A History of Journalism in Canada 9780773595163

Citation preview

1,\\

1\

\

1\

'A HISTORY OF JOURNALISM IN CANADA

CARLETON UNIVERSItY W. H .

~E,STERTON

WITH A FOREWORD BY WILFRID. EGGLESTON

Th e Carleton Library No . 36 McClelland and Stewart Limited

THE CARLETON LIBRARY A series of Canadian rep rints, 'original works and new collections of source material relat ing to Canada, issued under th e edi to ri al su pervision of the Institute o f Ca nadian Stud ies of ea fleIDn University,

Ottawa. DIRECfOR OF THE INSTITUTE

Davidson Dunton GENERAL EDITOR

Michael Gnarowsk i EXECUTIVE EDITOR

James Marsh ED ITORIAL BOARD

B. Carman Bickerton (History)

Den nis Forcese (Sociology) David Knight (Geography) J. George Neuspic l (Law) Thomas K. Rymcs (Economics) Derek G. Sm ith (Anthropology) Michael S. Whittington (Political Science)

Copyright © M cCielland alld Srell'(lrl Limited, /967

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

The Canadian Publishers McClella nd and Stewart Limi ted 25 Hollinger Road, Toron to

I>RINTED AND BOUND I N CANADA

CONTENTS FOREWORD, V

PREFACE,X

1:

THE FIRST PRESS PERIOD : THE TRANSPLANT,

1752 to 1807, 1

Pioneer newspapers; characteristics of pioneer newspapers; freedom of the press; magazine journalism. 2: THE SECOND PRESS PERIOD: THICKENING GROWTH,

1807 to 1858, 10 Increase in numbers; some newspapers of the period; emergence of the private enterprise press; political content; nODpolitical content; tone and format; developing press freedom; mechanical advances; magazine press. 3: THE THIRD PRESS PERIOD: THE WESTERN TRANSPLANT AND SPREADING GROWTH, 1858 to 1900, 27

Pioncer newspapers of the West; some newspapers of the period; increase in numbers; newspaper content; qualitative cbanges in the press; mechanical 'changes in newspaper production; the daily newspaper; press organizations; deve'lopmcot of a freer press; magazine press. 4:

THE FOURTH PRESS PERIOD: THE MUTATION.

1900 to 1967, 64

Nature of the period; some causes of the mutation; consolidation and centralization. 5:

JOURNALS AND JOURNALISM,

84

The Globe alld Mail, Toronto; The Toronto Star; The Toronto Telegram; Montreal Star; The Montreal Gazette; The Montreal La Presse; Montreal Le Devoir; The Ottawa Citizen; The Ottawa Journal; The Winnipeg Free Press; The Winnipeg Tribune; The Vancouver Sun; The Vancouver Province; other dailies.

6:

QUALITATIVE DEVELOPMENTS: HOW THE DAILY NEWSPAPER

118 Processes of newspaper production; consequences of technology; institutions and activities related to journalism; non-daily components of Canada's press.

CHANGED DURING THE TWENTIETH CENTURY.

7:

TWENTIETH-CENTURY NEWSPAPER CONTENT,

176

Beginning of the century, 1901-14; First World War, 19 14.,. 18; carefree Twenties, 1919-29 ; great Depression, 1929-39; Second World War, 1939-45; age of tbe bomb, the satellite and manned space travel, 1945-66. 8:

THE DEVELOPM ENT OF RADIO AND T ELEVISION,

210

Early history; Aird Commission ; Canadian Radio Broadcasting Commission; 1936 Broadcasting Act and Canadian Broadcasting Corporation; advent of television; Fowler Commission and Broadcasting Act of 1958; Fowler Committee; White Paper on broadcasting.

9:

CANADIAN PRESS FREEDOM IN THE TWENTIETH CENT URY, 222

Philosopbical background; Alberta Press Act; "Babies for Export" trial; Quebec Padlock Law; libertarian system and press law; wartime censorship; cold war restrictions; press freedom and responsibility in the 1960's; printed media; electronic media. NOTES,269 INDEX,274 NOTB ON THE AUTHOR,

305

SUGGESTIONS FOR F URTHER READING,

306

Foreword by Wilfrid Eggleston The emergence of a free press as an inftuential agency in popular government is a substantial theme in tbe history of western civilization. The process began soon after technical improvements in printing with moveable type had greatly reduced the cost and increased the availability of printed works. Revolutionary ideas were able to travel more readily. As Professor W. E. Hocking points o}ltJ a free press makes it possible for rebels and reformers to make common cause against encroachments. The authoritarian rulers of the fifteenth century did Dot immediat~ly sense the grave menace to them latent in an uncontrolled printing press; but as soon as this became evident they began to apply censorship, licence and monopoly, enforced by, severe penalties, to keep the Dew medium under rigid discipline. In due course these barriers were breached here and there in the interests of the masses, but the struggle lasted several hundred years, and in large areas of the globe it is far from won even today. It is an interesting coincidence that the span of this long period coincides pretty closely with the colonization and settlement of North America. By the time Christopher Columbus sailed from Spain the new arts of printing were well established in western Europe. The Mayflower arrived at Plymouth Harbor a few months before the first "corantos" - pioneer newspapers began to appear for sale in the streets of London. The seventeenth century. which saw the North Atlantic colonies well established, witness.e d in England the slow but stubborn growth of gazettes, corantos, pamphlets and broadsides, as well as the spread of literacy and the establishment of libraries. The long battle between Crown and Parliament and the emergence of . England as a maritime, imperial and commercial power provided endless issues for public controversy · and strong motives for circulating up-to-date information. The Licensing Act of England expired in 1694 and the next two decades saw a sort of first golden age of the press in London. Writers as various as Jonathan Swift, Daniel Defoe. Richard Steele and Joseph Addison illustrated the potency of the printed word. in savage satire, realistic reporting, and graceful literary portraits of men and things. The New England colonies were not quite ready to respond to this first brilliant illustration of the power of the journalist in

vi - A HISTORY OF JOURNALISM IN CANADA

public life. But the first daily newspaper printed in the English language (I702) in London preceded by only two years the appearance of the first true American newspaper; and the next fifty years saw notable progress in American journalism. By 1750 most literate Americans had access to some journal of information. Journals were numerous (Boston alone had five newspapers by 1735), commercial advertising was able to free printers from abject financial dependence upon the colonial government, and some revolutionary ideas were being disseminated. In England the first of the Stamp Acts (I712) dimmed the brilliance of the first golden-age in London. But Westminster did · not get around to extending such imposts on newspapers in the American colonies until 1765; and by then it was too late. The press of the American colonies played a powerful role in the . resistance which culminated in the Revolutionary War and independence. The transfer of European culture and civilization to North America over a span of three centuries affords copious examples of the ready way in which customs and institutions travel with the emigrants, colonists, and settlers to their new homes. Many institutions which have been repressed or discouraged in the homeland are able to flourish with great vigour on new soil. During the latter part of the eighteenth century the press of the new American reIUJblic was in many respects more dynamic and less fettered than the mother press in England. British North America was currently emerging, at first as a scatter of weak: crown colonies, but destined to develop ioto sturdy and spirited provinces and eventually federate into a potentially great union from sea to sea. Many of the early English-speaking settlers of British North America came to Canada conscious of great traditions and achievements in the press of Britain and the United States. New Fraoce had been colonized by a series of authoritarian regimes, under rigid control, and the printing press did not find a place there until after the battle on the Plains of Abraham. But as soon as the social and political conditions made a popular press feasible in Quebec it began to take hold there also. As Professor Kesterton so clearly indicates, the press of British North America from the beginning inherited some journalistic traditions of Britain and the United States. Many of tbe influential early settlers of British North America were bred in the military tradition, or were Loyalist tories; and the authoritarian philosophy of the colonial government at first prevailed everywhere. But other settlers came in

FOREWORD - vii

from more radical and revolutionary environments, and in any event the republican and egalitarian sentiments scattered around the world by the American and French Revolutions could not be prevented in due course from infecting many intellectual leaders of British North America. By the time agitation arose for repre· sentative institutions, for responsible government, and eventually for all the elements of what we call a "free" society, the institution of the press was well advanced, and it stood ready to serve the cause of reform, as soon as Canadians had the ingenuity and courage so to use it. The pioneer press of British North America, as Professor Kesterton traces it in detail, provided a useful service in an emerging colony but it was only a tame and crude herald of things to come. A more exciting period arrived when conditions in British North America reached a stage similar to those of the American colonies three quarters of a century earlier. The press had to free itself from subservience to colonial governors, commerce had to provide a financial base for independent editors, and the society itself had to go through a ferment of political ideas before there was any hope of a press in Canada equal in vigour and effectiveness to the New England papers which had earlier fougbt ''The Newspaper War on Britain" - as Arthur M. Schlesinger calls it in his Prelude to Independence. Before the nineteenth century was far advanced these favourable circumstances for a dynamic press activity had come into being. Reformers appeared who were thoroughly alive to the part the press could play in achieving religious, political and social reforms. Such diverse characters as William Lyon Mackenzie in Upper Canada, Edmund Bailey O'Callaghan in Lower Canada and Joseph Howe in Nova Scotia demonstrated the effectiveness of the newspaper in attacking inequity and corruption in high places. A little later, George and Gordon Brown, Alexander Mackenzie, Etienne Parent, Edward Whelan, Sandfield Macdonald, the Dorions, the Sheas, the Popes, and many others illustrated the intimate link that could be forged between political life and the ownership, control or content of the leading newspapers of the day. The part played by newspapers in the formulation of Confederation opinion has been thoroughly documented by P. B. Waite in The Life and Times of Confederation. The press of any country tends to reflect over the years the values and systems prevalent in it. Some examples are obvious. A monolithic state cannot very well be maintained without an equally monolithic press. If a political party is the ruling agency in such a state the press must be owned or controlJed by the

viii - A HISTORY OF JOURNALISM IN CANADA

party. A successful ecclesiastical state or theocracy needs press control by priests. More variety is to be expected in an open society and in a "free" state. The press in a large confederacy or a confederation is likely to be much more regional and diverse than in a small homogeneous state with a strong central government. As will be seen in Professor Kesterton's narrative, the press of British North America drastically altered as the political, social and economic conditions evolved over the years. Canada grew up in an age when Adam Smith's economic and political ideas prevailed, but state assistance and intervention has always been acceptable in mastering the frontier enviroDment; and in more recent years laissez faire has retreated to some extent to make way for a social welfare philosophy. And the technology of mass communication has made enormous strides. A liberal society, tolerant of trial and error, is likely to witness all sorts of approaches to the task of informing the public, of providing market service, exhortation, instruction and entertainment - the main services performed by the press of today. Over the years Canada has had a party press, a church press, a labour union press, technical press, an academic press, a government press; and in some form or qther all these kinds persist. (The Queen's Printer, the Canada Gazette, the National Film Board, some CDC programmes, the publications of information offices of government departments etc. add up to a sort of government press.) But the great bulk of Canada's press organs are still appropriate to a relatively free market economy. News and the other services of a newspaper or magazine are gathered and distributed largely by private entrepreneurs; and in theory no one who wishes is barred from having a go at it. In practice it is not so simple, since the popular press has become big business and the competition, both internal and from other countries, requires it to be efficient big business. Moreover, to operate a private broadcasting station requires a government licence: and there are said to be not enough clear channels to go around. Survival of all living creatures requires some awareness of the changing environment. A primary concern of man in a "free" society, of democratic intentions, is to abtain speedy and accurate information on what is going on about him, so that he can react intelligently, whether in his financial outlay, his union vote, or in his choice of a government to serve him. In large and complex societies like ours the nature of the press -its ownership and control, as wen as its quality - is of paramount importance.

a

FOREWORD - ix

Rather surprisingly, most earlier historians of Canada have devoted little attention to the appearance and development of the press. Though the press must have been, almost from the beginning, a persistent and powerful iWluence in the political and social evoluLion of Canada, tbe literature on the subject is scanty. Professor Kesterton is one of the very few Canadians who bave examined in detail tbe content, performance and ownership of the press since the first printer opened shop at Halifax in 175 I, or who have deeply studied its rationale, philosophy and ideology. When the curriculum for the Department of Journalism at Carleton College (now University) was drawn up in 1945 by Dr. H. M. Tory and Dr. J. E. Robbins, a course subject was set aside to be called the History of Journalism. I found out long afterwards that it was hoped that Iwould undertake the teaching of such a course; and Dr. Tory later approached me with some .persistence to take it 00. I was still fully employed in tbe parliamentary press gallery, however, and it was not feasible to accept his invitation. When, two years later, I agreed to leave the gallery and come to Carleton as Director of the School, I found that I had only deferred the responsibility. Happily, Max Freedman, tben of the Winnipeg Free Press, agreed to give a series of lectures on the subject in the years 1947-49. At the end of that period I was so fortunate as to persuade Wilfred H. Kesterton, medalist in journalism in 1949 and a graduate of Queen's University, to join our teaching staff. One of my earliest requests of him was that he become knowledgeable in the history of journalism, with Canadian developments as bis primary interest. In the years since, no one has delved more industriously and patiently into the archives of Canadian journalism, or exposed so lucidly its salient characteristics. Parts of this history have been in existence for a considerable time. This is the first time the whole story has been pulled together as a complete narrative. I hope it will be of service to a growing circle of readers, as well as to the students in jouTnalism classes for whom it was originally devised.

Preface WlJen I began serious research into the history of Canadian journalism, my task was not only to describe a distant past but also to overtake the advancing present. In 1949 I started by describing what had happened in 1752; seventeen years were to elapse before I was able to catch up with the contemporary scene and thereby write about 1966 during 1966. In dealing with a subject large in the dimensions of time and geographic space~ I have tried consistently to discern and reveal patterns and trends among the myriad minutiae of the record. I have rejected much descriptive and anecdotal material in order to leave myself sufficient space to be critical and analytical in my account. To the extent that I have succeeded in these objectives, much credit must go to kind friends. To my project they have contributed encouragement, information, seminal ideas, and. sometimes, tedious labour. Foremost among my benefactors has been Professor Wilfrid Eggleston, who has helped me in all respects mentioned. Whatever the shortcomings of my study. it would have displayed more had he not given me a confidence I sometimes lacked myself in the face of the difficulties of tbe undertaking. While acknowledging my indebtedness to Professor Eggleston, I of course absolve him from any responsibility for my interpretations, as for any omissions or errors. Mlle. Juliette ~ourque and other members of staff of the National Archives devoted many hours to ferreting out research material for me over many years. Personnel of the Parliamentary Library) Ottawa, were equally helpful. Dr. James A. Gibson, now president of Brock University, constructively criticized early manuscript material and contributed to my knowledge of the relationshJp between the press and Canadian politics. Mr. Robert U . Mahaffy, financial editor of the Ottawa Journal, generously let me read and make notes on original data be had gathered. In 1953 a Humanities Research Council grant financed a fruitful hunting expedition into the Atlantic provinces. In other years, legislative librarians in every province gave me belp, as did the staffs of tbe Glenbow Foundation and of many public libraries. Daily newspaper offices and news agency bureaus made me welcome in their library-morgues. Finally, and not least, I have to thank the defenceless procession of. I suppose, about -three hundred students in Journalism at Carleton who bave allowed me to try out my ideas on them and who have been unfailingly· and amiably responsive in subjecting tbose ideas to debate. WILFRED KESTERTON

Carleton University / Ottawa, Ontario / February, 1967

1: The First Press Period: The Transplant, 1752 to 1807 The story of Canadian journalism is much older than the nation. As Canada completes her first hundred years of nationhood in 1967, the press of British North America moves well into its third century of life. British North American pioneer newspapers did not begin

as a seed growth. They came as a transplant from the New England colonies. The journalism plant which took root north of the American border was the result of a slow but orderJy development in both the Old and New World. In less botanical terms the 1752 news sbeet issued by John Bushell in Halifax bad evolved because of such British events as the Royal Letters of the days of Agincourt and after, the introd uction of Caxton's

printing press into England in 1478, the transfonnation of private news letters into the Corantos, Relations, Intelligences, Gazettes and Mercuries of the 1500's, and t.he establishment of the first true English newspaper, tbe Oxford Gazelle in 1665. Benjamin D ay's abortive, single-issue Publick Occurrences in Philadelphia in 1690, and John Campbell's Boslon News Leller, America's first true newspaper, in 1704, were equaUy important . precursors of Canada's pioneer journals.

Settlement of the New World by citizens of the Old transferred to the young colon ies a rich cultural "soil" capable of nourishing quick new growth. The institutions of a more sop his· ticated society, including the press, were swiftly transplanted with little loss of vigour. Thus, along with the officers of govern· ment and the Jaw, and with the joiner, the blacksmith, the linen draper, the tallow cand ler, the cabinet·maker and the soap maker, the newspaper printer·ed itor was quick to practise hi s profession wherever new communities sprang up . There were at least three reasons why the journalism plant was so immediately viable in British North America. First, it had

benefited from fifty years of "prehardening" in the New England colonies. At the time when Green and Bushell were estab· lishing Nova Scotia's first print shop, Boston was second only to London in the British Empire as a printing centre, and Pbila· delphia was nearly as important. A press growth which origi. nated in suc~ centres was likely to be strong. Second, journalism is much more hard y than some of the other institutions of a civilized society. If li terature is a delicate tropical flower that

Z - A HISTORY OF JOURNALISM IN CANADA

requires favourable conditions of soil and climate, journalism is, at least in pioneer days, a scrub growth capable of surviving in a desert. The fact was that the early printer-editor could begin a paper if be had a relat ively inexpensive printing press, a "shirttail full of type," a few dollars, and a small but faithful reading public. Even so, the mortality rate was high among the early entrepreneurs, but when one newspaper went out of business others emerged to take its place. Third, the earliest news-journals received a sort of "hot-bouse" encouragement that kept them alive wben they might otherwise have died. In five provinces the first, and in New Brunswick the third, journalist was King's Printer, in fact if not always in name. As such he enjoyed a smaH but steady government patronage that more often than not kept his enterprise alive. The Pioneer Newspapers

The first newspapers in what is today Canada began at a time when England was winning control oj North America from France. In many cases, pioneer news organs appeared soon after first settlements began as isolated pockets in the surrounding wilderness. In 1749 the Honourable Edward Cornwallis established Halifax on the rocky Chebucto soil. Bartholomew Green Jr., grandson of the Boston News Letter's first printer, brougbt a press from Boston in August 1751 and set up a printing office in the Nova Scotian capital. Before he could establish a newspaper. however, he died. In January 1752 his old partner, John Bushell, came to Halifax to take over the print shop. Bushell earned the honour of being Canada's pioneer journalist wben he issued th e first number of the Halifax Gazette on March 23 1752. This event launched a period of journalism that may be considered, perhaps a little arbitrarily, to have lastep until 1807. Canada's six most easterly provinces made their press beginnings during that fifty-five-year interval. Quebec's pioneer paper- was the Quebec Gazette, established in Quebec City by the Philadelphia printers. William Brown and Thomas Gilmore, in 1764, a scant year after the Treaty of Paris gave Canada to the British. The Quebec Gazette survives today as part of the Quebec Chronicle-Telegraph , wbich disputes the claim of the Hartford • Not only was no newspaper established in New France in pre-Briti5h days but Aegldiu$ Fauleux (Introduction oj PrintlnB Into Canado, RoUand. Paper Co .• Montreal, 1940, 68-69) belJeved that not even one printing press found its way into New France during tbe entire French regime.

THE FIRST PRESS PERIOD _ 3

Courant to be North America's oldest surviving newspaper. t In 1783 the United Empire Loyalists created the town of Carleton in what was then Nova Scotia. With them came John Ryan of Rhode Island and William Lewis of New York to establish the Royal Gazette and Nova Scotia Intelligencer in the same year. Their venture was New Brunswick's pioneer newspaper because Carleton was in Sunbury, that part of Nova Scotia detached in 1784 to form the new province. Carleton was renamed Parr-Town and then Saint Jobo. The journal was renamed the Royal St. John Gazelle. James Robertson Sr., whose journalism career bad begun in Boston and had taken him to printing offices in several New England centres and in Shelburne, Nova Scotia, founded the Royal American Gazette and Weekly Intelligencer in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, in 1787. Upper Canada, made a province by tbe Constitutional Act in 1791, was just emerging from its wilderness state in 1793 when Louis Roy established the Upper Canada Gazette or American OracIe. John Graves Simcoe brought the former Quebec Gazette employee to Newark (later Niagara-on-theLake) to begin the pioneer venture for what was later to become the province of Ontario. The first or transplant phase of Canadian journalism ended in 1807 when a start w.as made in the last of British North America's most easterly provinces. John Ryan left New Brunswick at the invitation of Newfoundland officials and began the Royal Gazette and Newfoundland Advertiser in St. lohn's. The dependence of the early news sheets on government favour was demonstrated by the early careers of the pioneer journals. The Halifax Gazette ran into trouble in 1766 when its second editor, Anthony Henry, allowed his headstrong apprentice, Isaiah Thomas, to use its pages to criticize the Stamp Act. t The Quebec Gazette first appeared June 21, 1764. The Halt/ord COUlant was first issued October 29, 1764. Th~ Qu~b~c GaA. VO/llme II. by G. P. deT. Glazebrook . II.

13.

THE ECO NO MIC BA C KG RO UND OF I)QM I],; I01'o:-PROV I NC IAL RI: I.AT IO:-:S

14 ..

TH E FRE NC H-CA NA DI AN O UTLOOK

15.

T H E WESTE RN II'TE RIOR OF CA NAD A: A R ECO R[:\oOF GEOGRAP HI CA L D ISCOVERY, 1612-1917. compiled and with an In troductio n by John

16.

THE COURTS A 1'0: 0 TliE CANA DI A]'; CONST IT UTION .

by W . A. Mackintosh. with an In troduction by J . H. Dales by Mason Wade, with a new Introduction by the author

Warkentin

17. IS. 19.

20. 21.

22.

compiled and with an Introduction by W . R. Lederman MONEY AN D BANK ING IN CANADA. compiled and with an Introduction by E. P. Ncurcld FRENCH-C ANAI) I"N SOCIETY, Volume' I. com piled and with an In trod uction by Marcel Rioux and Yves Martin THE CANADIAN cmlM ERCIAL REVOI.UTlO:-:. 1845-1851 by Gilbert N. Tucker. edited and with a r. Introduction by Hugh G. J . Aitken JOSEI'll HOWE: VOICF. OF NOVA SCOTIA. compi k'ti and with an Introduct ion by J. Murray Bcel.. U FE AND LE TTERS OF SIR W ILFRID I.AUR IER Voilime /. by O. D. Skelton. edi ted and with an Introduction by Da vid M . L. Farr LIF E AND LETTERS O F SIR W ILF RID I.AURIER. VO/ll111e II . by O. O . Skelton. edited by David M . L. Farr

23.

LEA DING CONSTITUTIONA L DECI SI ONS. co m p iled an d w i t h an

24. 25.

FRON TENAC TH E COURTIER GOV ER NOR

Imroduction by Peler H. Russell IN DI ANS Of TH E NO RT H l' AC II' le COAST.

by W. J. Eccles compi led and with

un

Introduction by Tom Mc Feat 26.

LI FE AN D T IMES O F SIR A LEXAN D ER T ILLOCH GALT

by O. D. Skelton.

ed ited and with an Introduction by G uy Mac l ean

27.

A HISTORY OF CANADIAN EXTERNAL RELATI ONS:

Vollml£' I. by

G. P. deT. G lazebrook. revised by the au thor

28.

A H ISTO RY OF CANADIAN EXTERNAL RE L ATI ONS. Volume II. by G. P. deT. G lazebrook. revised a nd wit h a Bibliographical Essay by

29.

T H E RACE QUESTION r;..: CANA IH

46.

ROBE RT LA I RD BORDEN: HIS MEMOIRS,

the au thor

by Andre Siegfried. ed ited and with an Introduction by F. H. Underh ill 3 ~ . NO RT!! ATLAN TI C TItI ANG LE by J . B. Srebner. wi th an Introd uction by D. G. Creighton 3 1. A I' PROAOI ES T O CANAD IAN ECONQ.\II C H I STO R Y. compil ed and wit h an Introduction by W. T. Easterbrook and M. H. Watki ns 32. CANADI AN SOC IAL STRUCTU RE: A STATI STICAL PROFI LE. compiled and with an Introduct ion and Commentary by John Porter 33. CHU RCH AND STATE IN CANADA. 1 627~ 1 867: BAS IC DOCUMENTS. compi led and with an Introduction by John S. Moir 34. WESTERN ONTAR I O AND THE AMERICAN FRONTIE R by Fred La ndon. with a new Introduction by the author 35. H I STOR ICA L ESSA YS ON T i lE AT L ANTI C PROVI NCES, compiled and with an Introduction by G. A. Rawlyk 36. A I1I STORY OF JOU RNA LI SM I S CANADA 101/ original puhlil"(uiol1J by W. H. Kesterton. with an Introd uction by Wi lfr id Eggleston 37. TH E 0 1.0 PROVI NCE OF QU EBEC, Volllme I. by A. L Burt, with an Introduction by Hilda Ne..1 tby 38. THE 01.0 I'ROV INCE OF QUEBEC, Volume II. by A. L. Burt 39. G ROWTH AND THE CANADIA1\' ECONOMY. edited and with an In troduction by T. N. ·Brewis 40. nQCUMENTS ON TIlE CONFEDERATI ON Of· BRITI SH NORTH AMERI CA. edi ted and wit h an Introd uction by G. P. Browne 4 1. ESK I MO OF TIl E CANA nlAN ARCTI C. ed ited and wi th an Introduction by Victor F. Valen tine and Frank G. Vallee 42. T H E COI.ON I AL RE FORMERS AND CA .... A D A . 1830-1849. edi ted and with an Introduct ion by Peler Burroughs 43. A NARRATIVE. by Sir Francis Bond Head t."d ited and with un Introduction by S. F. Wise 44. JOl i N STRACHAN: UOCUMENTS AND OPINIONS. edited and with an Introduction by J. L. H. Henderson 45. H I E NEUTRA L YANKE I; S OF NOVA SCOTI A by J. B. Srebner. wilh an Introduct ion by W. S. MacNutl Volume I. ed it ed and with an

Introduction by Hea th Macquarrie 47.

ROBE RT LAIR D 1l0R OEI': HI S MEMOI RS,

Macquarrie

....

Volume II. edited by Heath

193084 48,

Ti l E C"NA DI A1\' MUN ICIPA L ~ ' STE M : ESSA ' S ON Til E IMPRovE MENT OF LOCAL GOVE k SMI:.NT by D. C. R owat

49.

Til E BElTER [' A RT OF VA LO UR: ESSA YS ON CANA DI AN n ll' LOM AC" by

John W . Holm es

50.

I. AME NT FO R /I. NAT ION: H IE D EFEAT OF CANA O"'N NATIONA LIS M by

Gcorg ~

Gran!. wilh a new Introduction by the author FOREIGN POUCY , 1945-1954 by R. A. Mac Kay. ed iled and with an Introduction by the author 52. MONC K: lEn'ERS AN D JOU RSAlS. L-di tcd and with an Introduction by W . L. Morlon 53. HISTO RICAL 1:55,," 5 ON THE I'R AIRII: PROV INCES. edited and with an Introd uction by Donald Swainson

5 1.

('AI\I\ OI,, :-.

54.

T il E CA1"A DI AN I:.(ONO I\I Y IN T il E G REA T DEPR ESS ION

by

A . E. Safarian 55.

CANA DA'S C II Ai"G ING :0;0 11.1"11 .

edited and with an Int roduction by

Will iam C. Wonders 56. THE DEVE LO I' MI' NT OF CANA I)A 's STA I'J.J: S. 1867·1 939. edited and with an Introductory commen! by Kevin Burley 57. UR HAN I)EVE LO I'M ENT OF SOl:TJ-I·CJ;STRAL OJ\:TA RI O by Jacob Spelt 58. CU LTU RE AND ;\'ATIO!"A U TY : ESS,,,"S BY A. G. BA IL !;): by Alfred Goldsworthy Bai lt:~ 59. COMM UNln' IN CRIS IS: FRENCH - CANA I) IA!" NAT IOi"A Ll SM IN ~ E R S I' ECTI V I: . by Richard Jones. with a new Introduction by the author 60. I' ERSI' F.CTIVES ON THE NORT H AMl;RICI\N INI>I A:-;'S. ed itt..-d and wi th 'lIl Introduction by Mark Nagler 61. I A:-;,GUAGES IN CONFI rCT. by Richard J. Joy, with a Prcrace by Frank G. Vallee tl2. T il E [..AST !-ORn' YEARS. Til l: UN ION OJ- 1841 TO CO:-;'I'EI>E RATIO ..... by J. C. Dent. abridged and with an Introd ucti on by Donald Swainson 63.

'-AU RIER ANI) A tlll ERA l QU 1:UEC: A STU!) Y IN I'O U TI(A I. \1ANAGBIENT, by H. Blair Neatby. edited and with an Introduct ion by

64.

Til E TR EMIl I.AY REI'O RT.

Richard T. Clippingdale edited and with a.n Introduction by David

Kwavnick 65.

CULTU RAl I:COI.OGY: READISGS OS Til E CANAI)IAN INIlI ANS AN D ESK IMOS . l...-diH.'d and with an Introduction by Bruce ('ox

66.

RI:.COLLECT IOSS or TilE OS TO OnAWA TREK. by Ronald Li v~rsedge. with Documen ts Relati ng to the Vancouver Strike and the On to Ottawa Trek. editl...-d and with an Introduction by Victor Hoar

67.

T il E OMB UDSMAN "LAN: ESSAYS OJ\: T il E WO RLDWID E SI'R EA D OF AN IDEA. by Dona ld C. ROWUl

68.

NA TURAL RESOURCES: THE ECO NO MICS

0 1' CONSERVA TION , by

Anthony Scott 69. 70.

by Chester Martin . edited and with an Introduction by Lewis H. Thomas .

DOM INION LAN DS I' o u ey. RENEGA DE IN I'OWE R.

by Denis Smith

by Peter C. Newman. with an Introduction

1,\\

1\

\

1\

'A HISTORY OF JOURNALISM IN CANADA

CARLETON UNIVERSItY W. H .

~E,STERTON

WITH A FOREWORD BY WILFRID. EGGLESTON

Th e Carleton Library No . 36 McClelland and Stewart Limited

THE CARLETON LIBRARY A series of Canadian rep rints, 'original works and new collections of source material relat ing to Canada, issued under th e edi to ri al su pervision of the Institute o f Ca nadian Stud ies of ea fleIDn University,

Ottawa. DIRECfOR OF THE INSTITUTE

Davidson Dunton GENERAL EDITOR

Michael Gnarowsk i EXECUTIVE EDITOR

James Marsh ED ITORIAL BOARD

B. Carman Bickerton (History)

Den nis Forcese (Sociology) David Knight (Geography) J. George Neuspic l (Law) Thomas K. Rymcs (Economics) Derek G. Sm ith (Anthropology) Michael S. Whittington (Political Science)

Copyright © M cCielland alld Srell'(lrl Limited, /967

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

The Canadian Publishers McClella nd and Stewart Limi ted 25 Hollinger Road, Toron to

I>RINTED AND BOUND I N CANADA

CONTENTS FOREWORD, V

PREFACE,X

1:

THE FIRST PRESS PERIOD : THE TRANSPLANT,

1752 to 1807, 1

Pioneer newspapers; characteristics of pioneer newspapers; freedom of the press; magazine journalism. 2: THE SECOND PRESS PERIOD: THICKENING GROWTH,

1807 to 1858, 10 Increase in numbers; some newspapers of the period; emergence of the private enterprise press; political content; nODpolitical content; tone and format; developing press freedom; mechanical advances; magazine press. 3: THE THIRD PRESS PERIOD: THE WESTERN TRANSPLANT AND SPREADING GROWTH, 1858 to 1900, 27

Pioncer newspapers of the West; some newspapers of the period; increase in numbers; newspaper content; qualitative cbanges in the press; mechanical 'changes in newspaper production; the daily newspaper; press organizations; deve'lopmcot of a freer press; magazine press. 4:

THE FOURTH PRESS PERIOD: THE MUTATION.

1900 to 1967, 64

Nature of the period; some causes of the mutation; consolidation and centralization. 5:

JOURNALS AND JOURNALISM,

84

The Globe alld Mail, Toronto; The Toronto Star; The Toronto Telegram; Montreal Star; The Montreal Gazette; The Montreal La Presse; Montreal Le Devoir; The Ottawa Citizen; The Ottawa Journal; The Winnipeg Free Press; The Winnipeg Tribune; The Vancouver Sun; The Vancouver Province; other dailies.

6:

QUALITATIVE DEVELOPMENTS: HOW THE DAILY NEWSPAPER

118 Processes of newspaper production; consequences of technology; institutions and activities related to journalism; non-daily components of Canada's press.

CHANGED DURING THE TWENTIETH CENTURY.

7:

TWENTIETH-CENTURY NEWSPAPER CONTENT,

176

Beginning of the century, 1901-14; First World War, 19 14.,. 18; carefree Twenties, 1919-29 ; great Depression, 1929-39; Second World War, 1939-45; age of tbe bomb, the satellite and manned space travel, 1945-66. 8:

THE DEVELOPM ENT OF RADIO AND T ELEVISION,

210

Early history; Aird Commission ; Canadian Radio Broadcasting Commission; 1936 Broadcasting Act and Canadian Broadcasting Corporation; advent of television; Fowler Commission and Broadcasting Act of 1958; Fowler Committee; White Paper on broadcasting.

9:

CANADIAN PRESS FREEDOM IN THE TWENTIETH CENT URY, 222

Philosopbical background; Alberta Press Act; "Babies for Export" trial; Quebec Padlock Law; libertarian system and press law; wartime censorship; cold war restrictions; press freedom and responsibility in the 1960's; printed media; electronic media. NOTES,269 INDEX,274 NOTB ON THE AUTHOR,

305

SUGGESTIONS FOR F URTHER READING,

306

Foreword by Wilfrid Eggleston The emergence of a free press as an inftuential agency in popular government is a substantial theme in tbe history of western civilization. The process began soon after technical improvements in printing with moveable type had greatly reduced the cost and increased the availability of printed works. Revolutionary ideas were able to travel more readily. As Professor W. E. Hocking points o}ltJ a free press makes it possible for rebels and reformers to make common cause against encroachments. The authoritarian rulers of the fifteenth century did Dot immediat~ly sense the grave menace to them latent in an uncontrolled printing press; but as soon as this became evident they began to apply censorship, licence and monopoly, enforced by, severe penalties, to keep the Dew medium under rigid discipline. In due course these barriers were breached here and there in the interests of the masses, but the struggle lasted several hundred years, and in large areas of the globe it is far from won even today. It is an interesting coincidence that the span of this long period coincides pretty closely with the colonization and settlement of North America. By the time Christopher Columbus sailed from Spain the new arts of printing were well established in western Europe. The Mayflower arrived at Plymouth Harbor a few months before the first "corantos" - pioneer newspapers began to appear for sale in the streets of London. The seventeenth century. which saw the North Atlantic colonies well established, witness.e d in England the slow but stubborn growth of gazettes, corantos, pamphlets and broadsides, as well as the spread of literacy and the establishment of libraries. The long battle between Crown and Parliament and the emergence of . England as a maritime, imperial and commercial power provided endless issues for public controversy · and strong motives for circulating up-to-date information. The Licensing Act of England expired in 1694 and the next two decades saw a sort of first golden age of the press in London. Writers as various as Jonathan Swift, Daniel Defoe. Richard Steele and Joseph Addison illustrated the potency of the printed word. in savage satire, realistic reporting, and graceful literary portraits of men and things. The New England colonies were not quite ready to respond to this first brilliant illustration of the power of the journalist in

vi - A HISTORY OF JOURNALISM IN CANADA

public life. But the first daily newspaper printed in the English language (I702) in London preceded by only two years the appearance of the first true American newspaper; and the next fifty years saw notable progress in American journalism. By 1750 most literate Americans had access to some journal of information. Journals were numerous (Boston alone had five newspapers by 1735), commercial advertising was able to free printers from abject financial dependence upon the colonial government, and some revolutionary ideas were being disseminated. In England the first of the Stamp Acts (I712) dimmed the brilliance of the first golden-age in London. But Westminster did · not get around to extending such imposts on newspapers in the American colonies until 1765; and by then it was too late. The press of the American colonies played a powerful role in the . resistance which culminated in the Revolutionary War and independence. The transfer of European culture and civilization to North America over a span of three centuries affords copious examples of the ready way in which customs and institutions travel with the emigrants, colonists, and settlers to their new homes. Many institutions which have been repressed or discouraged in the homeland are able to flourish with great vigour on new soil. During the latter part of the eighteenth century the press of the new American reIUJblic was in many respects more dynamic and less fettered than the mother press in England. British North America was currently emerging, at first as a scatter of weak: crown colonies, but destined to develop ioto sturdy and spirited provinces and eventually federate into a potentially great union from sea to sea. Many of the early English-speaking settlers of British North America came to Canada conscious of great traditions and achievements in the press of Britain and the United States. New Fraoce had been colonized by a series of authoritarian regimes, under rigid control, and the printing press did not find a place there until after the battle on the Plains of Abraham. But as soon as the social and political conditions made a popular press feasible in Quebec it began to take hold there also. As Professor Kesterton so clearly indicates, the press of British North America from the beginning inherited some journalistic traditions of Britain and the United States. Many of tbe influential early settlers of British North America were bred in the military tradition, or were Loyalist tories; and the authoritarian philosophy of the colonial government at first prevailed everywhere. But other settlers came in

FOREWORD - vii

from more radical and revolutionary environments, and in any event the republican and egalitarian sentiments scattered around the world by the American and French Revolutions could not be prevented in due course from infecting many intellectual leaders of British North America. By the time agitation arose for repre· sentative institutions, for responsible government, and eventually for all the elements of what we call a "free" society, the institution of the press was well advanced, and it stood ready to serve the cause of reform, as soon as Canadians had the ingenuity and courage so to use it. The pioneer press of British North America, as Professor Kesterton traces it in detail, provided a useful service in an emerging colony but it was only a tame and crude herald of things to come. A more exciting period arrived when conditions in British North America reached a stage similar to those of the American colonies three quarters of a century earlier. The press had to free itself from subservience to colonial governors, commerce had to provide a financial base for independent editors, and the society itself had to go through a ferment of political ideas before there was any hope of a press in Canada equal in vigour and effectiveness to the New England papers which had earlier fougbt ''The Newspaper War on Britain" - as Arthur M. Schlesinger calls it in his Prelude to Independence. Before the nineteenth century was far advanced these favourable circumstances for a dynamic press activity had come into being. Reformers appeared who were thoroughly alive to the part the press could play in achieving religious, political and social reforms. Such diverse characters as William Lyon Mackenzie in Upper Canada, Edmund Bailey O'Callaghan in Lower Canada and Joseph Howe in Nova Scotia demonstrated the effectiveness of the newspaper in attacking inequity and corruption in high places. A little later, George and Gordon Brown, Alexander Mackenzie, Etienne Parent, Edward Whelan, Sandfield Macdonald, the Dorions, the Sheas, the Popes, and many others illustrated the intimate link that could be forged between political life and the ownership, control or content of the leading newspapers of the day. The part played by newspapers in the formulation of Confederation opinion has been thoroughly documented by P. B. Waite in The Life and Times of Confederation. The press of any country tends to reflect over the years the values and systems prevalent in it. Some examples are obvious. A monolithic state cannot very well be maintained without an equally monolithic press. If a political party is the ruling agency in such a state the press must be owned or controlJed by the

viii - A HISTORY OF JOURNALISM IN CANADA

party. A successful ecclesiastical state or theocracy needs press control by priests. More variety is to be expected in an open society and in a "free" state. The press in a large confederacy or a confederation is likely to be much more regional and diverse than in a small homogeneous state with a strong central government. As will be seen in Professor Kesterton's narrative, the press of British North America drastically altered as the political, social and economic conditions evolved over the years. Canada grew up in an age when Adam Smith's economic and political ideas prevailed, but state assistance and intervention has always been acceptable in mastering the frontier enviroDment; and in more recent years laissez faire has retreated to some extent to make way for a social welfare philosophy. And the technology of mass communication has made enormous strides. A liberal society, tolerant of trial and error, is likely to witness all sorts of approaches to the task of informing the public, of providing market service, exhortation, instruction and entertainment - the main services performed by the press of today. Over the years Canada has had a party press, a church press, a labour union press, technical press, an academic press, a government press; and in some form or qther all these kinds persist. (The Queen's Printer, the Canada Gazette, the National Film Board, some CDC programmes, the publications of information offices of government departments etc. add up to a sort of government press.) But the great bulk of Canada's press organs are still appropriate to a relatively free market economy. News and the other services of a newspaper or magazine are gathered and distributed largely by private entrepreneurs; and in theory no one who wishes is barred from having a go at it. In practice it is not so simple, since the popular press has become big business and the competition, both internal and from other countries, requires it to be efficient big business. Moreover, to operate a private broadcasting station requires a government licence: and there are said to be not enough clear channels to go around. Survival of all living creatures requires some awareness of the changing environment. A primary concern of man in a "free" society, of democratic intentions, is to abtain speedy and accurate information on what is going on about him, so that he can react intelligently, whether in his financial outlay, his union vote, or in his choice of a government to serve him. In large and complex societies like ours the nature of the press -its ownership and control, as wen as its quality - is of paramount importance.

a

FOREWORD - ix

Rather surprisingly, most earlier historians of Canada have devoted little attention to the appearance and development of the press. Though the press must have been, almost from the beginning, a persistent and powerful iWluence in the political and social evoluLion of Canada, tbe literature on the subject is scanty. Professor Kesterton is one of the very few Canadians who bave examined in detail tbe content, performance and ownership of the press since the first printer opened shop at Halifax in 175 I, or who have deeply studied its rationale, philosophy and ideology. When the curriculum for the Department of Journalism at Carleton College (now University) was drawn up in 1945 by Dr. H. M. Tory and Dr. J. E. Robbins, a course subject was set aside to be called the History of Journalism. I found out long afterwards that it was hoped that Iwould undertake the teaching of such a course; and Dr. Tory later approached me with some .persistence to take it 00. I was still fully employed in tbe parliamentary press gallery, however, and it was not feasible to accept his invitation. When, two years later, I agreed to leave the gallery and come to Carleton as Director of the School, I found that I had only deferred the responsibility. Happily, Max Freedman, tben of the Winnipeg Free Press, agreed to give a series of lectures on the subject in the years 1947-49. At the end of that period I was so fortunate as to persuade Wilfred H. Kesterton, medalist in journalism in 1949 and a graduate of Queen's University, to join our teaching staff. One of my earliest requests of him was that he become knowledgeable in the history of journalism, with Canadian developments as bis primary interest. In the years since, no one has delved more industriously and patiently into the archives of Canadian journalism, or exposed so lucidly its salient characteristics. Parts of this history have been in existence for a considerable time. This is the first time the whole story has been pulled together as a complete narrative. I hope it will be of service to a growing circle of readers, as well as to the students in jouTnalism classes for whom it was originally devised.

Preface WlJen I began serious research into the history of Canadian journalism, my task was not only to describe a distant past but also to overtake the advancing present. In 1949 I started by describing what had happened in 1752; seventeen years were to elapse before I was able to catch up with the contemporary scene and thereby write about 1966 during 1966. In dealing with a subject large in the dimensions of time and geographic space~ I have tried consistently to discern and reveal patterns and trends among the myriad minutiae of the record. I have rejected much descriptive and anecdotal material in order to leave myself sufficient space to be critical and analytical in my account. To the extent that I have succeeded in these objectives, much credit must go to kind friends. To my project they have contributed encouragement, information, seminal ideas, and. sometimes, tedious labour. Foremost among my benefactors has been Professor Wilfrid Eggleston, who has helped me in all respects mentioned. Whatever the shortcomings of my study. it would have displayed more had he not given me a confidence I sometimes lacked myself in the face of the difficulties of tbe undertaking. While acknowledging my indebtedness to Professor Eggleston, I of course absolve him from any responsibility for my interpretations, as for any omissions or errors. Mlle. Juliette ~ourque and other members of staff of the National Archives devoted many hours to ferreting out research material for me over many years. Personnel of the Parliamentary Library) Ottawa, were equally helpful. Dr. James A. Gibson, now president of Brock University, constructively criticized early manuscript material and contributed to my knowledge of the relationshJp between the press and Canadian politics. Mr. Robert U . Mahaffy, financial editor of the Ottawa Journal, generously let me read and make notes on original data be had gathered. In 1953 a Humanities Research Council grant financed a fruitful hunting expedition into the Atlantic provinces. In other years, legislative librarians in every province gave me belp, as did the staffs of tbe Glenbow Foundation and of many public libraries. Daily newspaper offices and news agency bureaus made me welcome in their library-morgues. Finally, and not least, I have to thank the defenceless procession of. I suppose, about -three hundred students in Journalism at Carleton who bave allowed me to try out my ideas on them and who have been unfailingly· and amiably responsive in subjecting tbose ideas to debate. WILFRED KESTERTON

Carleton University / Ottawa, Ontario / February, 1967

1: The First Press Period: The Transplant, 1752 to 1807 The story of Canadian journalism is much older than the nation. As Canada completes her first hundred years of nationhood in 1967, the press of British North America moves well into its third century of life. British North American pioneer newspapers did not begin

as a seed growth. They came as a transplant from the New England colonies. The journalism plant which took root north of the American border was the result of a slow but orderJy development in both the Old and New World. In less botanical terms the 1752 news sbeet issued by John Bushell in Halifax bad evolved because of such British events as the Royal Letters of the days of Agincourt and after, the introd uction of Caxton's

printing press into England in 1478, the transfonnation of private news letters into the Corantos, Relations, Intelligences, Gazettes and Mercuries of the 1500's, and t.he establishment of the first true English newspaper, tbe Oxford Gazelle in 1665. Benjamin D ay's abortive, single-issue Publick Occurrences in Philadelphia in 1690, and John Campbell's Boslon News Leller, America's first true newspaper, in 1704, were equaUy important . precursors of Canada's pioneer journals.

Settlement of the New World by citizens of the Old transferred to the young colon ies a rich cultural "soil" capable of nourishing quick new growth. The institutions of a more sop his· ticated society, including the press, were swiftly transplanted with little loss of vigour. Thus, along with the officers of govern· ment and the Jaw, and with the joiner, the blacksmith, the linen draper, the tallow cand ler, the cabinet·maker and the soap maker, the newspaper printer·ed itor was quick to practise hi s profession wherever new communities sprang up . There were at least three reasons why the journalism plant was so immediately viable in British North America. First, it had

benefited from fifty years of "prehardening" in the New England colonies. At the time when Green and Bushell were estab· lishing Nova Scotia's first print shop, Boston was second only to London in the British Empire as a printing centre, and Pbila· delphia was nearly as important. A press growth which origi. nated in suc~ centres was likely to be strong. Second, journalism is much more hard y than some of the other institutions of a civilized society. If li terature is a delicate tropical flower that

Z - A HISTORY OF JOURNALISM IN CANADA

requires favourable conditions of soil and climate, journalism is, at least in pioneer days, a scrub growth capable of surviving in a desert. The fact was that the early printer-editor could begin a paper if be had a relat ively inexpensive printing press, a "shirttail full of type," a few dollars, and a small but faithful reading public. Even so, the mortality rate was high among the early entrepreneurs, but when one newspaper went out of business others emerged to take its place. Third, the earliest news-journals received a sort of "hot-bouse" encouragement that kept them alive wben they might otherwise have died. In five provinces the first, and in New Brunswick the third, journalist was King's Printer, in fact if not always in name. As such he enjoyed a smaH but steady government patronage that more often than not kept his enterprise alive. The Pioneer Newspapers

The first newspapers in what is today Canada began at a time when England was winning control oj North America from France. In many cases, pioneer news organs appeared soon after first settlements began as isolated pockets in the surrounding wilderness. In 1749 the Honourable Edward Cornwallis established Halifax on the rocky Chebucto soil. Bartholomew Green Jr., grandson of the Boston News Letter's first printer, brougbt a press from Boston in August 1751 and set up a printing office in the Nova Scotian capital. Before he could establish a newspaper. however, he died. In January 1752 his old partner, John Bushell, came to Halifax to take over the print shop. Bushell earned the honour of being Canada's pioneer journalist wben he issued th e first number of the Halifax Gazette on March 23 1752. This event launched a period of journalism that may be considered, perhaps a little arbitrarily, to have lastep until 1807. Canada's six most easterly provinces made their press beginnings during that fifty-five-year interval. Quebec's pioneer paper- was the Quebec Gazette, established in Quebec City by the Philadelphia printers. William Brown and Thomas Gilmore, in 1764, a scant year after the Treaty of Paris gave Canada to the British. The Quebec Gazette survives today as part of the Quebec Chronicle-Telegraph , wbich disputes the claim of the Hartford • Not only was no newspaper established in New France in pre-Briti5h days but Aegldiu$ Fauleux (Introduction oj PrintlnB Into Canado, RoUand. Paper Co .• Montreal, 1940, 68-69) belJeved that not even one printing press found its way into New France during tbe entire French regime.

THE FIRST PRESS PERIOD _ 3

Courant to be North America's oldest surviving newspaper. t In 1783 the United Empire Loyalists created the town of Carleton in what was then Nova Scotia. With them came John Ryan of Rhode Island and William Lewis of New York to establish the Royal Gazette and Nova Scotia Intelligencer in the same year. Their venture was New Brunswick's pioneer newspaper because Carleton was in Sunbury, that part of Nova Scotia detached in 1784 to form the new province. Carleton was renamed Parr-Town and then Saint Jobo. The journal was renamed the Royal St. John Gazelle. James Robertson Sr., whose journalism career bad begun in Boston and had taken him to printing offices in several New England centres and in Shelburne, Nova Scotia, founded the Royal American Gazette and Weekly Intelligencer in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, in 1787. Upper Canada, made a province by tbe Constitutional Act in 1791, was just emerging from its wilderness state in 1793 when Louis Roy established the Upper Canada Gazette or American OracIe. John Graves Simcoe brought the former Quebec Gazette employee to Newark (later Niagara-on-theLake) to begin the pioneer venture for what was later to become the province of Ontario. The first or transplant phase of Canadian journalism ended in 1807 when a start w.as made in the last of British North America's most easterly provinces. John Ryan left New Brunswick at the invitation of Newfoundland officials and began the Royal Gazette and Newfoundland Advertiser in St. lohn's. The dependence of the early news sheets on government favour was demonstrated by the early careers of the pioneer journals. The Halifax Gazette ran into trouble in 1766 when its second editor, Anthony Henry, allowed his headstrong apprentice, Isaiah Thomas, to use its pages to criticize the Stamp Act. t The Quebec Gazette first appeared June 21, 1764. The Halt/ord COUlant was first issued October 29, 1764. Th~ Qu~b~c GaA. VO/llme II. by G. P. deT. Glazebrook . II.

13.

THE ECO NO MIC BA C KG RO UND OF I)QM I],; I01'o:-PROV I NC IAL RI: I.AT IO:-:S

14 ..

TH E FRE NC H-CA NA DI AN O UTLOOK

15.

T H E WESTE RN II'TE RIOR OF CA NAD A: A R ECO R[:\oOF GEOGRAP HI CA L D ISCOVERY, 1612-1917. compiled and with an In troductio n by John

16.

THE COURTS A 1'0: 0 TliE CANA DI A]'; CONST IT UTION .

by W . A. Mackintosh. with an In troduction by J . H. Dales by Mason Wade, with a new Introduction by the author

Warkentin

17. IS. 19.

20. 21.

22.

compiled and with an Introduction by W . R. Lederman MONEY AN D BANK ING IN CANADA. compiled and with an Introduction by E. P. Ncurcld FRENCH-C ANAI) I"N SOCIETY, Volume' I. com piled and with an In trod uction by Marcel Rioux and Yves Martin THE CANADIAN cmlM ERCIAL REVOI.UTlO:-:. 1845-1851 by Gilbert N. Tucker. edited and with a r. Introduction by Hugh G. J . Aitken JOSEI'll HOWE: VOICF. OF NOVA SCOTIA. compi k'ti and with an Introduct ion by J. Murray Bcel.. U FE AND LE TTERS OF SIR W ILFRID I.AUR IER Voilime /. by O. D. Skelton. edi ted and with an Introduction by Da vid M . L. Farr LIF E AND LETTERS O F SIR W ILF RID I.AURIER. VO/ll111e II . by O. O . Skelton. edited by David M . L. Farr

23.

LEA DING CONSTITUTIONA L DECI SI ONS. co m p iled an d w i t h an

24. 25.

FRON TENAC TH E COURTIER GOV ER NOR

Imroduction by Peler H. Russell IN DI ANS Of TH E NO RT H l' AC II' le COAST.

by W. J. Eccles compi led and with

un

Introduction by Tom Mc Feat 26.

LI FE AN D T IMES O F SIR A LEXAN D ER T ILLOCH GALT

by O. D. Skelton.

ed ited and with an Introduction by G uy Mac l ean

27.

A HISTORY OF CANADIAN EXTERNAL RELATI ONS:

Vollml£' I. by

G. P. deT. G lazebrook. revised by the au thor

28.

A H ISTO RY OF CANADIAN EXTERNAL RE L ATI ONS. Volume II. by G. P. deT. G lazebrook. revised a nd wit h a Bibliographical Essay by

29.

T H E RACE QUESTION r;..: CANA IH

46.

ROBE RT LA I RD BORDEN: HIS MEMOIRS,

the au thor

by Andre Siegfried. ed ited and with an Introduction by F. H. Underh ill 3 ~ . NO RT!! ATLAN TI C TItI ANG LE by J . B. Srebner. wi th an Introd uction by D. G. Creighton 3 1. A I' PROAOI ES T O CANAD IAN ECONQ.\II C H I STO R Y. compil ed and wit h an Introduction by W. T. Easterbrook and M. H. Watki ns 32. CANADI AN SOC IAL STRUCTU RE: A STATI STICAL PROFI LE. compiled and with an Introduct ion and Commentary by John Porter 33. CHU RCH AND STATE IN CANADA. 1 627~ 1 867: BAS IC DOCUMENTS. compi led and with an Introduction by John S. Moir 34. WESTERN ONTAR I O AND THE AMERICAN FRONTIE R by Fred La ndon. with a new Introduction by the author 35. H I STOR ICA L ESSA YS ON T i lE AT L ANTI C PROVI NCES, compiled and with an Introduction by G. A. Rawlyk 36. A I1I STORY OF JOU RNA LI SM I S CANADA 101/ original puhlil"(uiol1J by W. H. Kesterton. with an Introd uction by Wi lfr id Eggleston 37. TH E 0 1.0 PROVI NCE OF QU EBEC, Volllme I. by A. L Burt, with an Introduction by Hilda Ne..1 tby 38. THE 01.0 I'ROV INCE OF QUEBEC, Volume II. by A. L. Burt 39. G ROWTH AND THE CANADIA1\' ECONOMY. edited and with an In troduction by T. N. ·Brewis 40. nQCUMENTS ON TIlE CONFEDERATI ON Of· BRITI SH NORTH AMERI CA. edi ted and wit h an Introd uction by G. P. Browne 4 1. ESK I MO OF TIl E CANA nlAN ARCTI C. ed ited and wi th an Introduction by Victor F. Valen tine and Frank G. Vallee 42. T H E COI.ON I AL RE FORMERS AND CA .... A D A . 1830-1849. edi ted and with an Introduct ion by Peler Burroughs 43. A NARRATIVE. by Sir Francis Bond Head t."d ited and with un Introduction by S. F. Wise 44. JOl i N STRACHAN: UOCUMENTS AND OPINIONS. edited and with an Introduction by J. L. H. Henderson 45. H I E NEUTRA L YANKE I; S OF NOVA SCOTI A by J. B. Srebner. wilh an Introduct ion by W. S. MacNutl Volume I. ed it ed and with an

Introduction by Hea th Macquarrie 47.

ROBE RT LAIR D 1l0R OEI': HI S MEMOI RS,

Macquarrie

....

Volume II. edited by Heath

193084 48,

Ti l E C"NA DI A1\' MUN ICIPA L ~ ' STE M : ESSA ' S ON Til E IMPRovE MENT OF LOCAL GOVE k SMI:.NT by D. C. R owat

49.

Til E BElTER [' A RT OF VA LO UR: ESSA YS ON CANA DI AN n ll' LOM AC" by

John W . Holm es

50.

I. AME NT FO R /I. NAT ION: H IE D EFEAT OF CANA O"'N NATIONA LIS M by

Gcorg ~

Gran!. wilh a new Introduction by the author FOREIGN POUCY , 1945-1954 by R. A. Mac Kay. ed iled and with an Introduction by the author 52. MONC K: lEn'ERS AN D JOU RSAlS. L-di tcd and with an Introduction by W . L. Morlon 53. HISTO RICAL 1:55,," 5 ON THE I'R AIRII: PROV INCES. edited and with an Introd uction by Donald Swainson

5 1.

('AI\I\ OI,, :-.

54.

T il E CA1"A DI AN I:.(ONO I\I Y IN T il E G REA T DEPR ESS ION

by

A . E. Safarian 55.

CANA DA'S C II Ai"G ING :0;0 11.1"11 .

edited and with an Int roduction by

Will iam C. Wonders 56. THE DEVE LO I' MI' NT OF CANA I)A 's STA I'J.J: S. 1867·1 939. edited and with an Introductory commen! by Kevin Burley 57. UR HAN I)EVE LO I'M ENT OF SOl:TJ-I·CJ;STRAL OJ\:TA RI O by Jacob Spelt 58. CU LTU RE AND ;\'ATIO!"A U TY : ESS,,,"S BY A. G. BA IL !;): by Alfred Goldsworthy Bai lt:~ 59. COMM UNln' IN CRIS IS: FRENCH - CANA I) IA!" NAT IOi"A Ll SM IN ~ E R S I' ECTI V I: . by Richard Jones. with a new Introduction by the author 60. I' ERSI' F.CTIVES ON THE NORT H AMl;RICI\N INI>I A:-;'S. ed itt..-d and wi th 'lIl Introduction by Mark Nagler 61. I A:-;,GUAGES IN CONFI rCT. by Richard J. Joy, with a Prcrace by Frank G. Vallee tl2. T il E [..AST !-ORn' YEARS. Til l: UN ION OJ- 1841 TO CO:-;'I'EI>E RATIO ..... by J. C. Dent. abridged and with an Introd ucti on by Donald Swainson 63.

'-AU RIER ANI) A tlll ERA l QU 1:UEC: A STU!) Y IN I'O U TI(A I. \1ANAGBIENT, by H. Blair Neatby. edited and with an Introduct ion by

64.

Til E TR EMIl I.AY REI'O RT.

Richard T. Clippingdale edited and with a.n Introduction by David

Kwavnick 65.

CULTU RAl I:COI.OGY: READISGS OS Til E CANAI)IAN INIlI ANS AN D ESK IMOS . l...-diH.'d and with an Introduction by Bruce ('ox

66.

RI:.COLLECT IOSS or TilE OS TO OnAWA TREK. by Ronald Li v~rsedge. with Documen ts Relati ng to the Vancouver Strike and the On to Ottawa Trek. editl...-d and with an Introduction by Victor Hoar

67.

T il E OMB UDSMAN "LAN: ESSAYS OJ\: T il E WO RLDWID E SI'R EA D OF AN IDEA. by Dona ld C. ROWUl

68.

NA TURAL RESOURCES: THE ECO NO MICS

0 1' CONSERVA TION , by

Anthony Scott 69. 70.

by Chester Martin . edited and with an Introduction by Lewis H. Thomas .

DOM INION LAN DS I' o u ey. RENEGA DE IN I'OWE R.

by Denis Smith

by Peter C. Newman. with an Introduction

1,\\

1\

\

1\

'A HISTORY OF JOURNALISM IN CANADA

CARLETON UNIVERSItY W. H .

~E,STERTON

WITH A FOREWORD BY WILFRID. EGGLESTON

Th e Carleton Library No . 36 McClelland and Stewart Limited

THE CARLETON LIBRARY A series of Canadian rep rints, 'original works and new collections of source material relat ing to Canada, issued under th e edi to ri al su pervision of the Institute o f Ca nadian Stud ies of ea fleIDn University,

Ottawa. DIRECfOR OF THE INSTITUTE

Davidson Dunton GENERAL EDITOR

Michael Gnarowsk i EXECUTIVE EDITOR

James Marsh ED ITORIAL BOARD

B. Carman Bickerton (History)

Den nis Forcese (Sociology) David Knight (Geography) J. George Neuspic l (Law) Thomas K. Rymcs (Economics) Derek G. Sm ith (Anthropology) Michael S. Whittington (Political Science)

Copyright © M cCielland alld Srell'(lrl Limited, /967

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

The Canadian Publishers McClella nd and Stewart Limi ted 25 Hollinger Road, Toron to

I>RINTED AND BOUND I N CANADA

CONTENTS FOREWORD, V

PREFACE,X

1:

THE FIRST PRESS PERIOD : THE TRANSPLANT,

1752 to 1807, 1

Pioneer newspapers; characteristics of pioneer newspapers; freedom of the press; magazine journalism. 2: THE SECOND PRESS PERIOD: THICKENING GROWTH,

1807 to 1858, 10 Increase in numbers; some newspapers of the period; emergence of the private enterprise press; political content; nODpolitical content; tone and format; developing press freedom; mechanical advances; magazine press. 3: THE THIRD PRESS PERIOD: THE WESTERN TRANSPLANT AND SPREADING GROWTH, 1858 to 1900, 27

Pioncer newspapers of the West; some newspapers of the period; increase in numbers; newspaper content; qualitative cbanges in the press; mechanical 'changes in newspaper production; the daily newspaper; press organizations; deve'lopmcot of a freer press; magazine press. 4:

THE FOURTH PRESS PERIOD: THE MUTATION.

1900 to 1967, 64

Nature of the period; some causes of the mutation; consolidation and centralization. 5:

JOURNALS AND JOURNALISM,

84

The Globe alld Mail, Toronto; The Toronto Star; The Toronto Telegram; Montreal Star; The Montreal Gazette; The Montreal La Presse; Montreal Le Devoir; The Ottawa Citizen; The Ottawa Journal; The Winnipeg Free Press; The Winnipeg Tribune; The Vancouver Sun; The Vancouver Province; other dailies.

6:

QUALITATIVE DEVELOPMENTS: HOW THE DAILY NEWSPAPER

118 Processes of newspaper production; consequences of technology; institutions and activities related to journalism; non-daily components of Canada's press.

CHANGED DURING THE TWENTIETH CENTURY.

7:

TWENTIETH-CENTURY NEWSPAPER CONTENT,

176

Beginning of the century, 1901-14; First World War, 19 14.,. 18; carefree Twenties, 1919-29 ; great Depression, 1929-39; Second World War, 1939-45; age of tbe bomb, the satellite and manned space travel, 1945-66. 8:

THE DEVELOPM ENT OF RADIO AND T ELEVISION,

210

Early history; Aird Commission ; Canadian Radio Broadcasting Commission; 1936 Broadcasting Act and Canadian Broadcasting Corporation; advent of television; Fowler Commission and Broadcasting Act of 1958; Fowler Committee; White Paper on broadcasting.

9:

CANADIAN PRESS FREEDOM IN THE TWENTIETH CENT URY, 222

Philosopbical background; Alberta Press Act; "Babies for Export" trial; Quebec Padlock Law; libertarian system and press law; wartime censorship; cold war restrictions; press freedom and responsibility in the 1960's; printed media; electronic media. NOTES,269 INDEX,274 NOTB ON THE AUTHOR,

305

SUGGESTIONS FOR F URTHER READING,

306

Foreword by Wilfrid Eggleston The emergence of a free press as an inftuential agency in popular government is a substantial theme in tbe history of western civilization. The process began soon after technical improvements in printing with moveable type had greatly reduced the cost and increased the availability of printed works. Revolutionary ideas were able to travel more readily. As Professor W. E. Hocking points o}ltJ a free press makes it possible for rebels and reformers to make common cause against encroachments. The authoritarian rulers of the fifteenth century did Dot immediat~ly sense the grave menace to them latent in an uncontrolled printing press; but as soon as this became evident they began to apply censorship, licence and monopoly, enforced by, severe penalties, to keep the Dew medium under rigid discipline. In due course these barriers were breached here and there in the interests of the masses, but the struggle lasted several hundred years, and in large areas of the globe it is far from won even today. It is an interesting coincidence that the span of this long period coincides pretty closely with the colonization and settlement of North America. By the time Christopher Columbus sailed from Spain the new arts of printing were well established in western Europe. The Mayflower arrived at Plymouth Harbor a few months before the first "corantos" - pioneer newspapers began to appear for sale in the streets of London. The seventeenth century. which saw the North Atlantic colonies well established, witness.e d in England the slow but stubborn growth of gazettes, corantos, pamphlets and broadsides, as well as the spread of literacy and the establishment of libraries. The long battle between Crown and Parliament and the emergence of . England as a maritime, imperial and commercial power provided endless issues for public controversy · and strong motives for circulating up-to-date information. The Licensing Act of England expired in 1694 and the next two decades saw a sort of first golden age of the press in London. Writers as various as Jonathan Swift, Daniel Defoe. Richard Steele and Joseph Addison illustrated the potency of the printed word. in savage satire, realistic reporting, and graceful literary portraits of men and things. The New England colonies were not quite ready to respond to this first brilliant illustration of the power of the journalist in

vi - A HISTORY OF JOURNALISM IN CANADA

public life. But the first daily newspaper printed in the English language (I702) in London preceded by only two years the appearance of the first true American newspaper; and the next fifty years saw notable progress in American journalism. By 1750 most literate Americans had access to some journal of information. Journals were numerous (Boston alone had five newspapers by 1735), commercial advertising was able to free printers from abject financial dependence upon the colonial government, and some revolutionary ideas were being disseminated. In England the first of the Stamp Acts (I712) dimmed the brilliance of the first golden-age in London. But Westminster did · not get around to extending such imposts on newspapers in the American colonies until 1765; and by then it was too late. The press of the American colonies played a powerful role in the . resistance which culminated in the Revolutionary War and independence. The transfer of European culture and civilization to North America over a span of three centuries affords copious examples of the ready way in which customs and institutions travel with the emigrants, colonists, and settlers to their new homes. Many institutions which have been repressed or discouraged in the homeland are able to flourish with great vigour on new soil. During the latter part of the eighteenth century the press of the new American reIUJblic was in many respects more dynamic and less fettered than the mother press in England. British North America was currently emerging, at first as a scatter of weak: crown colonies, but destined to develop ioto sturdy and spirited provinces and eventually federate into a potentially great union from sea to sea. Many of the early English-speaking settlers of British North America came to Canada conscious of great traditions and achievements in the press of Britain and the United States. New Fraoce had been colonized by a series of authoritarian regimes, under rigid control, and the printing press did not find a place there until after the battle on the Plains of Abraham. But as soon as the social and political conditions made a popular press feasible in Quebec it began to take hold there also. As Professor Kesterton so clearly indicates, the press of British North America from the beginning inherited some journalistic traditions of Britain and the United States. Many of tbe influential early settlers of British North America were bred in the military tradition, or were Loyalist tories; and the authoritarian philosophy of the colonial government at first prevailed everywhere. But other settlers came in

FOREWORD - vii

from more radical and revolutionary environments, and in any event the republican and egalitarian sentiments scattered around the world by the American and French Revolutions could not be prevented in due course from infecting many intellectual leaders of British North America. By the time agitation arose for repre· sentative institutions, for responsible government, and eventually for all the elements of what we call a "free" society, the institution of the press was well advanced, and it stood ready to serve the cause of reform, as soon as Canadians had the ingenuity and courage so to use it. The pioneer press of British North America, as Professor Kesterton traces it in detail, provided a useful service in an emerging colony but it was only a tame and crude herald of things to come. A more exciting period arrived when conditions in British North America reached a stage similar to those of the American colonies three quarters of a century earlier. The press had to free itself from subservience to colonial governors, commerce had to provide a financial base for independent editors, and the society itself had to go through a ferment of political ideas before there was any hope of a press in Canada equal in vigour and effectiveness to the New England papers which had earlier fougbt ''The Newspaper War on Britain" - as Arthur M. Schlesinger calls it in his Prelude to Independence. Before the nineteenth century was far advanced these favourable circumstances for a dynamic press activity had come into being. Reformers appeared who were thoroughly alive to the part the press could play in achieving religious, political and social reforms. Such diverse characters as William Lyon Mackenzie in Upper Canada, Edmund Bailey O'Callaghan in Lower Canada and Joseph Howe in Nova Scotia demonstrated the effectiveness of the newspaper in attacking inequity and corruption in high places. A little later, George and Gordon Brown, Alexander Mackenzie, Etienne Parent, Edward Whelan, Sandfield Macdonald, the Dorions, the Sheas, the Popes, and many others illustrated the intimate link that could be forged between political life and the ownership, control or content of the leading newspapers of the day. The part played by newspapers in the formulation of Confederation opinion has been thoroughly documented by P. B. Waite in The Life and Times of Confederation. The press of any country tends to reflect over the years the values and systems prevalent in it. Some examples are obvious. A monolithic state cannot very well be maintained without an equally monolithic press. If a political party is the ruling agency in such a state the press must be owned or controlJed by the

viii - A HISTORY OF JOURNALISM IN CANADA

party. A successful ecclesiastical state or theocracy needs press control by priests. More variety is to be expected in an open society and in a "free" state. The press in a large confederacy or a confederation is likely to be much more regional and diverse than in a small homogeneous state with a strong central government. As will be seen in Professor Kesterton's narrative, the press of British North America drastically altered as the political, social and economic conditions evolved over the years. Canada grew up in an age when Adam Smith's economic and political ideas prevailed, but state assistance and intervention has always been acceptable in mastering the frontier enviroDment; and in more recent years laissez faire has retreated to some extent to make way for a social welfare philosophy. And the technology of mass communication has made enormous strides. A liberal society, tolerant of trial and error, is likely to witness all sorts of approaches to the task of informing the public, of providing market service, exhortation, instruction and entertainment - the main services performed by the press of today. Over the years Canada has had a party press, a church press, a labour union press, technical press, an academic press, a government press; and in some form or qther all these kinds persist. (The Queen's Printer, the Canada Gazette, the National Film Board, some CDC programmes, the publications of information offices of government departments etc. add up to a sort of government press.) But the great bulk of Canada's press organs are still appropriate to a relatively free market economy. News and the other services of a newspaper or magazine are gathered and distributed largely by private entrepreneurs; and in theory no one who wishes is barred from having a go at it. In practice it is not so simple, since the popular press has become big business and the competition, both internal and from other countries, requires it to be efficient big business. Moreover, to operate a private broadcasting station requires a government licence: and there are said to be not enough clear channels to go around. Survival of all living creatures requires some awareness of the changing environment. A primary concern of man in a "free" society, of democratic intentions, is to abtain speedy and accurate information on what is going on about him, so that he can react intelligently, whether in his financial outlay, his union vote, or in his choice of a government to serve him. In large and complex societies like ours the nature of the press -its ownership and control, as wen as its quality - is of paramount importance.

a

FOREWORD - ix

Rather surprisingly, most earlier historians of Canada have devoted little attention to the appearance and development of the press. Though the press must have been, almost from the beginning, a persistent and powerful iWluence in the political and social evoluLion of Canada, tbe literature on the subject is scanty. Professor Kesterton is one of the very few Canadians who bave examined in detail tbe content, performance and ownership of the press since the first printer opened shop at Halifax in 175 I, or who have deeply studied its rationale, philosophy and ideology. When the curriculum for the Department of Journalism at Carleton College (now University) was drawn up in 1945 by Dr. H. M. Tory and Dr. J. E. Robbins, a course subject was set aside to be called the History of Journalism. I found out long afterwards that it was hoped that Iwould undertake the teaching of such a course; and Dr. Tory later approached me with some .persistence to take it 00. I was still fully employed in tbe parliamentary press gallery, however, and it was not feasible to accept his invitation. When, two years later, I agreed to leave the gallery and come to Carleton as Director of the School, I found that I had only deferred the responsibility. Happily, Max Freedman, tben of the Winnipeg Free Press, agreed to give a series of lectures on the subject in the years 1947-49. At the end of that period I was so fortunate as to persuade Wilfred H. Kesterton, medalist in journalism in 1949 and a graduate of Queen's University, to join our teaching staff. One of my earliest requests of him was that he become knowledgeable in the history of journalism, with Canadian developments as bis primary interest. In the years since, no one has delved more industriously and patiently into the archives of Canadian journalism, or exposed so lucidly its salient characteristics. Parts of this history have been in existence for a considerable time. This is the first time the whole story has been pulled together as a complete narrative. I hope it will be of service to a growing circle of readers, as well as to the students in jouTnalism classes for whom it was originally devised.

Preface WlJen I began serious research into the history of Canadian journalism, my task was not only to describe a distant past but also to overtake the advancing present. In 1949 I started by describing what had happened in 1752; seventeen years were to elapse before I was able to catch up with the contemporary scene and thereby write about 1966 during 1966. In dealing with a subject large in the dimensions of time and geographic space~ I have tried consistently to discern and reveal patterns and trends among the myriad minutiae of the record. I have rejected much descriptive and anecdotal material in order to leave myself sufficient space to be critical and analytical in my account. To the extent that I have succeeded in these objectives, much credit must go to kind friends. To my project they have contributed encouragement, information, seminal ideas, and. sometimes, tedious labour. Foremost among my benefactors has been Professor Wilfrid Eggleston, who has helped me in all respects mentioned. Whatever the shortcomings of my study. it would have displayed more had he not given me a confidence I sometimes lacked myself in the face of the difficulties of tbe undertaking. While acknowledging my indebtedness to Professor Eggleston, I of course absolve him from any responsibility for my interpretations, as for any omissions or errors. Mlle. Juliette ~ourque and other members of staff of the National Archives devoted many hours to ferreting out research material for me over many years. Personnel of the Parliamentary Library) Ottawa, were equally helpful. Dr. James A. Gibson, now president of Brock University, constructively criticized early manuscript material and contributed to my knowledge of the relationshJp between the press and Canadian politics. Mr. Robert U . Mahaffy, financial editor of the Ottawa Journal, generously let me read and make notes on original data be had gathered. In 1953 a Humanities Research Council grant financed a fruitful hunting expedition into the Atlantic provinces. In other years, legislative librarians in every province gave me belp, as did the staffs of tbe Glenbow Foundation and of many public libraries. Daily newspaper offices and news agency bureaus made me welcome in their library-morgues. Finally, and not least, I have to thank the defenceless procession of. I suppose, about -three hundred students in Journalism at Carleton who bave allowed me to try out my ideas on them and who have been unfailingly· and amiably responsive in subjecting tbose ideas to debate. WILFRED KESTERTON

Carleton University / Ottawa, Ontario / February, 1967

1: The First Press Period: The Transplant, 1752 to 1807 The story of Canadian journalism is much older than the nation. As Canada completes her first hundred years of nationhood in 1967, the press of British North America moves well into its third century of life. British North American pioneer newspapers did not begin

as a seed growth. They came as a transplant from the New England colonies. The journalism plant which took root north of the American border was the result of a slow but orderJy development in both the Old and New World. In less botanical terms the 1752 news sbeet issued by John Bushell in Halifax bad evolved because of such British events as the Royal Letters of the days of Agincourt and after, the introd uction of Caxton's

printing press into England in 1478, the transfonnation of private news letters into the Corantos, Relations, Intelligences, Gazettes and Mercuries of the 1500's, and t.he establishment of the first true English newspaper, tbe Oxford Gazelle in 1665. Benjamin D ay's abortive, single-issue Publick Occurrences in Philadelphia in 1690, and John Campbell's Boslon News Leller, America's first true newspaper, in 1704, were equaUy important . precursors of Canada's pioneer journals.

Settlement of the New World by citizens of the Old transferred to the young colon ies a rich cultural "soil" capable of nourishing quick new growth. The institutions of a more sop his· ticated society, including the press, were swiftly transplanted with little loss of vigour. Thus, along with the officers of govern· ment and the Jaw, and with the joiner, the blacksmith, the linen draper, the tallow cand ler, the cabinet·maker and the soap maker, the newspaper printer·ed itor was quick to practise hi s profession wherever new communities sprang up . There were at least three reasons why the journalism plant was so immediately viable in British North America. First, it had

benefited from fifty years of "prehardening" in the New England colonies. At the time when Green and Bushell were estab· lishing Nova Scotia's first print shop, Boston was second only to London in the British Empire as a printing centre, and Pbila· delphia was nearly as important. A press growth which origi. nated in suc~ centres was likely to be strong. Second, journalism is much more hard y than some of the other institutions of a civilized society. If li terature is a delicate tropical flower that

Z - A HISTORY OF JOURNALISM IN CANADA

requires favourable conditions of soil and climate, journalism is, at least in pioneer days, a scrub growth capable of surviving in a desert. The fact was that the early printer-editor could begin a paper if be had a relat ively inexpensive printing press, a "shirttail full of type," a few dollars, and a small but faithful reading public. Even so, the mortality rate was high among the early entrepreneurs, but when one newspaper went out of business others emerged to take its place. Third, the earliest news-journals received a sort of "hot-bouse" encouragement that kept them alive wben they might otherwise have died. In five provinces the first, and in New Brunswick the third, journalist was King's Printer, in fact if not always in name. As such he enjoyed a smaH but steady government patronage that more often than not kept his enterprise alive. The Pioneer Newspapers

The first newspapers in what is today Canada began at a time when England was winning control oj North America from France. In many cases, pioneer news organs appeared soon after first settlements began as isolated pockets in the surrounding wilderness. In 1749 the Honourable Edward Cornwallis established Halifax on the rocky Chebucto soil. Bartholomew Green Jr., grandson of the Boston News Letter's first printer, brougbt a press from Boston in August 1751 and set up a printing office in the Nova Scotian capital. Before he could establish a newspaper. however, he died. In January 1752 his old partner, John Bushell, came to Halifax to take over the print shop. Bushell earned the honour of being Canada's pioneer journalist wben he issued th e first number of the Halifax Gazette on March 23 1752. This event launched a period of journalism that may be considered, perhaps a little arbitrarily, to have lastep until 1807. Canada's six most easterly provinces made their press beginnings during that fifty-five-year interval. Quebec's pioneer paper- was the Quebec Gazette, established in Quebec City by the Philadelphia printers. William Brown and Thomas Gilmore, in 1764, a scant year after the Treaty of Paris gave Canada to the British. The Quebec Gazette survives today as part of the Quebec Chronicle-Telegraph , wbich disputes the claim of the Hartford • Not only was no newspaper established in New France in pre-Briti5h days but Aegldiu$ Fauleux (Introduction oj PrintlnB Into Canado, RoUand. Paper Co .• Montreal, 1940, 68-69) belJeved that not even one printing press found its way into New France during tbe entire French regime.

THE FIRST PRESS PERIOD _ 3

Courant to be North America's oldest surviving newspaper. t In 1783 the United Empire Loyalists created the town of Carleton in what was then Nova Scotia. With them came John Ryan of Rhode Island and William Lewis of New York to establish the Royal Gazette and Nova Scotia Intelligencer in the same year. Their venture was New Brunswick's pioneer newspaper because Carleton was in Sunbury, that part of Nova Scotia detached in 1784 to form the new province. Carleton was renamed Parr-Town and then Saint Jobo. The journal was renamed the Royal St. John Gazelle. James Robertson Sr., whose journalism career bad begun in Boston and had taken him to printing offices in several New England centres and in Shelburne, Nova Scotia, founded the Royal American Gazette and Weekly Intelligencer in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, in 1787. Upper Canada, made a province by tbe Constitutional Act in 1791, was just emerging from its wilderness state in 1793 when Louis Roy established the Upper Canada Gazette or American OracIe. John Graves Simcoe brought the former Quebec Gazette employee to Newark (later Niagara-on-theLake) to begin the pioneer venture for what was later to become the province of Ontario. The first or transplant phase of Canadian journalism ended in 1807 when a start w.as made in the last of British North America's most easterly provinces. John Ryan left New Brunswick at the invitation of Newfoundland officials and began the Royal Gazette and Newfoundland Advertiser in St. lohn's. The dependence of the early news sheets on government favour was demonstrated by the early careers of the pioneer journals. The Halifax Gazette ran into trouble in 1766 when its second editor, Anthony Henry, allowed his headstrong apprentice, Isaiah Thomas, to use its pages to criticize the Stamp Act. t The Quebec Gazette first appeared June 21, 1764. The Halt/ord COUlant was first issued October 29, 1764. Th~ Qu~b~c GaA. VO/llme II. by G. P. deT. Glazebrook . II.

13.

THE ECO NO MIC BA C KG RO UND OF I)QM I],; I01'o:-PROV I NC IAL RI: I.AT IO:-:S

14 ..

TH E FRE NC H-CA NA DI AN O UTLOOK

15.

T H E WESTE RN II'TE RIOR OF CA NAD A: A R ECO R[:\oOF GEOGRAP HI CA L D ISCOVERY, 1612-1917. compiled and with an In troductio n by John

16.

THE COURTS A 1'0: 0 TliE CANA DI A]'; CONST IT UTION .

by W . A. Mackintosh. with an In troduction by J . H. Dales by Mason Wade, with a new Introduction by the author

Warkentin

17. IS. 19.

20. 21.

22.

compiled and with an Introduction by W . R. Lederman MONEY AN D BANK ING IN CANADA. compiled and with an Introduction by E. P. Ncurcld FRENCH-C ANAI) I"N SOCIETY, Volume' I. com piled and with an In trod uction by Marcel Rioux and Yves Martin THE CANADIAN cmlM ERCIAL REVOI.UTlO:-:. 1845-1851 by Gilbert N. Tucker. edited and with a r. Introduction by Hugh G. J . Aitken JOSEI'll HOWE: VOICF. OF NOVA SCOTIA. compi k'ti and with an Introduct ion by J. Murray Bcel.. U FE AND LE TTERS OF SIR W ILFRID I.AUR IER Voilime /. by O. D. Skelton. edi ted and with an Introduction by Da vid M . L. Farr LIF E AND LETTERS O F SIR W ILF RID I.AURIER. VO/ll111e II . by O. O . Skelton. edited by David M . L. Farr

23.

LEA DING CONSTITUTIONA L DECI SI ONS. co m p iled an d w i t h an

24. 25.

FRON TENAC TH E COURTIER GOV ER NOR

Imroduction by Peler H. Russell IN DI ANS Of TH E NO RT H l' AC II' le COAST.

by W. J. Eccles compi led and with

un

Introduction by Tom Mc Feat 26.

LI FE AN D T IMES O F SIR A LEXAN D ER T ILLOCH GALT

by O. D. Skelton.

ed ited and with an Introduction by G uy Mac l ean

27.

A HISTORY OF CANADIAN EXTERNAL RELATI ONS:

Vollml£' I. by

G. P. deT. G lazebrook. revised by the au thor

28.

A H ISTO RY OF CANADIAN EXTERNAL RE L ATI ONS. Volume II. by G. P. deT. G lazebrook. revised a nd wit h a Bibliographical Essay by

29.

T H E RACE QUESTION r;..: CANA IH

46.

ROBE RT LA I RD BORDEN: HIS MEMOIRS,

the au thor

by Andre Siegfried. ed ited and with an Introduction by F. H. Underh ill 3 ~ . NO RT!! ATLAN TI C TItI ANG LE by J . B. Srebner. wi th an Introd uction by D. G. Creighton 3 1. A I' PROAOI ES T O CANAD IAN ECONQ.\II C H I STO R Y. compil ed and wit h an Introduction by W. T. Easterbrook and M. H. Watki ns 32. CANADI AN SOC IAL STRUCTU RE: A STATI STICAL PROFI LE. compiled and with an Introduct ion and Commentary by John Porter 33. CHU RCH AND STATE IN CANADA. 1 627~ 1 867: BAS IC DOCUMENTS. compi led and with an Introduction by John S. Moir 34. WESTERN ONTAR I O AND THE AMERICAN FRONTIE R by Fred La ndon. with a new Introduction by the author 35. H I STOR ICA L ESSA YS ON T i lE AT L ANTI C PROVI NCES, compiled and with an Introduction by G. A. Rawlyk 36. A I1I STORY OF JOU RNA LI SM I S CANADA 101/ original puhlil"(uiol1J by W. H. Kesterton. with an Introd uction by Wi lfr id Eggleston 37. TH E 0 1.0 PROVI NCE OF QU EBEC, Volllme I. by A. L Burt, with an Introduction by Hilda Ne..1 tby 38. THE 01.0 I'ROV INCE OF QUEBEC, Volume II. by A. L. Burt 39. G ROWTH AND THE CANADIA1\' ECONOMY. edited and with an In troduction by T. N. ·Brewis 40. nQCUMENTS ON TIlE CONFEDERATI ON Of· BRITI SH NORTH AMERI CA. edi ted and wit h an Introd uction by G. P. Browne 4 1. ESK I MO OF TIl E CANA nlAN ARCTI C. ed ited and wi th an Introduction by Victor F. Valen tine and Frank G. Vallee 42. T H E COI.ON I AL RE FORMERS AND CA .... A D A . 1830-1849. edi ted and with an Introduct ion by Peler Burroughs 43. A NARRATIVE. by Sir Francis Bond Head t."d ited and with un Introduction by S. F. Wise 44. JOl i N STRACHAN: UOCUMENTS AND OPINIONS. edited and with an Introduction by J. L. H. Henderson 45. H I E NEUTRA L YANKE I; S OF NOVA SCOTI A by J. B. Srebner. wilh an Introduct ion by W. S. MacNutl Volume I. ed it ed and with an

Introduction by Hea th Macquarrie 47.

ROBE RT LAIR D 1l0R OEI': HI S MEMOI RS,

Macquarrie

....

Volume II. edited by Heath

193084 48,

Ti l E C"NA DI A1\' MUN ICIPA L ~ ' STE M : ESSA ' S ON Til E IMPRovE MENT OF LOCAL GOVE k SMI:.NT by D. C. R owat

49.

Til E BElTER [' A RT OF VA LO UR: ESSA YS ON CANA DI AN n ll' LOM AC" by

John W . Holm es

50.

I. AME NT FO R /I. NAT ION: H IE D EFEAT OF CANA O"'N NATIONA LIS M by

Gcorg ~

Gran!. wilh a new Introduction by the author FOREIGN POUCY , 1945-1954 by R. A. Mac Kay. ed iled and with an Introduction by the author 52. MONC K: lEn'ERS AN D JOU RSAlS. L-di tcd and with an Introduction by W . L. Morlon 53. HISTO RICAL 1:55,," 5 ON THE I'R AIRII: PROV INCES. edited and with an Introd uction by Donald Swainson

5 1.

('AI\I\ OI,, :-.

54.

T il E CA1"A DI AN I:.(ONO I\I Y IN T il E G REA T DEPR ESS ION

by

A . E. Safarian 55.

CANA DA'S C II Ai"G ING :0;0 11.1"11 .

edited and with an Int roduction by

Will iam C. Wonders 56. THE DEVE LO I' MI' NT OF CANA I)A 's STA I'J.J: S. 1867·1 939. edited and with an Introductory commen! by Kevin Burley 57. UR HAN I)EVE LO I'M ENT OF SOl:TJ-I·CJ;STRAL OJ\:TA RI O by Jacob Spelt 58. CU LTU RE AND ;\'ATIO!"A U TY : ESS,,,"S BY A. G. BA IL !;): by Alfred Goldsworthy Bai lt:~ 59. COMM UNln' IN CRIS IS: FRENCH - CANA I) IA!" NAT IOi"A Ll SM IN ~ E R S I' ECTI V I: . by Richard Jones. with a new Introduction by the author 60. I' ERSI' F.CTIVES ON THE NORT H AMl;RICI\N INI>I A:-;'S. ed itt..-d and wi th 'lIl Introduction by Mark Nagler 61. I A:-;,GUAGES IN CONFI rCT. by Richard J. Joy, with a Prcrace by Frank G. Vallee tl2. T il E [..AST !-ORn' YEARS. Til l: UN ION OJ- 1841 TO CO:-;'I'EI>E RATIO ..... by J. C. Dent. abridged and with an Introd ucti on by Donald Swainson 63.

'-AU RIER ANI) A tlll ERA l QU 1:UEC: A STU!) Y IN I'O U TI(A I. \1ANAGBIENT, by H. Blair Neatby. edited and with an Introduct ion by

64.

Til E TR EMIl I.AY REI'O RT.

Richard T. Clippingdale edited and with a.n Introduction by David

Kwavnick 65.

CULTU RAl I:COI.OGY: READISGS OS Til E CANAI)IAN INIlI ANS AN D ESK IMOS . l...-diH.'d and with an Introduction by Bruce ('ox

66.

RI:.COLLECT IOSS or TilE OS TO OnAWA TREK. by Ronald Li v~rsedge. with Documen ts Relati ng to the Vancouver Strike and the On to Ottawa Trek. editl...-d and with an Introduction by Victor Hoar

67.

T il E OMB UDSMAN "LAN: ESSAYS OJ\: T il E WO RLDWID E SI'R EA D OF AN IDEA. by Dona ld C. ROWUl

68.

NA TURAL RESOURCES: THE ECO NO MICS

0 1' CONSERVA TION , by

Anthony Scott 69. 70.

by Chester Martin . edited and with an Introduction by Lewis H. Thomas .

DOM INION LAN DS I' o u ey. RENEGA DE IN I'OWE R.

by Denis Smith

by Peter C. Newman. with an Introduction