J-Source

Crocodile tears?

In the midst of an economic downturn, Canadian media companies like Canwest Global are announcing dire cutbacks. Is Canwest really in trouble, or are they just seizing the moment to cut 560 jobs and demand further deregulation? Looking at the newspaper division’s healthy profits, Deborah Jones is skeptical. While company stocks are down, company profits…

In the
midst of an economic downturn, Canadian media companies like Canwest Global are
announcing dire cutbacks. Is Canwest really in trouble, or are they just
seizing the moment to cut 560 jobs
and demand further
deregulation
? Looking at the newspaper division’s healthy profits, Deborah Jones is
skeptical
. While company stocks are down, company profits seem steady. Laura
Rich Fines, Wall Street’s top media-stock analyst, has some advice for
newspapers in these times: make less money,
get off the stock exchange
. So simple, yet so unlikely.

(Graphic by B. Kimmel)

In the
midst of an economic downturn, Canadian media companies like Canwest Global are
announcing dire cutbacks. Is Canwest really in trouble, or are they just
seizing the moment to cut 560 jobs
and demand further
deregulation
? Looking at the newspaper division’s healthy profits, Deborah Jones is
skeptical
. While company stocks are down, company profits seem steady. Laura
Rich Fines, Wall Street’s top media-stock analyst, has some advice for
newspapers in these times: make less money,
get off the stock exchange
. So simple, yet so unlikely.

(Graphic by B. Kimmel)

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Patricia W. Elliott is a magazine journalist and assistant professor at the School of Journalism, University of Regina. You can visit her at patriciaelliott.ca.