CanWest Global Communications
Encyclopedia
Canwest Global Communications Corporation, which operated under the corporate brand Canwest, was a major Canadian
media
company based in Winnipeg
, Manitoba
, with its head offices at Canwest Place. It held radio
, television
broadcasting and publishing
assets in several countries, primarily in Canada.
Canwest entered bankruptcy protection in late 2009, leading to the sale of the company's assets. Canwest's newspaper arm was sold to a group of creditors led by National Post
CEO Paul Godfrey
, through a newly formed company named Postmedia Network
. The sale of the company's broadcasting arm to Shaw Communications
closed on October 27, 2010, after CRTC approval for the sale was announced on October 22; those assets are now collectively known as Shaw Media
.
Following the sale of assets, the company was renamed 2737469 Canada Inc., ceased to carry on business, and commenced bankruptcy
proceedings under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act. The company is still registered as an "active" corporation with Industry Canada
as of June 2011, but this merely indicates that the aforementioned bankruptcy proceedings continue.
The company had previously sold off some of the smaller newspapers it had acquired in the Southam purchase. Canwest also previously owned broadcasting operations in Australia
(as majority shareholder of Network Ten
), New Zealand
(through CanWest MediaWorks New Zealand), and the Republic of Ireland
(as a minority shareholder of TV3).
television station KCND-TV
from broadcaster Gordon McLendon
, moving the station to Winnipeg as independent station CKND-TV
. Asper, through his company, Canwest, eventually bought out his partners in the Winnipeg station, and subsequently invested in or acquired other independent TV stations across Canada, including an Ontario
station
known as the "Global Television Network
". This brand was extended to Canwest stations throughout the country in 1997. Throughout the 1990s, Global (and its antecedents) held Canadian rights to hit U.S. series such as Cheers, Friends
, and Frasier
, making it the top-rated programming service in major markets like Toronto
and Vancouver
.
Canwest also bought broadcasting assets internationally, including outlets in New Zealand
, the Republic of Ireland
, and Australia
, although all were eventually sold off. In 1991, Canwest issued a successful initial public offering on the Toronto Stock Exchange. In June 1996, Canwest was listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
, the company also went on an extended takeover pursuit of Western International Communications
, which owned several independent stations in that province, in the late 1990s, eventually securing that company's broadcast television assets in 2000. This not only boosted Global's coverage in western Canada, but prompted the establishment of a second over-the-air service, originally known as CH, since in some areas the combined company had duplicate over-the-air coverage through multiple stations. Later that year, Canwest announced its acquisition of the Southam newspaper chain from Conrad Black
, in order to pursue a media convergence strategy.
Canwest was initially slow to invest in specialty channel
s due to the strength of its terrestrial network. In 1999, seeking to change this, the company announced a deal to buy out the Canadian partners of NetStar Communications, owner of TSN
, but was stymied by U.S. partner ESPN
, which had veto power over such a sale. ESPN instead came to terms with Canwest's main rival CTV
, a longtime business partner of ESPN's parent company Disney
, as an acceptable buyer, which the selling partners eventually agreed to.
In Oct 2005, CanWest's Canadian newspapers were sold into an IPO trust. Sold 25.8% of Canada's newspapers for C$550 million. Attached to the Canadian newspaper IPO was $850 million in long term debt. CanWest bought back the 25.8% Newspaper Trust IPO (and debt) in Nov 2008, for cash considerations of $495 million.
The company was already one of the largest owners of Canadian local TV stations, when Canwest and Goldman Sachs
in 2007 announced they would jointly acquire Canadian producer and broadcaster Alliance Atlantis Communications and its large stable of wide-distribution specialty channels. Under the deal, Canwest took control of the broadcasting portion of AAC, although Goldman Sachs remained a major investor in those assets. Goldman retained or resold the remaining pieces of AAC, the distribution arm soon re-emerging as Alliance Films
.
Canwest executives testified in the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission hearings over fee-for-carriage
, requesting that the commission force cable and satellite companies to pay for their signals without passing the fees on to their subscribers. In his testimony, Canwest president Leonard Asper blamed the current rules for the poor financial condition of Canada's broadcast television stations, a position which has subsequently been adopted and addressed through rule changes by the CRTC and FCC.
On August 31, 2009, Canwest shut down its secondary system E! (the former CH). Three of the former E! owned-and-operated station
s – CHCH
Hamilton
, CHEK
Victoria
, and CJNT
Montreal
– were sold to third parties, while a fourth, CHBC
Kelowna
, was converted to a Global station. The remaining station, CHCA
Red Deer
, was closed as of the same date.
On September 24, the company announced that it would sell its 50.1% stake in Ten Network Holdings
for A$
680 million, in order to pay down its significant debt. The sale of CanWest's Australian media operations reduced some C$582-million in debt tied to the Australian TV network, raising the total value Canwest can erase from its overall debt to more than C$1.2-billion. Before the Ten deal, Canwest held about C$3.8-billion of debt on its balance sheet. In court documents, Goldman Sachs alleges "fraudulent" and "abusive" changes to the internal operation of Canwest in the days before it filed for creditor protection. As part of the filing, the Wall Street investment bank is seeking to undo these changes, and has also claimed that CanWest's creditors should return the C$426 million they received from Canwest balance sheet in September, after CanWest sold its stake in Ten.
On October 6, the company voluntarily filed for creditor protection under the CCAA, due to C$
4 billion mounting debt across radio, television broadcasting and publishing assets in several countries. At the same time it announced it had agreed to a recapitalization transaction with some of its lenders, which will likely require the approval of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC). When completed, bondholders – led by hedge fund
s West Face Capital, GoldenTree Asset Management, and Beach Point Capital Management – will own a majority of shares, leaving existing shareholders, including the Asper family, with a total of 2.3% of the "new" Canwest. However, the Aspers are expected to invest a further C$15 million in the restructured entity.
In Jan 2010, CanWest's bonds commanded about 70 cents on the dollar. CanWest's bonds at one point traded for as little as 15 cents on the dollar. Several sources say that as CanWest notes increased fivefold in price, distressed-debt funds took profits on part of their position, with Angelo Gordon among the buyers.
On Feb 3, 2010, it was reported that a group led by Golden Tree Asset Management LP complained that "it was unfairly frozen out of the auction of Canwest Limited Partnership."
As part of the transaction, Canwest and some of its subsidiaries, including Canwest Media Inc., The National Post Company
, and Canwest Television LP (the licensee of Global, MovieTime
, DejaView
, and Fox Sports World Canada
) filed for creditor protection under the Companies' Creditors Arrangements Act. Canwest Limited Partnership, a subsidiary which owns the company's other newspaper assets and online properties, is negotiating separately with creditors, and is expected to file for creditor protection at a later date. Specialty channels operated in partnership with other companies (such as TVtropolis
, Mystery TV
, MenTV
, and the former Alliance Atlantis
properties) are also not included in the present filing. Canwest shares were also suspended from trading on the TSX.
Canwest said that it was not being liquidated
at this point, and the company insisted that the proceedings would make Canwest "a stronger industry competitor with a renewed financial outlook." Nevertheless, some analysts expected that the conglomerate would sell assets or be broken up entirely as the restructuring process continues, noting that the publishing division has a separate set of lenders. As it turned out, the company would indeed be broken up.
whereby the latter company would buy an 80% voting interest, and 20% equity interest, in the restructured entity, pending approvals from the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) and others. The company's newspapers were not part of the Shaw deal and were already sold separately to Postmedia Network
. However, the Asper family with Goldman and Catalyst made their own bid to retake Canwest with a $120 million bid in competition with the bid proposed by Shaw Communications. On February 25, 2010 it was announced that Shaw Communications had won a court battle to continue their plans to purchase assets & voting shares from Canwest. After the announcement, Shaw revealed that its investment amounted to a minimum of $95-million in exchange for 20 per cent of the equity and an 80-per-cent voting interest in the restructured company.
Although Goldman, Catalyst, and the Aspers continued to work on their own bid after the Shaw agreement, Shaw announced a revised agreement, following court ordered mediation, under which it would purchase the entirety of Canwest's broadcasting operations, including the portion owned by Goldman.. This deal was later modified following a second court ordered mediation to include a settlement agreement between Shaw, creditors, and the Official Ad Hoc Committee of Shareholders, led by the Aspers, Blott Asset Management, L.L.C. and two other hedge funds. This marked the first successful equity committee campaign in Canada under CCAA. A modified deal, including the Settlement Agreement, received the approval of the Ontario Superior Court on June 23rd, 2010 , the Competition Bureau as of August 13, 2010,, and was given final approval from the CRTC on October 22, 2010, with final closing occurring in October 2011 following the official CMI Transition Order . Canwest is now delisted from the TSX. The company ceased operations that same date. Meanwhile, Shaw Communications reorganized Canwest into Shaw Media
.
of the company were Derek Burney
, David Drybrough, David Kerr
,Leonard Asper
, Izzy Asper
, Lisa Pankratz, Frank McKenna
, David Asper
, and Gail Asper
. Gail Asper, David Asper, and Lisa Panktratz resigned from the board, and from all other director and officer positions within Canwest and its subsidiaries, on February 10, 2010.
was known as a strong supporter of both Canada's Liberal Party
and Israel's right-wing Likud
party, and of many laissez-faire
policies in both countries. Observers have suggested that Asper's political views have had a significant impact on news coverage at CanWest media outlets. For example, in 2002, Ottawa Citizen
publisher Russell Mills
was fired by Canwest after the paper published a series of articles exposing a financial scandal involving then Prime Minister Jean Chrétien
.
Canwest's power in the marketplace was reflected in a contract that freelance contributors were required to sign. Until recently, standard industry practice was that freelancers sold the rights for one time use and only in Canada.
's Hollinger International (now Sun-Times Media Group
), including Canwest News Service
, opposition has been expressed by some journalists, union spokespersons, politicians, and pundits about Canwest's enforcement of its corporate editorial positions. A 2001 decision to run regular uniform national editorial
s in all metropolitan dailies (except National Post
), whereby local editorial board
s could not take local positions on subjects of national editorials, ignited major national controversy and was subsequently withdrawn.
Conflict over Canwest editorial control and policy has focused in particular on three issues:
Upon acquiring Southam's Newspapers from Hollinger International, Israel Asper continued Conrad Black's policy of 'blacklisting' influential Canadian world and military affairs journalist Gwynne Dyer
's internationally published articles. This antipathy was prompted by Dyer's views on conflict in the Middle East and his opposition to neoconservatism
, which run contrary to the ideological views of Asper and others on Canwest's board of directors then and today. Partially as a response to this, Dyer published a collection of his articles on the Middle East and related topics called With Every Mistake
in 2005.
Canwest newspapers and broadcast outlets in British Columbia were regularly criticized for giving a "free ride" to the BC Liberal government of Premier Gordon Campbell, especially in relation to the scandals and controversies ensuing from the privatization of BC Rail but also in cooperating with the government's manipulation of information for political purposes, such as the suppression of the actual scale of the deficit or welfare rates in advance of the 2009 election. Conversely, coverage of the New Democratic Party is criticized as being unfairly negative. Canwest is one of the major campaign contributors to the BC Liberal party and gives regular column space to pundits from the think tank Fraser Institute
(one such regular contributor being the Premier's brother, Michael).
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
media
Mass media
Mass media refers collectively to all media technologies which are intended to reach a large audience via mass communication. Broadcast media transmit their information electronically and comprise of television, film and radio, movies, CDs, DVDs and some other gadgets like cameras or video consoles...
company based in Winnipeg
Winnipeg
Winnipeg is the capital and largest city of Manitoba, Canada, and is the primary municipality of the Winnipeg Capital Region, with more than half of Manitoba's population. It is located near the longitudinal centre of North America, at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers .The name...
, Manitoba
Manitoba
Manitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other...
, with its head offices at Canwest Place. It held radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
, television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
broadcasting and publishing
Publishing
Publishing is the process of production and dissemination of literature or information—the activity of making information available to the general public...
assets in several countries, primarily in Canada.
Canwest entered bankruptcy protection in late 2009, leading to the sale of the company's assets. Canwest's newspaper arm was sold to a group of creditors led by National Post
National Post
The National Post is a Canadian English-language national newspaper based in Don Mills, a district of Toronto. The paper is owned by Postmedia Network Inc. and is published Mondays through Saturdays...
CEO Paul Godfrey
Paul Godfrey
Paul Victor Godfrey, CM, OOnt is a businessman and former Canadian politician. During his career, Godfrey was a North York alderman, Chairman of Metro Toronto, President of the Toronto Sun and head of the Toronto Blue Jays. He was instrumental in bringing the Toronto Blue Jays to Toronto and has...
, through a newly formed company named Postmedia Network
Postmedia Network
Postmedia Network Canada Corp. is a Canadian media company headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, consisting of the publishing properties of the former Canwest, with primary operations in newspaper publishing, news gathering and Internet operations....
. The sale of the company's broadcasting arm to Shaw Communications
Shaw Communications
Shaw Communications is Canada's largest telecommunications company that provides telephone, Canada's fastest Internet and television services as well as broadcasting and soon Wifi. Shaw is headquartered in Calgary, Alberta...
closed on October 27, 2010, after CRTC approval for the sale was announced on October 22; those assets are now collectively known as Shaw Media
Shaw Media
Shaw Media is the television broadcasting division of Shaw Communications. Shaw Media owns the Global Television Network, which broadcasts via 11 television stations, as well as various specialty channels including HGTV Canada, Showcase, Food Network Canada, and History Television.Despite also...
.
Following the sale of assets, the company was renamed 2737469 Canada Inc., ceased to carry on business, and commenced bankruptcy
Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal status of an insolvent person or an organisation, that is, one that cannot repay the debts owed to creditors. In most jurisdictions bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor....
proceedings under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act. The company is still registered as an "active" corporation with Industry Canada
Industry Canada
Industry Canada is the department of the Government of Canada with responsibility for regional economic development, investment, and innovation/research and development. The department employs 6104 FTEs across Canada....
as of June 2011, but this merely indicates that the aforementioned bankruptcy proceedings continue.
Operations
As of April 2009 (prior to seeking creditor protection), Canwest owned, in whole or part, a variety of Canadian media assets, including:- Global Television NetworkGlobal Television NetworkGlobal Television Network is an English language privately owned television network in Canada, owned by Calgary-based Shaw Communications, as part of its Shaw Media division...
, a primary Canadian television networkTelevision networkA television network is a telecommunications network for distribution of television program content, whereby a central operation provides programming to many television stations or pay TV providers. Until the mid-1980s, television programming in most countries of the world was dominated by a small...
which reaches over 94% of the English-speaking population of Canada; - E! Entertainment Television, a now-defunct secondary Canadian television systemTelevision systemA television system is a Canadian term for a group of television stations which share common ownership, branding, and programming, but are not considered a full television network....
consisted of five smaller-market stations; however, through repeaters and cable television it reaches the majority of major Canadian markets. The "E!" name was licensed by the American channel of the same nameE!E! Entertainment Television is an American basic cable and satellite television network, owned by NBCUniversal. It features entertainment-related programming, reality television, feature films and occasionally series and specials unrelated to the entertainment industry.E! has an audience reach of...
, which also supplies the majority of its programming outside of local news and regional programming and primetime shows from the American broadcast networks; - specialty services including Showcase, Slice, HGTV CanadaHGTV CanadaHGTV is a Canadian English language Category A specialty channel owned and operated by Shaw Media and Scripps Networks Interactive. It consists of programs regarding home and garden...
, TVtropolisTVtropolisTVtropolis is a Canadian English language Category A specialty channel owned by Shaw Media and Rogers Media.The channel operates two time shifted feeds: East and West .-Programming:...
and various digitalDigital televisionDigital television is the transmission of audio and video by digital signals, in contrast to the analog signals used by analog TV...
services; - the former Southam newspaper chain, which included the number-two national newspaper National PostNational PostThe National Post is a Canadian English-language national newspaper based in Don Mills, a district of Toronto. The paper is owned by Postmedia Network Inc. and is published Mondays through Saturdays...
, the broadsheet daily newspapers in most major markets, several other smaller newspapers, and the Canwest News ServiceCanwest News ServicePostmedia News is a national news agency with correspondents in Canada, Europe, and the United States and is part of the Canadian newspaper chain owned by Postmedia Network Inc.-History:...
newswire. Canwest was Canada's largest newspaper publisher; - production, distribution, and InternetInternetThe Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
assets associated with all the Canwest properties
The company had previously sold off some of the smaller newspapers it had acquired in the Southam purchase. Canwest also previously owned broadcasting operations in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
(as majority shareholder of Network Ten
Network Ten
Network Ten , is one of Australia's three major commercial television networks. Owned-and-operated stations can be found in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth, while affiliates extend the network to cover most of the country...
), New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
(through CanWest MediaWorks New Zealand), and the Republic of Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
(as a minority shareholder of TV3).
Beginnings
In 1974, a group led by Israel Asper bought the assets of Pembina, North DakotaPembina, North Dakota
Pembina is a city in Pembina County, North Dakota in the United States. The population was 592 at the 2010 census.The area of Pembina was long inhabited by various indigenous peoples...
television station KCND-TV
KCND-TV
KCND-TV was a television station located in Pembina, North Dakota, USA with offices also located at 2031 Portage Avenue in Winnipeg, Canada. KCND-TV was established by the Community Radio Corporation, the parent company of KNOX-TV and KNOX-AM in Grand Forks, N.D., after being granted a...
from broadcaster Gordon McLendon
Gordon McLendon
Gordon Barton McLendon was a radio pioneer and pirate radio broadcaster. He has been coined the Maverick of Radio. McLendon is widely credited for perfecting, with great commercial success, the Top 40 radio format during the 1950s and 1960s which was first invented by Todd Storz and for developing...
, moving the station to Winnipeg as independent station CKND-TV
CKND-TV
CKND-DT is a television station that broadcasts from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It is the Manitoba outlet for the Global Television Network.-History:...
. Asper, through his company, Canwest, eventually bought out his partners in the Winnipeg station, and subsequently invested in or acquired other independent TV stations across Canada, including an Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
station
CIII-TV
CIII-DT-41 is a television station owned by Shaw Communications that serves much of the population of the Canadian province of Ontario. It is a flagship station of the Global Television Network...
known as the "Global Television Network
Global Television Network
Global Television Network is an English language privately owned television network in Canada, owned by Calgary-based Shaw Communications, as part of its Shaw Media division...
". This brand was extended to Canwest stations throughout the country in 1997. Throughout the 1990s, Global (and its antecedents) held Canadian rights to hit U.S. series such as Cheers, Friends
Friends
Friends is an American sitcom created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994 to May 6, 2004. The series revolves around a group of friends in Manhattan. The series was produced by Bright/Kauffman/Crane Productions, in association with Warner Bros. Television...
, and Frasier
Frasier
Frasier is an American sitcom that was broadcast on NBC for eleven seasons, from September 16, 1993, to May 13, 2004. The program was created and produced by David Angell, Peter Casey, and David Lee in association with Grammnet and Paramount Network Television.A spin-off of Cheers, Frasier stars...
, making it the top-rated programming service in major markets like Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
and Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
.
Canwest also bought broadcasting assets internationally, including outlets in New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, the Republic of Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
, and Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, although all were eventually sold off. In 1991, Canwest issued a successful initial public offering on the Toronto Stock Exchange. In June 1996, Canwest was listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
Beyond broadcasting and the newspapers
Lacking a presence in AlbertaAlberta
Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...
, the company also went on an extended takeover pursuit of Western International Communications
Western International Communications
WIC Western International Communications Ltd.The apparent occurrence of "RAS syndrome" here was in fact part of the company's legal name. was a Canadian media company that operated from 1982 to 2000, with operations including broadcast and specialty television, radio, and satellite distribution via...
, which owned several independent stations in that province, in the late 1990s, eventually securing that company's broadcast television assets in 2000. This not only boosted Global's coverage in western Canada, but prompted the establishment of a second over-the-air service, originally known as CH, since in some areas the combined company had duplicate over-the-air coverage through multiple stations. Later that year, Canwest announced its acquisition of the Southam newspaper chain from Conrad Black
Conrad Black
Conrad Moffat Black, Baron Black of Crossharbour, OC, KCSG, PC is a Canadian-born member of the British House of Lords, and a historian, columnist and publisher, who was for a time the third largest newspaper magnate in the world. Lord Black controlled Hollinger International, Inc...
, in order to pursue a media convergence strategy.
Canwest was initially slow to invest in specialty channel
Specialty channel
A specialty channel can be a commercial broadcasting or non-commercial television channel which consists of television programming focused on a single genre, subject or targeted television market at a specific demographic....
s due to the strength of its terrestrial network. In 1999, seeking to change this, the company announced a deal to buy out the Canadian partners of NetStar Communications, owner of TSN
The Sports Network
The Sports Network, commonly abbreviated as TSN, is a Canadian English language Category C specialty channel and is Canada's leading English language sports TV channel. TSN premiered in 1984, in the first group of Canadian specialty cable channels...
, but was stymied by U.S. partner ESPN
ESPN
Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....
, which had veto power over such a sale. ESPN instead came to terms with Canwest's main rival CTV
CTV television network
CTV Television Network is a Canadian English language television network and is owned by Bell Media. It is Canada's largest privately-owned network, and has consistently placed as Canada's top-rated network in total viewers and in key demographics since 2002, after several years trailing the rival...
, a longtime business partner of ESPN's parent company Disney
The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company is the largest media conglomerate in the world in terms of revenue. Founded on October 16, 1923, by Walt and Roy Disney as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, Walt Disney Productions established itself as a leader in the American animation industry before diversifying into...
, as an acceptable buyer, which the selling partners eventually agreed to.
In Oct 2005, CanWest's Canadian newspapers were sold into an IPO trust. Sold 25.8% of Canada's newspapers for C$550 million. Attached to the Canadian newspaper IPO was $850 million in long term debt. CanWest bought back the 25.8% Newspaper Trust IPO (and debt) in Nov 2008, for cash considerations of $495 million.
The company was already one of the largest owners of Canadian local TV stations, when Canwest and Goldman Sachs
Goldman Sachs
The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. is an American multinational bulge bracket investment banking and securities firm that engages in global investment banking, securities, investment management, and other financial services primarily with institutional clients...
in 2007 announced they would jointly acquire Canadian producer and broadcaster Alliance Atlantis Communications and its large stable of wide-distribution specialty channels. Under the deal, Canwest took control of the broadcasting portion of AAC, although Goldman Sachs remained a major investor in those assets. Goldman retained or resold the remaining pieces of AAC, the distribution arm soon re-emerging as Alliance Films
Alliance Films
Alliance Films is a major Canadian motion picture distribution/production company, which serves Canada, the United Kingdom, and Spain.-History:It was formed in 1984 by Stephen Roth, Denis Heroux, John Kemeny, Robert Lantos and Jay...
.
Canwest executives testified in the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission hearings over fee-for-carriage
Fee-for-carriage
Fee-for-carriage, value-for-signal, negotiation for value, or the "TV tax" all refer to a proposed Canadian television regulatory policy which would require cable and satellite television companies to compensate conventional, over-the-air television stations for the right to carry their local signals...
, requesting that the commission force cable and satellite companies to pay for their signals without passing the fees on to their subscribers. In his testimony, Canwest president Leonard Asper blamed the current rules for the poor financial condition of Canada's broadcast television stations, a position which has subsequently been adopted and addressed through rule changes by the CRTC and FCC.
Restructuring and creditor protection
Canwest's various acquisitions took a significant financial toll. As early as 2002, most of Canwest's operating income was going to pay interest on its high-interest rate debt. By 2007, the company's bonds were downgraded to junk status. By early 2009, it became clear the company's debt was not manageable in light of the global economic crisis, forcing Canwest into an extended set of negotiations with its lenders and a series of cost-cutting moves. The company's income statements reported net losses in 2008 and 2009, even though its operating activities were profitable (before taxes, interest, and non-operating charges: C$197 million in 2009, vs. C$428 million in 2008).On August 31, 2009, Canwest shut down its secondary system E! (the former CH). Three of the former E! owned-and-operated station
Owned-and-operated station
In the broadcasting industry , an owned-and-operated station usually refers to a television station or radio station that is owned by the network with which it is associated...
s – CHCH
CHCH-TV
CHCH-DT, channel 11, is a television station originating in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, with transmitters located throughout Ontario. CHCH currently operates as an independent station, having previously served as a CBC Television affiliate, and more recently as the flagship station of the...
Hamilton
Hamilton, Ontario
Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Conceived by George Hamilton when he purchased the Durand farm shortly after the War of 1812, Hamilton has become the centre of a densely populated and industrialized region at the west end of Lake Ontario known as the Golden Horseshoe...
, CHEK
CHEK-TV
CHEK-DT, channel 6.1, is a television station based in Victoria, British Columbia and broadcasting to all of southwestern BC...
Victoria
Victoria, British Columbia
Victoria is the capital city of British Columbia, Canada and is located on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of about 78,000 within the metropolitan area of Greater Victoria, which has a population of 360,063, the 15th most populous Canadian...
, and CJNT
CJNT-TV
CJNT-DT is a Canadian multicultural television station in Montreal, Quebec. The station is owned and operated by Channel Zero and uses the on-air brand Metro 14.-History:...
Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
– were sold to third parties, while a fourth, CHBC
CHBC-TV
CHBC-TV is a television station in Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada owned by Shaw Media. It transmits on channel 2, and cable channel 4, and broadcasts on 18 relay stations....
Kelowna
Kelowna
Kelowna is a city on Okanagan Lake in the Okanagan Valley, in the southern interior of British Columbia, Canada. Its name derives from a Okanagan language term for "grizzly bear"...
, was converted to a Global station. The remaining station, CHCA
CHCA-TV
CHCA-TV was a television station in Red Deer, Alberta, Canada. It was owned by Canwest, and was part of the E! television system. The station was seen on VHF channel 6 and cable channel 11 in Red Deer...
Red Deer
Red Deer, Alberta
Red Deer is a city in Central Alberta, Canada. It is located near the midpoint of the Calgary-Edmonton Corridor and is surrounded by Red Deer County. It is Alberta's third-most-populous city – after Calgary and Edmonton. The city is located in aspen parkland, a region of rolling hills...
, was closed as of the same date.
On September 24, the company announced that it would sell its 50.1% stake in Ten Network Holdings
Ten Network Holdings
Ten Network Holdings Limited, is one of Australia's major media companies. It is headquartered in Melbourne, Australia.-Assets:While originally focusing on running a television network, Ten has recently diversified into a range of other media areas over the past decade...
for A$
Australian dollar
The Australian dollar is the currency of the Commonwealth of Australia, including Christmas Island, Cocos Islands, and Norfolk Island, as well as the independent Pacific Island states of Kiribati, Nauru and Tuvalu...
680 million, in order to pay down its significant debt. The sale of CanWest's Australian media operations reduced some C$582-million in debt tied to the Australian TV network, raising the total value Canwest can erase from its overall debt to more than C$1.2-billion. Before the Ten deal, Canwest held about C$3.8-billion of debt on its balance sheet. In court documents, Goldman Sachs alleges "fraudulent" and "abusive" changes to the internal operation of Canwest in the days before it filed for creditor protection. As part of the filing, the Wall Street investment bank is seeking to undo these changes, and has also claimed that CanWest's creditors should return the C$426 million they received from Canwest balance sheet in September, after CanWest sold its stake in Ten.
On October 6, the company voluntarily filed for creditor protection under the CCAA, due to C$
Canadian dollar
The Canadian dollar is the currency of Canada. As of 2007, the Canadian dollar is the 7th most traded currency in the world. It is abbreviated with the dollar sign $, or C$ to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies...
4 billion mounting debt across radio, television broadcasting and publishing assets in several countries. At the same time it announced it had agreed to a recapitalization transaction with some of its lenders, which will likely require the approval of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC). When completed, bondholders – led by hedge fund
Hedge fund
A hedge fund is a private pool of capital actively managed by an investment adviser. Hedge funds are only open for investment to a limited number of accredited or qualified investors who meet criteria set by regulators. These investors can be institutions, such as pension funds, university...
s West Face Capital, GoldenTree Asset Management, and Beach Point Capital Management – will own a majority of shares, leaving existing shareholders, including the Asper family, with a total of 2.3% of the "new" Canwest. However, the Aspers are expected to invest a further C$15 million in the restructured entity.
In Jan 2010, CanWest's bonds commanded about 70 cents on the dollar. CanWest's bonds at one point traded for as little as 15 cents on the dollar. Several sources say that as CanWest notes increased fivefold in price, distressed-debt funds took profits on part of their position, with Angelo Gordon among the buyers.
On Feb 3, 2010, it was reported that a group led by Golden Tree Asset Management LP complained that "it was unfairly frozen out of the auction of Canwest Limited Partnership."
As part of the transaction, Canwest and some of its subsidiaries, including Canwest Media Inc., The National Post Company
National Post
The National Post is a Canadian English-language national newspaper based in Don Mills, a district of Toronto. The paper is owned by Postmedia Network Inc. and is published Mondays through Saturdays...
, and Canwest Television LP (the licensee of Global, MovieTime
MovieTime
MovieTime is a Canadian English language Category B specialty channel owned by Shaw Media. MovieTime is a commercial service that primarily broadcasts films.-Series list:* Highlander: The Series* Infomercials* TV with TV's Jonathan Torrens...
, DejaView
DejaView
DejaView is a Canadian English language Category B specialty channel owned by Shaw Media. It airs television shows from the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s.-History:In November 2000, Global Television Network Inc...
, and Fox Sports World Canada
Fox Sports World Canada
Fox Sports World Canada is a Canadian English language Category B specialty channel owned by Shaw Media. FSWC's programming primarily features association football with select programming on other world sports such as rugby....
) filed for creditor protection under the Companies' Creditors Arrangements Act. Canwest Limited Partnership, a subsidiary which owns the company's other newspaper assets and online properties, is negotiating separately with creditors, and is expected to file for creditor protection at a later date. Specialty channels operated in partnership with other companies (such as TVtropolis
TVtropolis
TVtropolis is a Canadian English language Category A specialty channel owned by Shaw Media and Rogers Media.The channel operates two time shifted feeds: East and West .-Programming:...
, Mystery TV
Mystery TV
Mystery TV is a Canadian English language Category A specialty channel which presents movies and television series of the mystery and suspense genres...
, MenTV
Mentv
The Cave is a Canadian English language Category A specialty channel dedicated to airing lifestyle and entertainment programming aimed at men. It is currently owned by Groupe TVA and Shaw Media.-History:...
, and the former Alliance Atlantis
Alliance Atlantis
Alliance Atlantis Communications Inc. was a Toronto-based media company that operated primarily as a specialty service operator in Canada. Alliance Atlantis also had offices in Halifax, Los Angeles, London, Dublin, Madrid, Barcelona, Shannon and Sydney.Alliance Atlantis was acquired by Canwest...
properties) are also not included in the present filing. Canwest shares were also suspended from trading on the TSX.
Canwest said that it was not being liquidated
Liquidation
In law, liquidation is the process by which a company is brought to an end, and the assets and property of the company redistributed. Liquidation is also sometimes referred to as winding-up or dissolution, although dissolution technically refers to the last stage of liquidation...
at this point, and the company insisted that the proceedings would make Canwest "a stronger industry competitor with a renewed financial outlook." Nevertheless, some analysts expected that the conglomerate would sell assets or be broken up entirely as the restructuring process continues, noting that the publishing division has a separate set of lenders. As it turned out, the company would indeed be broken up.
Sale of assets to Shaw and Postmedia
In February 2010, the company announced an agreement with Shaw CommunicationsShaw Communications
Shaw Communications is Canada's largest telecommunications company that provides telephone, Canada's fastest Internet and television services as well as broadcasting and soon Wifi. Shaw is headquartered in Calgary, Alberta...
whereby the latter company would buy an 80% voting interest, and 20% equity interest, in the restructured entity, pending approvals from the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) and others. The company's newspapers were not part of the Shaw deal and were already sold separately to Postmedia Network
Postmedia Network
Postmedia Network Canada Corp. is a Canadian media company headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, consisting of the publishing properties of the former Canwest, with primary operations in newspaper publishing, news gathering and Internet operations....
. However, the Asper family with Goldman and Catalyst made their own bid to retake Canwest with a $120 million bid in competition with the bid proposed by Shaw Communications. On February 25, 2010 it was announced that Shaw Communications had won a court battle to continue their plans to purchase assets & voting shares from Canwest. After the announcement, Shaw revealed that its investment amounted to a minimum of $95-million in exchange for 20 per cent of the equity and an 80-per-cent voting interest in the restructured company.
Although Goldman, Catalyst, and the Aspers continued to work on their own bid after the Shaw agreement, Shaw announced a revised agreement, following court ordered mediation, under which it would purchase the entirety of Canwest's broadcasting operations, including the portion owned by Goldman.. This deal was later modified following a second court ordered mediation to include a settlement agreement between Shaw, creditors, and the Official Ad Hoc Committee of Shareholders, led by the Aspers, Blott Asset Management, L.L.C. and two other hedge funds. This marked the first successful equity committee campaign in Canada under CCAA. A modified deal, including the Settlement Agreement, received the approval of the Ontario Superior Court on June 23rd, 2010 , the Competition Bureau as of August 13, 2010,, and was given final approval from the CRTC on October 22, 2010, with final closing occurring in October 2011 following the official CMI Transition Order . Canwest is now delisted from the TSX. The company ceased operations that same date. Meanwhile, Shaw Communications reorganized Canwest into Shaw Media
Shaw Media
Shaw Media is the television broadcasting division of Shaw Communications. Shaw Media owns the Global Television Network, which broadcasts via 11 television stations, as well as various specialty channels including HGTV Canada, Showcase, Food Network Canada, and History Television.Despite also...
.
Board of directors
The last members of the board of directorsBoard of directors
A board of directors is a body of elected or appointed members who jointly oversee the activities of a company or organization. Other names include board of governors, board of managers, board of regents, board of trustees, and board of visitors...
of the company were Derek Burney
Derek Burney
Derek Hudson Burney, OC is a Canadian businessman. He is also a former diplomat and political strategist for the Progressive Conservative government of Brian Mulroney.- Life and career :...
, David Drybrough, David Kerr
David Kerr
David Kerr is a politician from Northern Ireland who is the Chairman of the UK-wide Third Way, a liberal nationalist party which advocates direct democracy along the lines of Switzerland...
,Leonard Asper
Leonard Asper
Leonard Asper , is a Canadian businessperson and lawyer. He is a graduate of Brandeis University and the University of Toronto Law School.Leonard Asper is the son of the late Izzy Asper, founder of CanWest Global...
, Izzy Asper
Izzy Asper
Israel Harold "Izzy" Asper, , Canadian tax lawyer and media magnate, was the founder of the now defunct CanWest Global Communications Corp and father to its former CEO and President Leonard Asper, former director and corporate secretary Gail Asper, as well as Executive Vice President David Asper...
, Lisa Pankratz, Frank McKenna
Frank McKenna
Francis Joseph "Frank" McKenna, PC, OC, ONB, QC is a Canadian businessman and former politician and diplomat. He is currently Deputy Chairman of the Toronto-Dominion Bank. He served as Canadian Ambassador to the United States from 2005 to 2006...
, David Asper
David Asper
David Asper is a Canadian businessman and lawyer. He is the former Executive Vice President of the Canadian media company CanWest Global Communications Corp. He is also a Professor at the Robson Hall Faculty of Law at the University of Manitoba.Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Asper is the eldest son...
, and Gail Asper
Gail Asper
Gail Sheryl Asper, OC, OM is a director and corporate secretary of CanWest Global Communications Corp, president of the CanWest Global Foundation, and managing director and secretary of The Asper Foundation, the private charitable foundation spearheading the establishment of the $310 million...
. Gail Asper, David Asper, and Lisa Panktratz resigned from the board, and from all other director and officer positions within Canwest and its subsidiaries, on February 10, 2010.
Concentration of power
Canwest was often cited as an example of how the ownership of Canadian media has become concentrated in the hands of a few individuals and large corporations. Canwest founder Izzy AsperIzzy Asper
Israel Harold "Izzy" Asper, , Canadian tax lawyer and media magnate, was the founder of the now defunct CanWest Global Communications Corp and father to its former CEO and President Leonard Asper, former director and corporate secretary Gail Asper, as well as Executive Vice President David Asper...
was known as a strong supporter of both Canada's Liberal Party
Liberal Party of Canada
The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...
and Israel's right-wing Likud
Likud
Likud is the major center-right political party in Israel. It was founded in 1973 by Menachem Begin in an alliance with several right-wing and liberal parties. Likud's victory in the 1977 elections was a major turning point in the country's political history, marking the first time the left had...
party, and of many laissez-faire
Laissez-faire
In economics, laissez-faire describes an environment in which transactions between private parties are free from state intervention, including restrictive regulations, taxes, tariffs and enforced monopolies....
policies in both countries. Observers have suggested that Asper's political views have had a significant impact on news coverage at CanWest media outlets. For example, in 2002, Ottawa Citizen
Ottawa Citizen
The Ottawa Citizen is an English-language daily newspaper owned by Postmedia Network in Ottawa, Canada. According to the Canadian Newspaper Association, the paper had a 2008 weekly circulation of 900,197.- History :...
publisher Russell Mills
Russell Mills
Russell Mills is a British artist who was born in Ripon, Yorkshire, UK in 1952. He paints, creates multimedia installations, designs stage sets and lighting and has produced record covers and book covers for Brian Eno, the Cocteau Twins,Michael Nyman, David Sylvian, Peter Gabriel, and Nine Inch...
was fired by Canwest after the paper published a series of articles exposing a financial scandal involving then Prime Minister Jean Chrétien
Jean Chrétien
Joseph Jacques Jean Chrétien , known commonly as Jean Chrétien is a former Canadian politician who was the 20th Prime Minister of Canada. He served in the position for over ten years, from November 4, 1993 to December 12, 2003....
.
Canwest's power in the marketplace was reflected in a contract that freelance contributors were required to sign. Until recently, standard industry practice was that freelancers sold the rights for one time use and only in Canada.
Editorial controversies
Since the 2000 acquisition of the major former Canadian newspaper holdings of Conrad BlackConrad Black
Conrad Moffat Black, Baron Black of Crossharbour, OC, KCSG, PC is a Canadian-born member of the British House of Lords, and a historian, columnist and publisher, who was for a time the third largest newspaper magnate in the world. Lord Black controlled Hollinger International, Inc...
's Hollinger International (now Sun-Times Media Group
Sun-Times Media Group
Sun-Times Media Group is a Chicago-based newspaper publisher. It is known for its prior association with controversial Canadian businessman Conrad Black.-History:...
), including Canwest News Service
Canwest News Service
Postmedia News is a national news agency with correspondents in Canada, Europe, and the United States and is part of the Canadian newspaper chain owned by Postmedia Network Inc.-History:...
, opposition has been expressed by some journalists, union spokespersons, politicians, and pundits about Canwest's enforcement of its corporate editorial positions. A 2001 decision to run regular uniform national editorial
Editorial
An opinion piece is an article, published in a newspaper or magazine, that mainly reflects the author's opinion about the subject. Opinion pieces are featured in many periodicals.-Editorials:...
s in all metropolitan dailies (except National Post
National Post
The National Post is a Canadian English-language national newspaper based in Don Mills, a district of Toronto. The paper is owned by Postmedia Network Inc. and is published Mondays through Saturdays...
), whereby local editorial board
Editorial board
The editorial board is a group of people, usually at a publication, who dictate the tone and direction the publication's editorial policy will take.- Board makeup :...
s could not take local positions on subjects of national editorials, ignited major national controversy and was subsequently withdrawn.
Conflict over Canwest editorial control and policy has focused in particular on three issues:
- The Liberal Party of CanadaLiberal Party of CanadaThe Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...
. Since Israel Asper's leadership of the Manitoba Liberal PartyManitoba Liberal PartyThe Manitoba Liberal Party is a political party in Manitoba, Canada. Its roots can be traced to the late nineteenth-century, following the province's creation in 1870.-Origins and early development :...
, the Asper family has been identified with Liberal politics and politicians. In July 2001, Southam national affairs columnist Lawrence Martin was fired after a column of his critical of Liberal Prime MinisterPrime Minister of CanadaThe Prime Minister of Canada is the primary minister of the Crown, chairman of the Cabinet, and thus head of government for Canada, charged with advising the Canadian monarch or viceroy on the exercise of the executive powers vested in them by the constitution...
Jean ChrétienJean ChrétienJoseph Jacques Jean Chrétien , known commonly as Jean Chrétien is a former Canadian politician who was the 20th Prime Minister of Canada. He served in the position for over ten years, from November 4, 1993 to December 12, 2003....
was not published. Russell Mills, longtime publisher of The Ottawa Citizen, was fired in June 2002 after the newspaper called on Chrétien to resign. However, as of 2006, at least one Asper family member (David AsperDavid AsperDavid Asper is a Canadian businessman and lawyer. He is the former Executive Vice President of the Canadian media company CanWest Global Communications Corp. He is also a Professor at the Robson Hall Faculty of Law at the University of Manitoba.Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Asper is the eldest son...
) is now publicly supporting the ConservativesConservative Party of CanadaThe Conservative Party of Canada , is a political party in Canada which was formed by the merger of the Canadian Alliance and the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada in 2003. It is positioned on the right of the Canadian political spectrum...
. - The government of IsraelIsraelThe State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
and conflict in the Middle EastMiddle EastThe Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
. Veteran Montreal Gazette reporter Bill Marsden has said that the Aspers "do not want any criticism of Israel. We do not run in our newspaper op-edOp-edAn op-ed, abbreviated from opposite the editorial page , is a newspaper article that expresses the opinions of a named writer who is usually unaffiliated with the newspaper's editorial board...
pieces that express criticism of Israel and what it is doing." A study released in 2006 by the Near East Cultural and Educational Foundation of Canada found that the National PostNational PostThe National Post is a Canadian English-language national newspaper based in Don Mills, a district of Toronto. The paper is owned by Postmedia Network Inc. and is published Mondays through Saturdays...
was 83.3 times more likely to report an Israeli child’s death than a Palestinian child’s death in its news articles’ headlines or first paragraphs. In 2008 Canwest launched a lawsuit against the Palestine Media Collective for producing a newspaper parody of The Vancouver SunThe Vancouver SunThe Vancouver Sun is a daily newspaper first published in the Canadian province of British Columbia on February 12, 1912. The paper is currently published by the Pacific Newspaper Group, a division of Postmedia Network. It is published six days a week, Monday to Saturday...
that satirized this bias. In 2004, the ReutersReutersReuters is a news agency headquartered in New York City. Until 2008 the Reuters news agency formed part of a British independent company, Reuters Group plc, which was also a provider of financial market data...
news agency protested after Canwest altered newswire stories about the Iraq war2003 invasion of IraqThe 2003 invasion of Iraq , was the start of the conflict known as the Iraq War, or Operation Iraqi Freedom, in which a combined force of troops from the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Poland invaded Iraq and toppled the regime of Saddam Hussein in 21 days of major combat operations...
and the Israeli-Palestinian conflictIsraeli-Palestinian conflictThe Israeli–Palestinian conflict is the ongoing conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. The conflict is wide-ranging, and the term is also used in reference to the earlier phases of the same conflict, between Jewish and Zionist yishuv and the Arab population living in Palestine under Ottoman or...
, such that Reuters felt it had inserted Canwest's own biasBiasBias is an inclination to present or hold a partial perspective at the expense of alternatives. Bias can come in many forms.-In judgement and decision making:...
under Reuters bylineBylineThe byline on a newspaper or magazine article gives the name, and often the position, of the writer of the article. Bylines are traditionally placed between the headline and the text of the article, although some magazines place bylines at the bottom of the page, to leave more room for graphical...
s. The changes were apparently made in accordance with a Canwest policy to label certain groups as terrorists. Ottawa Citizen, a newspaper in the Canwest chain, made similar changes to a story by Associated PressAssociated PressThe Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
.
- Canwest editorial control and management itself. In December 2001, staff members at The Montreal Gazette launched a Gazette Newsroom web page with an open letter, titled Media Giant Silences Local Voices: Canadian Journalism Under Attack, that got signed by 77 Gazette journalists as of 2002 January 23, opposing the national editorial policy, and the reporters among them participated in a byline strike, refusing to sign their names to their stories in the newspaper in protest. Management responded with a gag orderGag orderA gag order is an order, sometimes a legal order by a court or government, other times a private order by an employer or other institution, restricting information or comment from being made public.Gag orders are often used against participants involved in a lawsuit or criminal trial...
. The next year, several journalists left The Halifax Daily News over similar conflicts, and ten journalists at The Regina Leader-Post were reprimanded or suspended after a byline strike to protest censorship of coverage of a speech in ReginaRegina, SaskatchewanRegina is the capital city of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The city is the second-largest in the province and a cultural and commercial centre for southern Saskatchewan. It is governed by Regina City Council. Regina is the cathedral city of the Roman Catholic and Romanian Orthodox...
by Toronto StarToronto StarThe Toronto Star is Canada's highest-circulation newspaper, based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its print edition is distributed almost entirely within the province of Ontario...
columnist and Canwest critic Haroon SiddiquiHaroon SiddiquiHaroon Siddiqui, CM, O.Ont is an Indo-Canadian newspaper journalist, columnist and a former editor.-Early life and career:...
.
Upon acquiring Southam's Newspapers from Hollinger International, Israel Asper continued Conrad Black's policy of 'blacklisting' influential Canadian world and military affairs journalist Gwynne Dyer
Gwynne Dyer
Gwynne Dyer, OC is a London-based independent Canadian journalist, syndicated columnist and military historian.Dyer was born in St. John's, Newfoundland and joined the Royal Canadian Naval Reserve at the age of sixteen...
's internationally published articles. This antipathy was prompted by Dyer's views on conflict in the Middle East and his opposition to neoconservatism
Neoconservatism
Neoconservatism in the United States is a branch of American conservatism. Since 2001, neoconservatism has been associated with democracy promotion, that is with assisting movements for democracy, in some cases by economic sanctions or military action....
, which run contrary to the ideological views of Asper and others on Canwest's board of directors then and today. Partially as a response to this, Dyer published a collection of his articles on the Middle East and related topics called With Every Mistake
With Every Mistake
With Every Mistake is a collection of Gwynne Dyer's articles published between September 11, 2001 and the Iraqi election in 2005.The articles are interspered with commentary from Dyer which includes discussion of the issues, reflections on the Canadian publishing environment, and self-criticism for...
in 2005.
Canwest newspapers and broadcast outlets in British Columbia were regularly criticized for giving a "free ride" to the BC Liberal government of Premier Gordon Campbell, especially in relation to the scandals and controversies ensuing from the privatization of BC Rail but also in cooperating with the government's manipulation of information for political purposes, such as the suppression of the actual scale of the deficit or welfare rates in advance of the 2009 election. Conversely, coverage of the New Democratic Party is criticized as being unfairly negative. Canwest is one of the major campaign contributors to the BC Liberal party and gives regular column space to pundits from the think tank Fraser Institute
Fraser Institute
The Fraser Institute is a Canadian think tank. It has been described as politically conservative and right-wing libertarian and espouses free market principles...
(one such regular contributor being the Premier's brother, Michael).
External links
- Shaw Media
- Who Owns What: CanWest Global Communications (Columbia Journalism ReviewColumbia Journalism ReviewThe Columbia Journalism Review is an American magazine for professional journalists published bimonthly by the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism since 1961....
) - Focus on CanWest (TNG Canada/CWACommunications Workers of AmericaCommunications Workers of America is the largest communications and media labor union in the United States representing about 550,000 members in both the private and public sectors. The union has 27 locals in Canada via CWA-SCA Canada representing about 8,000 members...
) - Information on Canwest Creditor Proceedings