Following settlement of the contract dispute at the Calgary Herald, Hollinger International Inc. announced the sale of that newspaper and hundreds of its other large and small newspapers in the United States and Canada.

Hollinger, which is owned by media mogul Conrad Black, announced on July 31 the sale of its major Canadian newspaper groups to CanWest Global Communications Corp. for $3.5 billion Canadian dollars. The company said the purchase price will be paid as $700 million in CanWest shares with the balance divided into 75 percent cash and 25 percent in subordinated debentures of a CanWest company.

On Aug. 2, Hollinger announced it sold its remaining U.S. community newspapers, except those in the Chicago area, to four buyers for about $215 million. Those buyers include Bradford Publications Company, Newspapers Holdings Inc. of Alabama, Paxton Media Group Inc., and Forum Communications Company.

Hollinger properties not up for sale were the Chicago Sun-Times, Jerusalem Post, The Telegraph Group Limited in Britain, or Hollinger's new media investment subsidiary, Hollinger Ventures.

The purchase of the Hollinger newspapers rounds out CanWest's media empire. The company was founded some 20 years ago by Israel H. Asper, who is the company's executive chairman. Unlike the ultra-conservative Black, Asper served as leader of the Liberal Party in Manitoba in the early 1970s and remains a loyal Liberal supporter. Asper's son Leonard is the company's president and chief executive officer.

CanWest owns a broadcast network, Global Television, with stations in Halifax, St. John, Ontario, Quebec, Winnipeg, Regina, Saskatoon, Edmonton, Calgary, Lethbridge, and Vancouver. It operates CBC affiliates in Kelowna and Red Deer, CTV affiliates in Vancouver and Montreal, and Independent stations in Victoria and Hamilton.

CanWest operates radio, cable television, and interactive media, and film and television production facilities in Canada, the United States, and England. CanWest partially or wholly owns broadcast television operations in Australia, Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, and New Zealand, where it also has radio operations.

GCIU Vice Pres. Duncan Brown said, following the sale, he wrote to Israel Asper and suggested that he meet with GCIU representatives to discuss the future of the industry and other items of mutual interest and concern.

GCIU Rep. Alan M. Tate, who assisted Calgary 34M members with recent contracts at Hollinger's Herald, said, under Canadian law, the union contracts with Hollinger newspapers will continue in force under the new ownership.

However, Tate said, the sale may have other ramifications. He said the sale is raising questions among media analysts about increased media concentration. Black was criticized for his ownership of nearly half of Canada's newspapers. Now, Tate noted, Asper has bought newspapers in the major cities in which he already operates television stations.

"For the first time, the monopolization is not just newspapers but an integration of newspapers and other media outlets, especially television," Tate said. He added that the Internet is also involved because of CanWest's purchase from Hollinger of canada.com, which is one of the largest Internet portals in Canada.

Hollinger's sale to CanWest includes a 50 percent interest in the National Post. Other newspapers bought by CanWest include the Ottawa Citizen, Vancouver Sun, Montreal Gazette, Edmonton Journal, The Province, The Windsor Star, The Regina Leader Post, the Star Phoenix, and The Victoria Times-Colonist. Other properties included in the sale are the Southam Magazine and Information group and their Internet properties, including canada.com.

The U.S. community paper sale included 11 paid dailies, three paid non-dailies, and 31 shoppers and total market coverage products in California, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Mississippi, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.