Canadian Media Chain To Hire National Arts Journalism Team

CanWest, which owns 11 big-city newspapers and 16 TV stations across Canada, is hiring a new team of national arts journalists to be based around the country. The team will be used on TV and in print, and the company says it wants to create some stars. But “the creation of the arts team has CanWest’s current arts editors, reporters and reviewers worried. They fear that the company’s long-term plan is to reduce local reporting and criticism and that, over time, coverage of film festivals, concerts and events will diminish.” CanWest’s track record on arts coverage is terrible; when it acquired the National Post two years ago, it dismantled the paper’s first-rate arts and culture section. “CanWest continues to treat its newspaper customers as though they were buying dog food — bigger box, less food. What do the dogs know?”