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Southam Inc.

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Southam Inc.
Company typePublic
IndustryNews Media Chain
Founded1904
FounderWilliam Southam
DefunctJanuary 28, 2003 (2003-01-28)
FateSold
SuccessorCanwest
Headquarters
Toronto
,
Canada
Area served
Canada
Key people
 Charles Lynch
ProductsNewspapers and newswires

Southam Inc., also known as Southam 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. By the 1980s, it became Canada’s largest newspaper chain, with daily papers in most major urban centres. Hollinger Inc. gained control of the company in 1996 and was eventually broken up and sold to media conglomerate Canwest in 2000. The brand continued on until 2003, when Canwest retired it in favour of its own branding for its newspaper chain and newswire. Since 2010, 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 in 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 that market.[3] In 1981, Southam purchased, the three-day-a-week newspaper, the Kamloops News.[4]

Southam Newspapers was taken over by 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 British Columbia print media holdings of Thomson Newspapers.[6]

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.[7] 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 eight Atlantic Canada and two Saskatchewan daily newspapers, 34 community papers, and two printing plants to Transcontinental Media including the Cape Breton Post, and St. John's The Telegram.[8] The deal allowed Transcontinental to use its newly acquired Summerside, Prince Edward Island plant to print the Atlantic Canada version of the National Post.[9] More CanWest papers were spun off to Osprey Media on January 28, 2003, when four Ontario daily newspapers joined that company: St. Catharines Standard, Brantford Expositor, Niagara Falls Review, and The Welland Tribune.[10] 21 community weekly papers were also sold off to Osprey as well.[10]

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.[11] CanwWst News Service began operating in Winnipeg on February 12, 2003, and moved its expanded operations to Ottawa in April 2007.

2010: Postmedia buys Canwest

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Although defunct for seven years, Southam's remnants were sold by Canwest on July 13, 2010, when its newspaper publishing division was spun off into a new company, Postmedia Network Ltd., led by National Post CEO, Paul Godfrey.[12] 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.[13] Shaw closed out the deal when they came to an agreeement with Goldman-Sachs regarding Canwest's speciality TV channels on May 3, 2010.[14] The Canadian Radio and Television Commission (CRTC) approved the deal on October 22, 2010,[15] and the deal was finalized on October 27, 2010, meaning CanWest Global Communications Inc. was no more.[16]

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.[17] Around the same time, the Southam family, and some Southam News journalists, signed their names to public advertisements criticizing CanWest’s head office for centralizing editorial control, with must-carry opinion pieces from management.[18] According to the Toronto Star, this protest made it easier for Asper to drop the Southam name from its newspaper chain and put his own stamp on the company.[18]

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. Spokane, Washington: Cowles Company. The Associated Press. ISSN 2993-1274. Archived from the original on December 7, 2024. Retrieved December 22, 2024.
  6. ^ Ouston, Rick (May 19, 1998). "Southam buys daily, weekly Island papers". Vancouver Sun. Vancouver, British Columbia: Southam News. p. A5c. ISSN 0832-1299. Retrieved December 26, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ 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.
  8. ^ Silcoff, Sean (July 11, 2002). "GTC buys 44 CanWest publications". Financial Post. Toronto: Canwest. p. FP4. ISSN 0838-8431. Retrieved December 26, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ 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.
  10. ^ 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.
  11. ^ Howard, Robert (January 30, 2003). "Southam name is gone but won't be forgotten". The Hamilton Spectator. Hamilton, Ontario: Torstar. p. A10. ISSN 1189-9417. Retrieved December 25, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ 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.
  13. ^ 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.
  14. ^ 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.
  15. ^ 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.
  16. ^ 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.
  17. ^ 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.
  18. ^ a b Ferguson, Rob (January 29, 2003). "Two top executives leave CanWest: Newspapers drop Southam name". Toronto Star. Torstar. p. E1. Retrieved December 26, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.


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