Canada's Biggest Newspaper Chain May Pull Out Of CP

By: E&P Staff Canada's biggest newspaper publisher, CanWest Global Communications Corp., has begun the process of pulling out of Canadian Press (CP), the nation's most extensive newswire.

CanWest, which operates its own syndicated news service under the CanWest News Service name, formally notified CP of its possible withdrawal from the news cooperative on Wednesday.

Under CP bylaws, members must give a year's notice by the end of June to leave by the next summer. CanWest has the option of canceling the withdrawal notice at any time over the next 12 months, and CanWest's vice president for editorial, Scott Anderson, told CanWest News Service that it was only making a notice of intent.

"We feel that by reinvesting the money we currently pay CP we can do a better job serving our readers," Anderson said. "But I want to emphasize that we want to keep all our options open, including possible arrangements with CP."

CanWest 11 big-city dailies include the Ottawa Citizen, The Vancouver Sun, Ottawa Citizen, and Regina Leader-Post.

In a statement to his news service, CP President Eric Morrison said he hoped CanWest would stay on, but that "having said that, CP is not at risk if they continue on this course that allows them to go on." Phone messages seeking comment from CP were not immediately returned Friday.

CanWest contributes about C$4.6 million (U.S. $4.13 million) to CP, approximately 10% of the cooperative's annual budget.

While that would be a significant hit, CP noted that it has been expanding its market with the growth of Internet subscribers.

And the cooperative has survived worse crises. In a Globe and Mail story Thursday, media reporter Grant Robertson noted that a decade ago, the Southam chain was threatening to withdraw -- taking with it some 35% of CP's revenues.

Newspapers now account for just 40% of CP's revenue, compared to 60% in the pre-Internet era, the Globe and Mail noted.

CP was founded in 1917, and is used by about 600 newsrooms now. It has a French-language news service, La Presse Canadienne, and provides news feeds to TV and radio stations through its Broadcast News Ltd.