The buyers say a lot of the right things. But since they seem to have no publishing experience, there’s no way to know what their plans are for the corporation, or for the newspaper.
By Magda Konieczna
There’s a major irony behind this week’s sale of the Canadian newspaper publisher Torstar. Fabled owner Joseph Atkinson left Torstar’s flagship newspaper, the Toronto Star, to his foundation upon his death in 1948. If that arrangement had gone ahead, the paper would have been an early example of the ownership model of the Tampa Bay Times and the Philadelphia Inquirer. Foundations certainly don’t solve all of journalism’s problems, but they do ensure local, stable ownership and perhaps greater support for producing public service journalism.
Instead, Atkinson’s plan faced a decade of legal challenges. In the end, his trustees bought the paper and pledged to uphold its principles, including a focus on social justice, civil liberties, and civic engagement.
This week, Torstar, the corporation that owns the newspaper, agreed to be sold for $52 million Canadian dollars, though the final sale still depends on shareholder approval. This would put an end to Atkinson’s hopes for an innovative ownership structure of the Star, just as the pandemic drives what certainly may be the last nail in the coffin for advertising-supported news.
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