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Media Concentration and Blogging

The overriding ideological argument presented by the Kent Commission, a Canadian Royal Commission on Newspaper and other media concentration,  stems from a deep and unshakable belief in the freedom of the press. As stated in the Commission’s Report: “Freedom of the press is not a property right of [newspaper] owners. It is a right of the people,” (Kent Report). The Kent Commission positioned itself as vanguard of consumer, and citizen rights. However, legislative change was not forthcoming, primarily due to the election of Mulroney’s conservative government. In retrospect, the value of the Kent Commission can be seen in the population’s latent attitudes towards media concentration. The free press movement has garnered significant support amongst media-conscious individuals, both in the U.S., and in Canada. In an interview with Adbusters magazine, Noam Chomsky spoke about the problems posed by George Bush’s administration in regards to free press and press reform. He said: “Unless you have organized public opinion, which can be mutually reinforcing and can help develop a critical understanding, everyone is going to be at a loss. It’s you against the Internet and you don’t know what to look for. These problems can’t be solved by technical means. They have to be solved by organizing an educated population”...

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