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AUSTRALIA: Australian
AUSTRALIA: Classified Ads on the Web
CANADA: Newspapers in the 1700
CANADA: Newspapers in the 1800s
CANADA: Newspapers in the 1900s
CANADA: Toronto Star
CANADA: Mail and Globe
CANADA: Newspaper Chains
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AUSTRALIA
AUSTRALIAN
Rupert Murdoch, who was 21 years old, inherited a second-rate newspaper in Adelaide, Australia. Through mergers and acquisitions, young Murdoch parlayed his inheritance into a company that included papers in five of Australia's six state capitals. Ever growth-minded, Murdoch set his sights on a new kind of newspaper in 1964: a national daily to be circulated coast to coast. It would be a radical departure. At the time, Australia was a nation with provincial newspapers that had only local circulation. The expanse of the nation, almost 3,000 miles coast to coast, had precluded a national paper.
Murdoch established the Australian in Canberra, the national capital, where editors could be on top of federal news that would be of nationwide interest. For the newspaper's second staple, foreign news, he arranged for news agencies and set up a modest foreign staff. Murdoch hoped that local circulation and advertising income in Canberra would keep the paper going until it attracted a national readership and advertising.
To deliver the paper nationally, whole pages were photographed and converted into lightweight printing plates. These plates were flown overnight to the major cities of Sydney and Melbourne, each 200 miles away, where Murdoch owned presses that printed copies for local distribution the next morning. Meanwhile, editions were printed in Canberra for air delivery to cities coast to coast.
It was an exciting time in Murdoch's life, not just because of the unprecedented scope and risk of the endeavor but because of Canberra's notorious fog. Stories abound about Murdoch on the fog shrouded tarmac at Canberra in his pajamas, egging pilots on by telling them that it really wasn't fog, just a slight mist.
Today, the paper is printed in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, the nation's largest cities, none of which have Canberra's fog problem. Besides local distribution, copies are dispatched throughout the continent by airplane.
Although the Australian became the crown jewel of Rupert Murdoch's Australian newspaper media empire, it did not keep his attention. Today his company, News Corporation, is a global media player whose interests in the United States include Fox television, 20th Century-Fox movies, HarperCollins books, and the New York Post.
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AUSTRALIA
DATABANK
Population
18.3 million
Literacy
100 percent
Television sets
1 per 2.2 people
Gross Domestic Production
$20,720 per capita |
© 1999, by John Vivian, Route 1, Box 32, Lewiston, Minnesota USA 55987-9706 |
AUSTRALIA
CLASSIFIED ADERTISING
Before dawn every morning you can go to the World Wide Web and read about hundreds of job openings all over Australia and New Guinea too.
In 1996 News Interactive of Sydney, part of the Murdoch media empire, put the classifieds ads from Murdoch's 12 Australian newspapers on-line at a site called NewsClassifieds. More newspapers quickly joined. Within six months there were 100,000 hits a day, growing about 10 percent a month. Today more than 100 newspapers, both dailies and weeklies, transmit their classified ads overnight to the NewsClassified's Sydney computer for consolidation into the world's largest classified section. While geared to Australia, the site also includes ads from the Papau, New Guinea, Post Courier, which runs a lot of mining job ads of interest to Australians.
To start, the site was bare-bones classifieds ads, all words, to start. It since has added display employment ads. Also, job-seekers can upload their résumés directly to the site. Employers then e-mail back.
The site carries the whole range of classified ads, not just jobs. Want a 1967 Holden sedan, low miles, not too rusty. Surf to NewsClassifieds.
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AUSTRALIA
DATABANK
Population
18.3 million
Literacy
100 percent
Television sets
1 per 2.2 people
Gross Domestic Production
$20,720 per capita |
© 1999, by John Vivian, Route 1, Box 32, Lewiston, Minnesota USA 55987-9706 |
CANADA
NEWPAPERS
IN THE 1700S
Because of its important role in transportation and communication in Canada's early days, the East Coast became the center for immigration. Bartholomew Green set up the first printing press in Canada in 1751 in Halifax. One year later, Green published Canada's first newspaper, the Halifax Gazette. By today's standards, it wasn't what we would consider a newspaper. Other than a few advertisements for area merchants, there wasn't much local content. Most of the articles focused on government or international news. The Gazette appeared every two weeks and had about 70 subscribers. This small subscriber base was typical of early Canadian newspapers. Charlottetown's Royal American Gazette started with only 50 subscribers in 1787, while the Quebec Gazette had about 150 subscribers when it began publishing in 1764. As frontier conditions improved, immigrants moved up the St. Lawrence, and in 1793 the Upper Canada Gazette began at Niagara-on-the-Lake.
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CANADA
DATABANK
Population
28.1 million
Literacy
97 percent
Television sets
1 per 1.7 people
Gross Domestic Production
$22,760 per capita |
Adapted from The Media of Mass Communication, Canadian edition, by John Vivian and Peter Maurin (Allyn & Bacon Canada, 1997).
© 1999, by John Vivian, Route 1, Box 32, Lewiston, Minnesota USA 55987-9706 |
CANADA
NEWSPAPERS
IN THE 1800S
Following the War of 1812, immigration in Canada flourished, particularly along the upper St. Lawrence River and the Great Lakes, where the population doubled by the mid-1820s. Combine this population surge with the effects of the Industrial Revolution and you will begin to understand the changing social climate in Canada. People shifted from working at home or in the fields to factory jobs. These factors contributed to the growth of newspapers. At the end of the War of 1812, Canada had only a handful of newspapers. By the mid-1820s, the number had risen to almost 300.
During the latter half of the 1800s, immigration and migration became important in the growth of Canadian newspapers. As the Canadian population moved west and north, newspapers followed. The Gold Rush made Victoria, British Columbia, a center for commerce and transportation. In 1858, the Victoria Gazette and Anglo American began publishing. Other early newspapers in western Canada included the Nor'Wester in 1859, the Saskatchewan Herald in 1878, the Edmonton Bulletin in 1880, and the Yukon Sun and Klondike Nuggett, both in 1898. New papers also began publishing in central and eastern Canada: the Montreal Star in 1869, the Toronto Telegram in 1876, and the Ottawa Journal in 1885. By the turn of the century, more than 1,200 newspapers, dailies and weeklies, were serving Canada's population, which at that time stood at close to 5.5 million people.
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CANADA
DATABANK
Population
28.1 million
Literacy
97 percent
Television sets
1 per 1.7 people
Gross Domestic Production
$22,760 per capita |
Adapted from The Media of Mass Communication, Canadian edition, by John Vivian and Peter Maurin (Allyn & Bacon Canada, 1997).
© 1999, by John Vivian, Route 1, Box 32, Lewiston, Minnesota USA 55987-9706 |
<CANADA
NEWSPAPERS
IN THE 1900S
In the 1900s, the newspaper came of age in Canada. Although immigration and migration patterns were inconsistent due to the world wars and the Depression during the first half of the century, improved technology spurred newspaper growth. Better printing presses and newsprint improved how newspapers looked. The telegraph broadened the content. Improvements in communication and transportation improved distribution. The number of dailies declined. About 120 at the start of the century. dailies numbered only 94 by 1994. Even so, circulation increased. Dailies averaged 40,000 copies by 1951, a nine-fold increase since the turn of the century.
Since the 1950s several factors contributed to the current state of Canadian newspapers. Television arrived in 1952, and people began turning to television for news. Fewer readers meant that advertising revenue dropped, making it more difficult for newspapers to turn a profit. These factors, combined with higher production costs, made newspaper publishing less lucrative Some newspapers folded. Others bought out troubled competitors. As a result, fewer newspapers were owned by fewer people.
Through the 20th century, Canadian newspapers were incredibly profitable, which, for better or worse, encouraged chain ownership. Today, chains own most newspapers. This concentration of media ownership became a major issue. For example, after taking over the Maclean Hunter company, Ted Rogers and his Rogers Communications owned or partially owned the majority of cable systems in Canada, the Rogers video store chain, Maclean's magazine, all the Sun newspapers, the Financial Post, Cantel and Unitel. The Canadian Radio-Television Commission forced Rogers to sell off the Sun publishing chain, including the Financial Post, in 1996. The chain sold for more than $400 million. Meanwhile, two newspaper chains, Southam and Hollinger, owned the majority of dailies until 1996, when Hollinger became the majority owner of Southam.
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CANADA
DATABANK
Population
28.1 million
Literacy
97 percent
Television sets
1 per 1.7 people
Gross Domestic Production
$22,760 per capita |
Adapted from The Media of Mass Communication, Canadian edition, by John Vivian and Peter Maurin (Allyn & Bacon Canada, 1997).
© 1999, by John Vivian, Route 1, Box 32, Lewiston, Minnesota USA 55987-9706 |
CANADA
TORONTO STAR
The Toronto Star is the largest newspaper in Canada -- almost half a million copies daily. The Saturday circulation is almost three-quarter million.
The Star was founded in 1892 by 21 printers who were on strike (or locked out, depending on whom you listen to) at the Toronto News They borrowed old printing presses and, with each printer assuming the roles of writer, reporter, ad-seller and proofreader, the Evening Star was born. The masthead proclaimed "A Paper for the People." The Star's birth in the labor movement gave rise to it being identified as a liberal paper.
Today the Star employs more than 4,500 people, including almost 400 in its newsroom. The Star is owned by Torstar Corporation, which publishes community newspapers, distributes mail-order catalogues and also publishes the lucrative Harlequin romance series.
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CANADA
DATABANK
Population
28.1 million
Literacy
97 percent
Television sets
1 per 1.7 people
Gross Domestic Production
$22,760 per capita |
Adapted from The Media of Mass Communication, Canadian edition, by John Vivian and Peter Maurin (Allyn & Bacon Canada, 1997).
© 1999, by John Vivian, Route 1, Box 32, Lewiston, Minnesota USA 55987-9706 |
CANADA
GLOBE AND MAIL
The Globe and Mail, published in Toronto, calls itself "Canada's National Newspaper." Scottish immigrant George Brown, a political conservative, founded the newspaper as the Globe in 1844. He went daily in 1853. For readers beyond Toronto. Brown put out a weekly edition. The Globe and the Mail and Empire merged in 1936. In the mid-1980s, facing growing competition, the Globe and Mail decided to break out of its southern Ontario circulation area and go national. For years the paper, which came out in the mornings, had been flown to Edmonton, Whitehorse and Montreal but didn't reach newsstands until the afternoon. The answer was to transmit the paper by satellite to remote printing plants for same-morning delivery coast to coast. Using that technology, the Globe and Mail became a national daily.
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CANADA
DATABANK
Population
28.1 million
Literacy
97 percent
Television sets
1 per 1.7 people
Gross Domestic Production
$22,760 per capita |
Adapted from The Media of Mass Communication, Canadian edition, by John Vivian and Peter Maurin (Allyn & Bacon Canada, 1997).
© 1999, by John Vivian, Route 1, Box 32, Lewiston, Minnesota USA 55987-9706 |
CANADA
NEWSPAPER CHAINS
Consolidation of Canadian dailies into chains prompted the government to appoint a commission headed by Senator Keith Davey, to study the state of the media in 1970. The facts were clear. While 35 cities had more than one newspaper in 1900, only 15 multi-newspaper cities remained. In five of those cities, both papers were published by the same owner. Three chains -- Southam, Thomson and EP -- controlled three-quarters of nation's newspaper circulation.
The Davey Commission recommended a press ownership review board to monitor ownership changes and mergers. The board would have the power to veto further concentration. The government's response was lukewarm, and the recommendations gathered dust in government files somewhere. Meanwhile, the consolidation continued, particularly in Quebec.
In August 1980, the giant Thomson chain announced it was shutting down the Ottawa Journal, which had been publishing for 94 years, leaving city with only the Southam chain's Ottawa Citizen. On the same day, Southam announced it was closing the 90-year old Winnipeg Tribune, leaving the city with only Thomson's Free Press. Collusion between the two chains to eliminate competition was obvious. Within a week, angry political leaders appointed a commission headed by Tom Kent to propose a course of action for the government. The Kent Commission issued a multi-volume report that recommended:
- Chains be limited to 5 percent of Canada's total newspaper circulation, with five newspapers max and none within a radius of 700 miles of another.
- Editors at chain newspapers report annually to the government about their editorial content, in effect making editors accountable to the government and not far-away chain owners.
- Newspapers be taxed if their journalistic quality declines with the revenue going to newspapers whose quality improves. Some of this revenue would go to expand the Canadian Press news agency.
- Several chains, including Thomson, be ordered to divest.
The Kent Commission recommendations died in the confusion of the 1984 Parliament elections.
Newspaper ownership, meanwhile, has become more concentrated. Southam is the largest chain, with 1.4 million circulation a day -- 27 percent of the nation's total. Southam includes the Montreal Gazette, the Ottawa Citizen, the Calgary Herald, both the Vancouver Sun and the Province, the Edmonton Journal, and the Hamilton Spectator. In all, Southam empire includes 17 dailies and 33 weeklies. These include five of the top 10 dailies. In addition, Southam publishes business magazines, product information and is involved in electronic databases and information. Southam provides content for America Online Canada.
Second largest is the Hollinger empire, owned by Conrad Black, who, although Canadian, is a global media mogul. In Canada, Hollinger owns many small-town dailies and weeklies. Properties elsewhere include the Chicago Sun-Times and the Jerusalem Post. In 1996 Hollinger acquired 41 percent of Southam, giving the company control over the majority of daily newspapers in Canada.
Thomson, meanwhile, has sold many newspapers, focusing instead on electronic information services. Thomson, however, stills owns the Toronto Globe and Mail, which has become Canada's only national newspaper.
CANADA
DATABANK
Population
28.1 million
Literacy
97 percent
Television sets
1 per 1.7 people
Gross Domestic Production
$22,760 per capita |
Adapted from The Media of Mass Communication, Canadian edition, by John Vivian and Peter Maurin (Allyn & Bacon Canada, 1997).
© 1999, by John Vivian, Route 1, Box 32, Lewiston, Minnesota USA 55987-9706 | |
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