From where do you get your local news? Which newspaper do you read? You may feel like you have a choice in Vancouver. After all, there’s the Vancouver Sun and the Vancouver Province. While there is indeed a choice between these two major newspapers, the differences between them is little more than the format of paper used. This is because the newspapers are both owned by the same company.

Yes, the fact that the three major newspapers in BC are owned by Canwest Global seems to be generally known in the province. The implications of this, however, have not registered with the average reader. What happens when the same company owns all three newspapers is that diversity is reduced. Democracy requires that citizens be able to choose from a variety of perspectives.

It is true that most people don’t get their news exclusively from the newspaper. Local news is available from several different television stations. But not only is one of these stations also owned by Canwest Global, but the television news channels all take their cues from the newspapers.

If both the Sun and the Province are owned by the same company, they don’t need to compete with each other for readers. Rather than constantly trying to get the scoop before the other paper does, they share information and therefore report the same news from the same point of view.

The other thing that happens is that advertisers become the focus of the newspapers attention. According to a former editor of the Vancouver Sun, funds were cut from the actual newsroom and diverted to the budget for courting advertisers. I’ve observed the result of this myself in what the weekend edition of the Sun looks like. Section after section seems to be created exclusively as a platform for advertising. You’ve got your “new homes” section, a couple of sections about buying cars, a section dedicated to travel and so on. It seems that these advertorial sections now make up the bulk of the newspaper. Even within these sections you’ve got to question how critical the stories will be of a particular car, for example, if they’re trying to get the manufacturer of that car to buy adspace on the opposite page.

There are many other factors that make this situation troubling, yet unfortunately there seems to be little public unhappiness with this. Suprisingly, the United States has stricter media ownership regulations than does Canada (although there have been recent efforts there to change this). This is a problem that can be fixed, if there is enough public will. In the meantime, I plan on exploring my options when it comes to getting local BC news. One great alternative is an online newspaper called The Tyee.

Any other suggestions? What do you think about these media ownership issues?