Source: Georgia Straight

The director of Carleton University's school of journalism and communication predicts that debt-ridden Canwest Global Communications Corp. will eventually be broken up.

Christopher Waddell also doesn't share Canwest president and CEO Leonard Asper's expressed optimism that the company will emerge stronger after securing bankruptcy protection on October 6 for its broadcasting assets, including Global Television, and the National Post newspaper.

"I think that's unlikely," Waddell told the Straight in a phone interview from Ottawa, regarding Asper's sunny outlook for the troubled media chain. "I think Canwest will not much exist at the end of this. I mean there may be a company called Canwest that owns Global Television, and maybe another company that owns the newspapers. That Canwest may have the same name, but it may not have the same owners. And Mr. Asper won't likely have the same control of the company."

In the scenario envisioned by the former veteran journalist, different companies will snap up Canwest's broadcasting assets, newspapers, and specialty TV channels, and their new owners could decide to sell some of these to other buyers.

For years, Canwest has been staggering under the weight of a massive debt of about $4 billion. While the court-approved bankruptcy protection covers only Canwest Media Inc. entities, which owe $761 million in debt, the clock is also ticking on Canwest Limited Partnership, which owed $874.2 million under senior secured credit facilities as of May 31.

Under a forbearance agreement, lenders to Canwest Limited Partnership, which owns the Vancouver Sun, the Province, and other papers in B.C. and other provinces, have agreed to not exercise their rights arising from debt-payment defaults until October 31.

Waddell said a breakup of Canwest will serve the public interest. "If we're going to see less concentration of ownership, less of a conglomerate ownership, I think probably the public is better off," he said. "Because then you end up with a situation where there's more competition, and there may be more people chasing different stories. There may be different views."

Ian Morrison is the spokesperson for Friends of Canadian Broadcasting, a Toronto-based watchdog for broadcast programming. In a phone interview, Morrison noted that viewers will benefit from a restructuring of Canwest Media Inc. that may leave the Aspers with less control over its broadcasting companies.

"So now that the company will be run, I say, professionally—at least the expectation is—that's probably better for the viewers as well, because anytime a company is better managed, its products tend to be better," Morrison told the Straight.

© Georgia Straight