feeble turf-protecting editors living in ivory towers," "rabble-rousing union bosses," and "riff-raff … motivated by selfishness and perhaps a fear that they are not able to keep up with our drive for excellence." (7)

Despite David Asper's promise to publish views that were "anathema" to the owners, trouble arose over several freelance writers whose columns had appeared in CanWest newspapers for several years, and who chose to dissent publicly from the chain-wide editorial policy. Stephen Kimber, a columnist at the Southam-owned Halifax Daily News since 1985 and director of journalism at the University of King's College in Halifax, resigned early in January after a column on the chain-editorial controversy was killed. In the column, he recalled that the paper's previous owners had allowed him to criticize them in print for ordering editorial budget cuts. He said he had had "more than one recent column sliced and diced" and had engaged in self-censorship to avoid offending the paper's new owners.(8) He told the Halifax Chronicle-Herald that columns had "been edited heavily … whenever the subject might cause conflict with the views of the owners."(9) Another Daily News columnist, Stephanie Domet, wrote a column in defence of Kimber. It was spiked and she too resigned.

On December 19, the Quebec National Assembly passed a motion asking Southam directors "to publish a statement of principle and of commitment to the quality and diversity of news, this in order to maintain and preserve the original character and autonomy of its Quebec daily, the Gazette." Davis rejected the suggestion, saying MNAs "might want to go and read the Charter of Rights, which makes it pretty clear that what we do in the newspapers is not to be subject to their legislation …. Governments generally are usually quite willing to try to edit the media and it's generally not helpful." The Gazette published a Canadian Press account of this debate but removed references to the turmoil among its staff. (10)

Defending the new CanWest policy, Davis said the company wanted a wide range of opinion in its newspapers. "Columnists, op-ed writers, individual writers, outside contributors -- the whole range of people who provide other opinion commentary -- is not only permitted, it's encouraged," he said. (11)

From the beginning it was understood that problems with dissenting views at Southam newspapers were broader than the chain-editorial issue. The Asper family staunchly supports Israel in its conflicts with Palestinians, and coverage of the Middle East appears to be a particularly sensitive area. In November, Gazette television critic Peggy Curran's column about a CBC documentary on Israeli army attacks against Palestinian journalists was held and a rewrite ordered. Sources said editors wanted to label the documentary "one-sided" but accepted Curran's offer to call it a "point-of-view documentary." (12)

Several organizations of journalists and freedom-of-expression advocates issued protests against CanWest's policy and actions. The FPJQ and Canadian Association of Journalists called for a parliamentary inquiry. The Newspaper Guild Canada called for CanWest Global to commit itself to a set of principles entitled The Public Trust. This called for autonomy for local editors in the choice of editorial opinions and news editing, absolute freedom of opinion for columnists, and an acknowledgment that the journalist's first responsibility is to the reader/listener/viewer.

Early in January a column by Doug Cuthand, a regular columnist for the Southam-owned [Saskatoon] Star-Phoenix and Regina LeaderPost for several years, was spiked by both papers. In the column Cuthand, a First Nations member, sympathized with Palestinians in Israel, calling them the "Indians of the Middle East." He said U.S. and Canadian media "carry a definite bias toward Israel." "My belief is that what I wrote went against the corporate policy of CanWest," Cuthand told the Toronto Star. "Of course I'm going to carry on and continue writing. But it will never be the same ... I'll always be looking over my shoulder." (13) Cuthand continues to write for the papers. In Halifax, Kimber also said there had been friction over passages about the Middle East in his columns. "The Arab-Israeli conflict is the most sensitive issue," he said.(14)

In mid-January veteran Toronto Sun columnist Peter Worthington revealed that his twice-weekly syndicated column had been dropped from CanWest Global's Windsor Star, where it had run for several years. Worthington said that although he had criticized the chain-wide editorial policy in his Toronto Sun column, he had deliberately refrained from doing so in the syndicated pieces out of "deference" to the Aspers. (15) He told the Toronto Star he had received a "rather embarrassed call" from a Windsor editor saying that orders had arrived from the chain to drop his column. (16) (David Asper mentioned Worthington's criticism in his Oakville speech and sought to rebut it, not directly but by criticizing editorial decisions of the Sun newspaper chain.)

At the end of January regular columnist Michael Johansen quit writing for the CanWest-owned St. John's Telegram after the paper refused to run a piece criticizing the company's approach to editorials. Publisher Miller Ayre was quoted as saying columnists for the chain are not free to criticize internal management decisions. (17) This brought to four the number of columnists who had been dropped or resigned over the editorial issue.

In February, in its only change of heart since the policy was implemented in December, Davis said CanWest had scrapped its plan to increase the frequency of chain wide editorials. The number would remain at one, he said. (18)

Early in March, a controversy erupted at the LeaderPost over the paper's coverage of a speech by a prominent Canadian journalist about the CanWest Global affair. The occasion was the annual James Minifie lecture at the University of Regina, delivered this year by Toronto Star editor emeritus Haroon Siddiqui. In the course of the lecture, Siddiqui referred to what he called the "four Cs" of Canadian journalism: concentration of ownership, corporatization, convergence and creeping censorship. "Under CanWest, the four Cs have come together," he said. On censorship, he said: "With the advent of CanWest, the situation has worsened." He listed the examples of spiked columns and other events at CanWest papers and summed up by saying: "All this is chilling." (19)

LeaderPost reporter Michelle Lang, who covered the speech, wrote a story beginning:

CanWest Global performed 'chilling' acts of censorship when it refused to publish several columns containing viewpoints other than those held by the media empire, a Toronto Star columnist said Monday.

Editors changed the lead paragraph to read:

A Toronto Star columnist says it's OK for CanWest Global to publish its owners' views, as long as the company is prepared to give equal play to opposing opinions.

The story was published March 7 with no byline. In protest at the editors' behaviour, several LeaderPost reporters withheld their bylines. On March 8, ten of those participating in the byline withdrawal received reprimands, and four who had spoken publicly about the matter were given five-day suspensions. The disciplinary notices were signed by Greg McLean, publisher of the LeaderPost. Those who received them were reportedly told they would face stronger penalties if they continued to speak out. (20)

Speaking to The Globe and Mail, Davis said: "Some reporters don't understand the difference between editing and censorship. They should go back to school." Although Siddiqui was delivering a prestigious annual lecture in Regina, where the Southam affiliate is the only newspaper, Davis suggested that the speech was not newsworthy. "Who is Haroon Siddiqui?" he asked. "We're not talking about one of the great icons of Canadian journalism. He's just a guy." (21)

The LeaderPost published a letter from Davis in which he said Siddiqui did not inquire into Southam's policy before making his remarks. (22) A similar piece by Davis was carried in The Toronto Star, which had published an abridged version of Siddiqui's speech. Davis took Siddiqui to task for characterizing CanWest's actions as "censorship" and said the entire controversy had been "overblown" by "lazy journalists repeating gossip and errors." (23)

On March 8, Davis and CanWest executive Donald Babick sent a memo to Southam publishers and editors. Among other things, it acknowledged obliquely that it might be legitimate to challenge the constraints placed by the chain on local editors. "The company does not want to have the core positions in the national editorials contradicted by other unsigned editorials in its newspapers," the memo said. "People might not feel that is a policy they would enact if it were up to them, but they ought not to misconstrue it."

The Babick/Davis memo also claimed that no copy-editing decisions or decisions on whether to publish articles had been made outside local newsrooms. The pair also said they had reviewed editing of Lang's LeaderPost story on Siddiqui's speech and determined that it was "quite routine and justified" as the original lead was "not backed up, and contained inaccuracies." They did not elaborate. (The lead was a paraphrase of one of the points of Siddiqui's speech. A review of the speech as published in The Toronto Star indicates that the paraphrase was fair and accurate.)

More disturbingly, the Babick/Davis memo claimed that the collective byline withdrawal at the LeaderPost constituted an "abuse of the right or privilege of withdrawing bylines." It continued: "That right or privilege is intended to apply when the writer has concerns over handling of his or her work. It is not permitted as a way to show disagreement with general editing or management decisions … Southam will not in future allow byline withdrawal in such situations."

Finally, the memo assailed reporters for sharing "the paper's property … with other media" and making "unfounded and inaccurate comments about the company." It said this had resulted in discipline, including suspensions, and said "it will if it is done again …. Repeated or serious misconduct could result in dismissal." In conclusion, it admonished staffers: "If you have issues with your paper's editing or policies, the proper thing to do is take them up with your editor, not with other media outlets or through byline withdrawal." (24)

The memo was also circulated in CanWest Global television newsrooms. The disciplinary actions at the LeaderPost are now the subject of arbitration between CanWest Global and The Newspaper Guild of Canada, which represents workers at the LeaderPost and 10 other Southam newspapers.