Sunday, August 03, 2008

The Free Market Speaks! Right Wing Media In Toilet X 2!

1) Bourrie at Ottawa Watch has been on the CanWest Death spiral like a vulture on the bloated corpse of a dead cow. Basically, the stock has dipped below $2.00 per share, and this has sparked rumors that the National Post might be sold off. In other words, next time you're at McDonalds keep an eye on the guy behind the counter flipping burgers. It might be Jonathon Kay.

2) The Audit Bureau of Circulations is a not-for-profit circulation organization. It conducts 3rd party audits of newspaper circulation reports so that advertisers and advertising agencies can have accurate, verified figures. Recently, ABC dinged The Toronto Sun for "discrepancies" in their 2007 reporting, and

...said it expects to release an audit report for 2007 within the next 10 days that shows downward circulation adjustments of 11 per cent on the paper's daily circulation, 12 per cent for Saturday papers and 15 per cent for Sunday copies."

Doom, baby, doom!

h/t Sun Family Blog.

14 comments:

Reality Bites said...

When I read about the idea of selling of the Post my thought was, "Who would want it?"

It is simply the wrong product for its target market. And the only seeming alternative - emulating the Globe and Mail - has the problem of the Globe's infinitely greater resources and entrenchment in the market.

These are tough times for daily newspapers. If one has never, ever, been close to profitable, what are the chances of turning that around?

RuralSandi said...

Instead of being the voice of the people these papers are the voice trying to manipulate the people - that's where media has gone wrong.

I don't like people trying to manipulate me nor should others.

Jane Dough said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

and the wimpy dude working the greasy fryer, taking the orders from Jonathon, will be Steffi.

I can just hear the whinging and whining now about how green the fires could be if someone would listen.

Ti-Guy said...

Here's The Globe's report on CanWest in yesterday's business section. Allegedly, Senator Grafstein is involved in the attempt to purchase The National Post:

Separately, a group led by Senator Jerry Grafstein has been actively seeking backers to put together some kind of bid to purchase the National Post newspaper.

All the figures are fascinating and everything (not) but it always strikes me that the substantive reasons for the decline in the appeal of CanWest's media products remain unexamined.

Anyway, don't wish too hard for the demise of The National Post. It may just come true, and the Rightards it currently employs will travel the vector of media incestuousness to infect the remaining print media we have. Barbara Kay probably has an office already set up at Macleans, complete with diaper changing table for Johnathon.

Frank said...

Calling CanWest right wing shows how brain washed BCL has become. The Asperator family have been Liberal supporters for years. Notwithstanding one or two op-ed writers,The Post hasn't been "right wing" since Tubby sold off. The Globe under dick head Greenspon is just an up market clone of The Star. The CBC and Globe owned CTV are in the Liberal pocket. In fact, Canada doesn't have a right wing media. Tabloids don't count. If they do then I want NOW and all those drivel ridden Marxist piffle sheets littering Toronto streets counted.

Ti-Guy said...

Request for deletions, please. The Albertards are all hungover, in foul moods and have particularly vicious halitosis to be so willingly tolerated this fine Sunday morning.

I can't believe these primitives get tribal over crappy media.

Frank said...

Just correcting the lies in BCL's post, ti-guy. No need to get uppity.

Ti-Guy said...

Request for deletions, please. The Albertards are all hungover, in foul moods and have particularly vicious halitosis to be so willingly tolerated this fine Sunday morning.

I can't believe these primitives get tribal over crappy media.

bigcitylib said...

One of them is Jonathon Kay.

Ti-Guy said...

No, I'd guess Barbara. Johnathan is consistenlty puling and dull-witted, whereas the harridan herself is capable of a wide variety of styles, from imperious to screechy and everything in between.

RuralSandi said...

Okay, let's straighten this out - Asper's father was a Liberal - now his son who's running things is a staunch right-winger.

Got it "sillydion"? Hope so.

Dirk Buchholz said...

Big city Lib said..."next time you're at McDonalds keep an eye on the guy behind the counter flipping burgers. It might be Jonathon Kay"...

yeah baby,wouldn't that be sweet

Ti-Guy said...

Asper's father was a Liberal - now his son who's running things is a staunch right-winger.

Everyone needs to be reminded that at that level of the elite, the people aren't political in any meaningful sense at all. They simply form alliances they think will be advantageous to them. Izzy was a Liberal when the government of Canada was Liberal.

The only thing you can really say about Lenny and Squiggy is that they're kind of inept. Which is why they seem "Conservative."

I can't get over the fact that in this massive media empire, there's hardly anything worth paying attention to, except audience share. Can someone name one quality media product that is associated with CanWest-Global?

And no, The New Republic does *not* count.