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Southam Inc.

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Southam
TypeNewspaper chain and newswire
Years active1904-2003
Area servedCanada
Successor companyPostmedia Network

Southam Inc., also known as South News and Southam Newswire, was a media company and news agency in Canada. Company founder William Southam started as a paper boy for the London Free Press and eventually went on to acquire many prominent daily newspapers across Canada such as the Calgary Herald, Edmonton Journal, Ottawa Citizen, The Province and Winnipeg Tribune and created Southam Inc. in 1904 to run them. The company was sold to Hollinger Inc. in 1996 and was eventually broken up and sold to media conglomerate Canwest. Many former Southam newspapers are now owned by Postmedia Network Inc.

History

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Southam Inc. was incorporated in 1904 by William Southam to manage his growing newspaper empire.[1] Once a delivery boy for The London Free Press, he had risen up the ranks to become a part owner of the paper by 1867.[2] He bought the failing The Hamilton Spectator in 1877 for $5,000 and turned its fortunes around.[2] Beginning in 1897, Southam began acquiring other papers in the country including the Calgary Herald, the Ottawa Citizen, Vancouver's The Province.[1]

1904–1999: Leading Canadian Chain

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In 1904, Southam Inc was incorporated and grew into one of the largest newspaper chains the country with 17 daily newspapers and 56 community newspapers.[2] As the newspaper chain expanded, the associated wire service, Southam News Service, was created and expanded with it.

The Winnipeg Tribune was a Southam owned newspaper until it closed on August 27, 1980, giving the Thomson Newspapers Ltd. owned Winnipeg Free Press a monopoly in the market.[3] In 1981, Southam purchased, the three-day-a-week newspaper, the Kamloops News.[4]

Southam Newspapers was sold to Hollinger Inc. in 1996, after Conrad Black gained a controlling stake in the company.[5] Under Hollinger control, Southam made further acquisitions, including many of the Canadian print media holdings of Thomson Newspapers.

2000–2003: Southam's demise

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On November 15, 2000, the Southam Newspapers company was broken up with the print media holdings and the Southam Newspapers name being sold to media company Canwest.[6] Canwest examined ways to integrate many of its smaller market papers into its Global television news division; however, it wasn't to be. On August 10, 2002, Canwest sold ten Atlantic Canada and two Saskatchewan newspapers and two printing plants to Transcontinental Media including the Cape Breton Post, and St. John's The Telegram.[7] More CanWest papers were spun off to Osprey Media on January 28, 2003, when four Ontario daily newspapers joined that company: St.Catherines Journal, Brantford Expositor, Niagara Falls Review, and The Wellend Tribune.[8] 21 community weekly papers were also sold off to Osprey as well.[8]

At the end of January 2003, Leonard Asper, CanWest's president and CEO announced that the Southam corporate name was to be retired, and CanWest branding would be used in its place.[9] CanwWst News Service began operating in Winnipeg on February 12, 2003, and moved its expanded operations to Ottawa in April 2007.

On July 13, 2010, Canwest's newspaper publishing division was spun off into a new company, Postmedia Network Ltd., led by National Post CEO, Paul Godfrey.[10] Canwest's broadcasting division, Canwest Global Media, was sold to Shaw Media earlier in the year, after an attempt by the Asper family to regain the company in court failed on February 19, 2010.[11] Shaw closed out the deal when they came to an agreeement with Goldman-Sachs regarding Canwest's speciality TV channels on May 3, 2010.[12] The Canadian Radio and Television Commission (CRTC) approved the deal on October 22, 2010,[13] and the deal was finalized on October 27, 2010, meaning CanWest Global Communications Inc. was no more.[14]

Criticism

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The Asper-owned Southam newspaper empire faced criticism when it fired Russell Mills as publisher of the Ottawa Citizen, allegedly for criticizing Prime Minister Jean Chrétien, who was a good friend of Izzy Asper.[15]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b Potter, Jessica (July 20, 2009). "Southam Inc.". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Toronto: Historica Canada. Archived from the original on December 7, 2024. Retrieved December 22, 2024.
  2. ^ a b c Spectator Staff (February 20, 2021). "A newspaper empire began with The Spectator". The Spectator. Hamilton, Ontario: Metroland Media Group. p. A12. ISSN 1189-9417. Archived from the original on July 26, 2024. Retrieved December 22, 2024.
  3. ^ Bell, Ken (August 28, 1980). "Thomson gets back large part of FP cost". The Province. Vancouver, British Columbia: Pacific Newspaper Group. p. A2. ISSN 0839-3311. Retrieved December 22, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ UPI Staff (July 30, 1981). "Southam Inc., one of Canada's two largest newspaper chains,..." UPI Archives. Boca Raton, Florida: United Press International. Archived from the original on December 7, 2024. Retrieved December 22, 2024.
  5. ^ AP Staff (June 2, 1996). "Conrad Black Gobbles Up Canadian Newspapers". The Spokesman-Review. Cowles Company. The Associated Press. ISSN 2993-1274. Archived from the original on December 7, 2024. Retrieved December 22, 2024.
  6. ^ Walters, Joan (November 17, 2000). "CanWest, Hollinger seal deal". The Vancouver Sun. Vancouver, British Columbia: Pacific Newspaper Group Inc. p. F11. ISSN 0832-1299. Retrieved December 22, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ CBC Staff (July 10, 2002). "CanWest sells papers to Transcontinental for $255 million". CBC News. Montreal: Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on April 15, 2017. Retrieved December 26, 2024.
  8. ^ a b Nugget Staff (January 28, 2003). "Nugget has new sister publications". North Bay Nugget. North Bay, Ontario: Osprey Media. pp. A1, A4. ISSN 1197-9941. Retrieved December 25, 2024 – via Newspapers.org.
  9. ^ Howard, Robert (January 30, 2003). "Southam". The Hamilton Spectator. Hamilton, Ontario: Torstar. p. A10. ISSN 1189-9417. Retrieved December 25, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ Tedesco, Theresa; Sturgeon, Jamie (July 14, 2010). "Birth of a new media giant". National Post. Toronto: Canwest. pp. A1, A6. ISSN 1486-8008. Retrieved December 22, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ Krashinsky, Susan; Robertson, Grant; Willis, Andrew (February 20, 2010). "Shaw wins court fight for CanWest assets Approval sets stage for tough talks with Goldman over prized specialty channels". The Globe and Mail. Toronto: CTVGlobemedia. p. B1. ProQuest 1444701750. Retrieved December 22, 2024 – via ProQuest.
  12. ^ Friend, David (May 4, 2010). "Shaw acquires Canwest". The Spectator. Hamilton, Ontario: Metroland Media Group. The Canadian Press. p. A11. ISSN 1189-9417. Archived from the original on December 23, 2024. Retrieved December 23, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ Lasalle, Luan (October 23, 2010). "Shaw gets nod for $2b deal". The Spectator. Hamilton, Ontario: Metroland Media Group. The Canadian Press. p. A11. ISSN 1189-9417. Retrieved December 23, 2010 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ Sturgeon, Jamie (October 28, 2010). "'Vertical' new Shaw rekindles debate: Open Content?". National Post. Toronto: Postmedia Network. pp. FP1, FP5. ISSN 1486-8008. Retrieved December 23, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ Global Journalist Staff (October 1, 2002). "Fired Canadian publisher superhero of free press". Global Journalist. Columbia, Missouri: Missouri School of Journalism. Archived from the original on March 1, 2012. Retrieved December 22, 2024.


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