CanWest Blasted For Firing Ottawa Publisher

By: Michael Kovrig, Associated Press Writer (AP) Journalists at a prominent Canadian newspaper have launched a byline strike to protest the firing of the publisher, who says he was let go for defying the editorial policy of the media conglomerate that owns the daily.

The firing of Ottawa Citizen publisher Russell Mills by CanWest Global Communications -- the country's largest newspaper publisher and second largest private TV broadcaster -- earlier this week has raised concerns about concentration of media ownership and press freedom in Canada.

On Tuesday, articles and photos by members of the Ottawa Newspaper Guild began appearing in the Ottawa Citizen without the names of staffers.

CanWest Global declined to comment on Mills' departure. Mills has said he was fired for publishing an article that investigated Prime Minister Jean Chretien and an editorial that called for Chretien to resign.

Manitoba-based CanWest purchased 135-newspapers last year, including the Southam Inc. chain from Conrad Black's Hollinger Inc. They include 27 major dailies representing about 26% of the Canadian market.

Under Hollinger, some of Southam's major newspapers, including the flagship National Post, had a strong pro-business stance and often criticized Chretien's Liberal Party government.

CanWest is owned by Winnipeg's Asper family, known as longtime Liberal supporters. Since December, CanWest has barred its newspapers from running unsigned editorials that contradict the "core positions" of national editorials issued weekly from its headquarters.

Geoffrey Elliot, CanWest's vice president of corporate affairs, defended the policy of editorial control from headquarters. CanWest newspapers are encouraged to run "the full spectrum of opinion" in signed editorials and opinion pieces, he said Monday. "We don't expect the unsigned editorials, which reflect the position of the company, to be different from core values expressed in national editorials," Elliot said.

Critics, however, say the policy limits diversity of opinion in Canadian media. "We are worried about what this means for the future of this newspaper's editorial independence and that of the entire Southam newspaper chain," the Ottawa Newspaper Guild said in a statement.

The Vienna-based International Press Institute said the Mills firing damaged press freedom in Canada, and opposition leaders called for an investigation of whether Chretien pressured CanWest to drop Mills and others over criticism of the Liberal Party government.

Opposition leaders suggested that Chretien met with Mills' boss, CanWest owner Izzy Asper, the same day the Citizen ran the editorial that Mills said got him fired. Liberal member of parliament John Bryden said Tuesday that he saw Asper talking with Chretien on June 1.

Deputy Prime Minister John Manley and the prime minister's office continued to deny on Wednesday that Chretien played any role in Mills' firing. Mills, named editor of the Ottawa Citizen in 1977 and publisher in 1986, said CanWest asked him to retire quietly on Sunday, but he refused.

On Tuesday, columnist Gordon Gibson, a regular contributor to the National Post, said editors told him his submissions were no longer welcome after a recent column described Chretien as a "dead man walking."

Prior to Mills' firing, the CanWest policy inspired a byline strike at the Montreal Gazette, drew condemnation from former directors and owners, and led to the departure of at least two columnists from CanWest newspapers.