Canada to Review Media Ownership Rules

Canada will launch a sweeping review of its newspaper ownership rules in a move that could allow foreign players into a market where dozens of daily and community newspapers have just gone on the auction block. The review, likely to include soul-searching public and parliamentary hearings, could begin to dismantle--or at least relax--long-standing policies designed to protect home-grown media. Canadian Heritage Minister Sheila Copps, who oversees Ottawa’s cultural department, said Tuesday the review was prompted by recent decisions by newspaper giants Hollinger International Inc. and Thomson Corp. to put huge chunks of their empires up for sale. Copps, a feisty defender of Canada’s cultural policies, said the review will consider ways to ease the current chokehold a handful of media giants have in Canada. That could involve relaxing the current 25% limit on foreign ownership, a policy long criticized by international media players.