CANADIAN NEWSPAPER ASSOCIATION

I am a newspaper reader. And I admit it. Also, I consider myself to be a media watchdog.

Part of the fun for me is knowing who the owners are of the various papers and predicting which way a given columnist will lean, politcally, based on who he or she answers to.

Toronto area residents will not find the following to be "news", but for those who are not, this is a breakdown: As a general rule, the National Post and the Toronto Sun are both very right wing -- in U.S. terms, more right-of-centre but the leaning is there. The Toronto Star is left for sure, with its focus on social policy and the plight of the poor (which is a good thing). The Globe and Mail is a mix. While it is by far and away my favourite of the Toronto dailies, it is typically conservative being 'the paper of business', and its editorial spewings are not often in synch with my own. But contrary to what a left-wing chum of mine said, the Globe and Mail does not ignore social concerns. Even I have been amazed at what appears in its pages. What I like is the Globe's level of writing... especially in regards to analysis.

The Canadian Newspaper Association (www.cna-acj.ca/en) publishes circulation and ownership data. Check out pages 14-18...
http://www.cna-acj.ca/en/system/files/2009CirculationDataReport_1.pdf