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Israel "Izzy" Asper, Canadian Media Lord
Letters to Israel Asper (father):

@  10-May-2002   They left their hearts in Tel Aviv
@  16 May-2002   The miracle of kosher water
@  04-Jul-2002     The miracle of kosher vodka
@  18-Jul-2002     Does brain damage help explain Israeli barbarism?
@  23-Jul-2002     Sixth explanation of Israeli barbarism?
@  30-Jul-2002     Do you rule an empire of the brain-fried?
@  31-Jul-2002     Peruvian Indians invade the West Bank
@  03-Aug-2002   Albert Einstein writes you

Leonard Asper
Letters to Leonard Asper (son):

@  26-Mar-2004   Do you wage war on Ukrainians?
@  19-Sep-2004   Media empire or propaganda machine?


Material relating to Leonard Asper:

@  11-Nov-2004   Paul Martin: Three reasons why al-Qaeda might attack Canada

Izzie Asper: Canada has a new media lord, and it's the head of Canwest Global Communications.  After acquiring most of Hollinger's newspapers and magazines, including half of the National Post, Asper now stands to be the most powerful figure in the history of Canadian media.  A relentlessly tough businessman, he made a rather unexpected power play to dethrone Conrad Black and, although he might not be as grandiose about it, he now has more clout within Canada than Black ever did.
� Pundit Magazine
Today, CanWest is one of Canada�s most profitable communication companies.  In fiscal 2000 its net earnings were $162 million, with revenues totalling $1.08 billion and operating profits of $263 million.

In July 2000, CanWest acquired most of Canada�s leading newspapers, as well as a 50 per cent stake in one of the country�s national dailies, The National Post.  Earlier that month, federal regulators approved CanWest�s purchase of eight television stations, an acquisition that created Canada�s second-largest private television network under the banner of Global TV.  Long before that, the corporation had forged an international broadcasting presence in New Zealand, Australia and Ireland.
� Manitoba Government
The Hollinger dailies involved in the deal with CanWest are: The St. John's Telegram, Cornerbrook Western Star, Halifax Daily News, Truro Daily News, Cape Breton Post, Charlottetown Guardian, Summerside Journal-Pioneer, Montreal Gazette, Ottawa Citizen, Windsor Star, St. Catharine�s Standard, Welland Tribune, Niagara Falls Review, Sarnia Observer, Chatham Daily News, Brantford Expositor, Moose Jaw Times-Herald, Prince Albert Daily Herald, Regina Leader Post, Saskatoon StarPhoenix, Calgary Herald, Edmonton Journal, Vancouver Sun, Vancouver Province, Victoria Times-Colonist, Port Alberni Valley Times, and the Nanaimo Daily News.
� NewsWatch
What was a personal crusade and amusement for Mr. Black has become, in the hands of the Aspers, a crude and potentially dangerous weapon of political influence.  The Aspers' decision to provide editorials from head office as many as three times a week to all their newspapers will create an extraordinary degree of editorial uniformity.

Two factors will magnify this influence.  While television stations do not have editorials as such, news directors and journalists at CanWest stations will be acutely aware of, and probably influenced by, the newspaper editorials produced by the group.  And convergence of different media within CanWest increases the likelihood that centralized editorial views of newspapers within the group will leak into television newsrooms and increasingly influence their selection of content.

The immediate question is why Leonard and David Asper, in particular, seem intent on raising these issues at this early stage in the group's history.  In less than a year, they have succeeded in antagonizing many of the journalists whom they employ, alarming the intellectual community and triggering a debate about the extent of their media empire and its enormous influence on our political life.  Surely this debate can only have negative consequences for them politically and commercially.
� Peter Desbarats
The decision by CanWest Global to place one identical editorial on its newspapers' editorial pages across the country, without allowing contradictions to this "core position" to go on those same pages, is a violation of established principles of free media and an invitation to self-censorship.
� Reza Baraheni
Even more intrusive was a no-rebuttal order after a national editorial last August, following an attack on Israel by Palestinians, arguing that Canada should back Israel no matter how it responds, "without the usual hand-wringing criticism about 'excessive force.'"  Papers in the Southam chain were told to carry neither columns nor letters to the editor taking issue with that editorial, according to journalists at two Southam papers, who said the order came via a conference call.
� Aaron J. Moore
According to the Gazette Intifada, the Aspers, owners of CanWest Global Communications, have �clamped down on news, criticism, or commentary that is anything but 100 percent pro-Israeli.�  Canada�s largest media corporation, CanWest Global Communications, is headed by pro-Israeli ideologue Israel �Izzy� Asper.  After purchasing the Southam newspaper chain in 2000, CanWest�s Canadian portfolio has come to include 126 community newspapers, one of three national television networks and a major internet portal as well as 14 major metropolitan daily newspapers including the nationally distributed National Post.  In most Canadian large cities, CanWest runs the only daily newspaper.
� Lina Badih
Izzy related that once Cole Porter, a non-Jew, asked Gershwin how he captured his distinctive and profound blues tone in his compositions.  �Go to Shul,� Gershwin advised Porter.  �It�s right there in the chanting � plaintiff [sic] and melancholy go to Shul.�
� Raphael Rothstein
The Asper Foundation is pleased to introduce its Holocaust & Human Rights Studies Program for the 2000/01 school year in which all Jewish Grade 9 students will be invited to participate.  The highlight of the Program is a trip to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., to take place June 24-27, 2001.
� Jewish Heritage Centre of Western Canada

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