“This is what God would have built if he had had the money.” That’s what George Bernard Shaw said about St. Donat’s Castle in Wales, after it was bought and renovated by William Randolph Hearst.
Hearst and his ilk are endangered. The 19th- and early-to-mid-20th-century image of the press baron — swaggering, jacket-wearing, cigar-smoking — is a thing of the past. There won’t be any more Ken Thomsons putting millions into Toronto’s art galleries.
Sure, Hollywood’s wealthiest music producer David Geffen suggested he’d buy the New York Times and turn it into a non-profit. We have yet to see any real deal. For all we know, this was nothing but a publicity stunt.
Many in Canada have lamented the brisk sweep of chain newspaper ownership, with its concomitant loss of local independence and its focus on making mountains of cash for wealthy owners. As margins shrink, I think we might just see chains divesting themselves of papers and community-based groups springing up in place of press barons.
As much of newspapers’ content becomes commodified and a wide open distribution system, opportunity for niche and local operators will increase.
Could it be that when the dust settles, the crisis in the news business will lead to more independent, thoughtful, community-based reporting?