October 28, 2014 - No. 88
Build the Workers' Press to
Oppose Media Monopolization
The Working Class Must
Have Its Own Voice!
Samples of the Party and
non-Party press on display at the celebration marking the 44th
anniversary of the Party press, Etobicoke, August 23, 2014.
Build
the
Workers' Press to Oppose Media Monopolization
• The Working Class Must Have Its Own Voice!
- Dougal MacDonald
Canada-Wide
Days
of
Action
October
24-26
• People of Cold Lake,
Alberta Reject Attempts
to Demonize Muslims - George Allen
• No to Canadian
Participation in U.S.-Led Wars
of Terror!
No to Criminalization of Dissent!
Build the Workers' Press to Oppose Media
Monopolization
The Working Class Must Have Its Own Voice!
- Dougal MacDonald -
The U.S.-controlled media
monopoly Postmedia announced on October 9 that it had purchased the Sun
Media chain, the English-language publications of the Peladeau media
monopoly, Quebecor, for $316 million. The deal gives Postmedia control
of the five daily Sun
newspapers in Calgary, Edmonton, Ottawa,
Toronto and Winnipeg; 27 small-market dailies; 140 weeklies; the London
Free
Press and numerous other media properties. Postmedia already
owns, among other properties, the National
Post, Calgary Herald, Edmonton Journal, Montreal Gazette, Regina Leader-Post, Ottawa Citizen, Sakatoon Star-Phoenix, Windsor Star, Vancouver Sun and Vancouver Province. The purchase
of Sun Media still requires regulatory approval from the federal
Competition Bureau.
The newspaper business in
Canada has always been highly
monopolized to better serve the needs of the ruling circles. The
Southam family of Toronto, part
of the old Canadian ruling class, originally established its national
media chain in 1904, beginning
with the London Free Press and eventually owning 17 major
dailies and 56 community newspapers, as well as numerous radio
stations.
In
2000, the CanWest media monopoly
owned by Winnipeg's Asper family bought from Conrad Black's Hollinger
Incorporated the
Southam newspaper chain. (Hollinger declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy
shortly after Black's
conviction for wire fraud in 2007.) Postmedia
was formed in 2010 to take over the failing CanWest.
The Postmedia ownership group was assembled by National
Post CEO Paul Godfrey in 2010. Postmedia completed a $1.1 billion
transaction to acquire the CanWest newspaper chain on July 13, 2010.
Godfrey secured financial backing from U.S. hedge funds Golden Tree
Asset Management and
Silver Point Capital, as well as other investors.[1]
The
debt
which
CanWest
already
owed
to Golden Tree was turned into
shares in Postmedia on CanWest's reorganization, resulting in Golden
Tree owning 39 per cent of Postmedia. Golden Tree is run by three U.S.
financiers, Steven Tananbaum, Robert Matza and
Stephen Shapiro. Shapiro, a former managing director of the Canadian
Imperial Bank of Commerce, represents Golden Tree on the Postmedia
Board of Directors. Silver Point, run by Goldman Sachs alumni, owns 19
per cent of Postmedia.
Hedge funds such as Golden Tree and Silver Point make
their money not by building companies but by profiting from their
destruction -- mass firings, contracting out
and financial liquidations. They get rich by investing in companies
which are not thriving but are nearing the end of
their financial rope. If Golden Tree and Silver Point run true to form,
the current workers at Postmedia are likely to be entering a difficult
period. Postmedia has been steadily losing advertising revenues for
some years and has already been "restructured" by eliminating workers
across Canada. Postmedia has repeatedly
declared that the future of newsmedia lies in becoming a digital-only
business which will certainly lead to further cuts. Also, the Sun Media
takeover means that in several cities, Postmedia now has two competing
newspapers in the same
city, one of which is likely to be eliminated.
The Postmedia-Quebecor deal will
increase the monopolization of Canada's media which has always worked
in the interests of the ruling circles and will continue to do so.
Which group of workers is not familiar with the fact that over and over
the monopoly media obscures, misreports, and twists their struggles
to favour the owners of capital who hold power? In fact, the monopoly
media deliberately hire a variety of anti-worker columnists whose sole
function is to consistently attack the workers. This has been very
clearly illustrated, for example, during the ongoing struggles of the
Hamilton steelworkers of Local 1005
against U.S. Steel. Other more "liberal" columnists undermine the
workers in a different manner by calling for "fairness" and for
everyone to be "reasonable," as if such a thing is possible when the
capitalist owners dominate everything, including the government.
Overall, the monopoly media continually trumpet
the line of the ruling class on everything, attacking society with a
vengeance and serving as a major obstacle to opening society's path to
progress.
The way forward for the workers in terms of the media
lies not in hoping to influence the monopoly media to finally favour
the workers but in having its own voice, in having its own workers'
press. Does such a press exist? Yes it does. For over 44 years, the
Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist) has
been carrying out the critical task of building such a press, which is
an extremely powerful weapon in the hands of the working class to
organize itself in defence of its own interests. This includes 29 years
of building the mass Party press and mass non-Party press, two kinds of
journalism indispensable for the building
of the working class movement for its own emancipation. The non-Party
press, as the voice of the movement for enlightenment, and the
mass-Party press, as the voice of the working class, are two important
instruments in the movement of the working class to create the
conditions for its own emancipation and open
the path for society's progress. Strengthening and consolidating both
kinds of press is a key part of the work CPC(M-L) is undertaking during
this period.
The critical roles and partisanship of the
two kinds of press are clearly explained in TML Weekly Information
Project, August 23, 2014: "The partisanship of the non-Party mass
press is to the movement for enlightenment and for the progress of
society. In this regard, its content and editorial policy
reflect the concerns of the people and, in a manner of speaking, it
sets the agenda for society by determining which issues are in fact
matters of concern and by eliminating or rejecting all those things
which are diversionary and irrelevant. The partisanship of the mass
Party press is to the working class and the leading
role of the working class over the entire society. It is dedicated to
providing the class with the consciousness and organization
commensurate with its revolutionary position in society."
TML Weekly continues: "It is important to note
that
the movement for enlightenment reflected in the pages of the non-Party
press, can really thrive only with the working class taking its place
and providing all those who are concerned and discontented with the
existing situation with the advanced fighting
positions, that is by setting the agenda for the working class and its
allies to create a modern society based on a modern system."[2]
Thus the
logical conclusion is that the most effective way for the workers and
their allies to oppose increasing monopolization of the bourgeois media
is for them to continue to provide
the mass Party press and the mass non-Party press with their support
and to work to expand it. It is incumbent on the class conscious
workers and all progressive and democratic forces to step up this
important work in order to achieve victory on the media front and final
victory overall.
Notes
1. A recent study by the Federal Reserve
Bank of San Francisco assigns most of the blame for the 2007-2009
financial crisis to hedge funds.
2. See TML Weekly
Information Project, August 23, 2014 on the 44th anniversary
of the
Party press.
Canada-Wide Days of Action October 24-26
People of Cold Lake, Alberta Reject Attempts
to
Demonize Muslims
- George Allen -
During the night of October 23 some backward elements in
Cold Lake,
Alberta, defaced the local mosque with racist comments and broke some
windows. The words "Go Home" were written multiple times across the
outside of the building in red spray paint. The following day, dozens
of residents from the town
of 14,000 came forward to militantly oppose the vandalism, uniting with
members of the mosque to clean off the graffiti and repair the windows.
They posted signs on the front of the mosque saying "You are Home!" and
"We stand united as Canadians." Members of the community also brought
flowers and gifts
which were displayed them by the smashed windows.
The Cold Lake mosque has been open for four years at its
current
location. Cold Lake Mayor Craig Copeland said that the mosque is an
important part of the town and that he was disappointed that someone in
the community could be behind the damage. "I just want to say that the
Muslim community is at home
in Cold Lake," the mayor stated.
There is no doubt that the war-mongering stance taken by
the Harper
dictatorship contributed in large measure to these events. Harper has
used the tragic events in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu and in Ottawa on
October 20 and 22 respectively to declare that Canada is threatened by
the Islamic State of Syria and Iraq
(ISIS) and that we must fight them on their own territory and on
Canadian soil as well. He is supporting a military intervention in Iraq
and the use of force to sort out problems in the Middle East,
fraudulently claiming that ISIS poses a threat to Canadian security and
therefore armed intervention is a matter of defending
Canada's national interest. The town of Cold Lake is home to the large
military base that Canadian CF-18 fighters departed from on October 22
to participate in the U.S.-led intervention in Iraq, on Prime Minister
Harper's orders.
Kudos to the people of Cold Lake for rejecting the
Harper
dictatorship's continuing attempts to demonize Muslims with such
misleading phrases as "young jihadists" and instead standing for a
socially responsible response to the unfolding events by standing for
principle while thinking things through.
No to Canadian Participation in
U.S.-Led Wars of
Terror!
No to Criminalization of Dissent!
On the weekend of October 24-26, anti-war rallies,
marches, pickets and other activities were
organized in cities across Canada. Events took place in Charlottetown,
Halifax, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, London, Windsor, Winnipeg,
Edmonton, Calgary, Vancouver and in the Comox Valley and other places.
The actions
took a firm stand against U.S.-led aggression, war, occupation
and regime change and Canada's participation in them, especially the
U.S. bombing campaign underway in Iraq and
Syria.
The actions took place in the context of the
tragic events of the preceding week in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu and
Ottawa which are being used by the Harper government to declare that
Canada is under imminent threat from the Islamic State of Iraq and
Syria (ISIS) and that they must be fought
not only abroad but at home as well. Participants firmly rejected the
use of these tragedies
for self-serving purposes, including criminalizing the Canadian
people's opposition to Harper's war agenda,
and put forward the call to organize for an anti-war government.
TML reiterates
the need for everyone to continue organizing such actions to keep their
bearings and provide an atmosphere of calm for themselves and others,
that facilitates rational discussion of unfolding events. There is
great deal of disinformation and pressure on people to jump to
unwarranted conclusions in support of an agenda for war and violation
of rights that does not serve
their interests. Questions of who or what is the source of violence and
insecurity in the society and the world at this time are serious
questions that deserve serious investigation and deliberation.
Providing these questions with serious answers in the context of
defending the rights of all will oppose the self-serving disinformation
of the Harper dictatorship and assist in the work to build an anti-war
government.
Charlottetown
Montreal
A spirited action was held in Montreal on
October 26. People from all walks of life participated along with many
organizations such as Women of Diverse Origins, Artists for Peace,
International
Alliance of Women, Independent Jewish Voices, the Green Party and the
Marxist-Leninist Party of Quebec (PMLQ) with its banner "Fight for an
Anti-War
Government."
Activists of the PMLQ distributed a statement which
called on
everyone not to permit the tragedies in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu and
Ottawa to validate the Harper dictatorship and its plans for war. Many
participants said that they had come out specifically to reject the use
of these tragedies to
justify Canada's participation in U.S.-led aggression and war.
Outside the federal government offices speaker after
speaker
denounced the participation of Canada, England, Australia and other
countries in U.S.-led aggression.
Following the demonstration people stayed to have
lively
discussion about how to deal with the situation facing
the peoples, with the Couillard government in Quebec and the
Harper government in Canada.
The October 25 demonstration in Ottawa condemned the
government's cynical use of the killing of the soldier on October 22 at
the War
Memorial to push its agenda for war, racism and
suppression of rights. Participants used the occasion to affirm that
state terrorism
is never a solution to any problem, that our security lies in our fight
for the rights
of all, and the necessity to fight for an anti-war government.
Speakers included Abdourahman Kahin of Muslim
Presence, First Nations and environmental activist Ben Powless,
trade union activist Hassan Husseini, and Anne-Marie Roy, President of
the University of Ottawa Student Federation. Everyone rejected with
contempt the Harper government's vigorous
efforts to criminalize dissent, demonize those it deems "enemies,"
embroil Canada in U.S.-led wars of aggression, and
impose its anti-social neo-liberal austerity agenda.
Toronto
A militant rally was held across from
the U.S.
Consulate in downtown Toronto on October 25. Participants included
members of anti-war and civil rights organizations, as well as workers,
students, national minorities and faith
groups. A contingent
of Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist) activists participated
with a banner that boldly declared, "Canada Needs an Anti-War
Government!"
The day of action came just three days after the killing
of the soldier in
Ottawa and all those who spoke opposed the way the Harper government is
exploiting such tragic events to promote its war agenda and to
increase its criminalization of dissent. The speakers said
they will not let Harper dissuade them from
speaking out and mobilizing against the war. They took a firm stand
against the U.S.-led wars of aggression and
occupation and regime change and Canada's participation in them and
urged that peaceful solutions be found to problems within and between
nations.
Another point made was that the terrorism of
ISIS cannot
be defeated by state terrorism. This point was made very poignantly by
the representative of a Syrian women's organization who mourned the
recent killings of the two Canadian soldiers and at the same
time mourned the losses suffered
by thousands of families in Syria due to the violence unleashed by the
U.S. and its allies.
Windsor
In
Windsor on
October 24, people held a spirited rally and march in the downtown core
during
which many flyers were distributed to passersby explaining the
purpose of the rally and calling on them to oppose Harper's war agenda.
In addressing those gathered, Margaret
Villamizar, Chairperson
of the Windsor Peace Coalition, emphasized that the Harper war
government does not speak for Canadians. She
explained that the Coalition was founded at the time of the 2003 Iraq
war, at which
time it said that war would only lead to more insecurity, disorder and
terrorism. Unfortunately that prediction came true, she said,
emphasizing that it is important to find the means to deprive the
Harper
government of its power to embroil us in these destructive adventures
so that the situation does not deteriorate further.
Other speakers expressed opposition to the Harper
government's hypocrisy when it comes to terrorism -- that it
opposes terrorism in Canada but fully supports and U.S.-led state
terrorism committed against other countries. Opposing state terrorism
is the condition for international peace and
security, it was pointed out. Many passersby, especially youth, stopped
to listen and thank the Coalition
for taking such a stand in light of recent events.
Following the speak-out, participants marched through
the
downtown
core shouting "Harper Harper, Out of Iraq!" and "No More Wars of
Terror!"
At the end of the march, in a show of intimidation,
police made a
point of targeting some participants for questioning. It was
clear to participants that the Harper government's lawlessness and
self-serving disinformation sets the tone for such activities by the
police and security forces to act with impunity, in which those who do
not fall in line and
remain passive or support the anti-social and war agenda are treated as
a law
and
order problem. The Coalition informs that it will not accept that
participants in its actions are harassed and plans to file an official
complaint with the Police Services.
Winnipeg
Edmonton
Calgary
Vancouver
Courtenay/Comox Valley
In Courtenay, the Comox Valley Peace Group held a
demonstration
at the city's main intersection at noon on October 25. The call for the
demonstration said, "The Harper government is already using the events
of the last few days to attempt to justify his government's
participation in the
bombing of Iraq and Syria as well as to increase the violation of the
rights of Canadians at home... Our security does not lie in
ever-escalating interference in the affairs of other countries and
military aggression. Our security lies in defence of the rights of all,
including the sovereign rights of all nations, large and
small, and the condemnation of the use of force to settle conflicts
between nations."
There was a spirited discussion
that affirmed the importance of Canadians not being passive in the face
of the
Harper government's attacks, both the U.S.-led aggression to achieve
its aims of domination and control in the Middle East, and the
escalating attacks on the rights of all Canadians.
Throughout the action there were many gestures of
support, waves and horn-honking from passengers in passing cars.
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