Who Controls the Message?

The Mark Radio ep.14: Just because Canada's media industry is controlled by a few key players, doesn't mean there should only be a few voices.

Canada has one of the highest concentrations of media ownership in the western world. The majority of the mainstream is controlled by a small number of monolithic companies and conglomerates. And now that Canwest is being picked apart piece by piece, it's about to get worse.

Shaw is snatching up Canwest's TV stations, and a group of CanWest's unsecured creditors just paid $1.1 billion to reclaim 46 newspapers. As one media giant shrinks, another grows, passing assets back and forth. So what does it mean when so few companies have so much power over our news? Will their biases become our own?

But now readers who want diversity of opinion only have to look as far as the internet, where bloggers and social media users turn every news story into a debate.

So in our brave new opinionated world, who controls the message? Or can the message even be contained anymore?

On this week's episode of The Mark Radio, host Chris Mitchell talks with three experts on the topic:

First up, Christopher Waddell explains how concentrated media ownership can affect what ends up in your newspaper.

Next, veteran journalist Ira Basen talks about the Conservative Party's accusations of the CBC having a Liberal bias.

Finally, David Eaves discusses how new media has changed news from a monologue into a conversation, and why that's good for democracy.

(Run-time: 30 minutes.)