Buying up the Free Press

In 2000, Canwest Global Communications Corp. paid $3.2 billion to acquire the bulk of Hollinger International’s extensive chain of newspapers and 50 percent of the National Post. The sale of a major news corporation from a press baron (Conrad Black) to a media giant (Izzy Asper and his family) captured both domestic and international media attention. In particular, CanWest felt this acquisition would lead a big shift toward media convergence. As Leonard Asper wrote, it would hopefully become a “model for similar convergence activities throughout the Western world.”

The Aspers’ vision for media convergence never quite came to fruition. In theory, the operational strategy of sharing content between a company’s television and newspaper properties makes perfect sense. But in practice, there has generally been a point—an invisible line, if you will—where the print world and...