The media business is in the midst of an Internet-driven revolution unprecedented since the invention of the printing press.

It might not be happening as quickly or as dramatically as the promoters of the ’Net promised us in the 1990s, but it is happening as surely as the sun rises, the globe spins and the Post . . . goes into the ground.

As technology evolves, so too must newspapers. But, instead of encouraging experimentation, there is a whole class of critic who has been lashing out at the innovative efforts being made by CanWest Global Communications.

What these critics need to realize is that the whole media industry is in flux, creating something of a crisis for the large, deeply indebted, old-style companies such as BCE and CanWest. This is no time for government to be meddling in an industry which is hurting – reported by some as the worst advertising market since the Great Depression.

We are on the brink of seeing a phoenix rise from these ashes. It is, therefore, a time for anyone who cares about the publishing business to take some risks, innovate and educate themselves – even if it might lead to failure.

My heart goes out to the Aspers of CanWest. They have become the target of wildly unfair attacks – especially in the Toronto Star and Globe and Mail – for their gutsy policy of running “national editorials” in all Southam newspapers, which they control. Their new policy states that unsigned opinion pieces called editorials submitted from head office must be printed in all Southam dailies across the country, including the Edmonton Journal and Calgary Herald.

One of the points of contention is that these national positions (i.e. that Chretien is hard done by) may not be contradicted by any locally written editorials. The criticism of this policy has focused on notions of freedom of the press and the fear of head-office gag orders.

But such concerns are ridiculous, based as they are on outdated notions of what the media business has become. If people don’t like the Aspers’ opinions, they don’t have to buy their products or work for them (Southam controls fewer newspapers than it did two years ago, and, I predict, more than it will next year).

There never has been more freedom of the press than there is today. Yet, some people are seeking government subsidization for “independent” media. Who will define “independent?” Besides, subsidization ultimately hurts freedom, by raising taxes and start-up costs.

I’m more inclined to think that there may be too much freedom of the press today, not too little. Runaway libel, slander and hate speech, all rampant on the Internet, can be a serious threat to democracy. (That’s a different column.)

The traditional newspaper business is under serious threat. Any critic who ignores this fails to see what the Aspers face. The 40 former Southam editors and publishers who recently purchased a full-page rant in the Globe and Mail attacking the Aspers miss this fact.

Of course, CanWest’s executive chairman Israel Asper won’t say this either, but the popular idea of “convergence,” which underpins the criticism of CanWest’s policy as well as CanWest’s two-year-old acquisition of Southam newspapers, is fundamentally flawed.

What exactly is converging in the media business? Newsrooms, advertising, promotional campaigns, content.

Ian Angus, president of the highly respected consulting firm Angus Telemanagement, pointed out in one of his recent online columns that media convergence is simply vertical integration, and it has been going on for decades.

There is nothing new there. In the news business, convergence has become a misnomer for cross-promotion and consolidation. Such business practices generally work and have proven successful.

But the Internet and other communications technologies are throwing a formidable twist into the formula – market fragmentation. As Angus has also said: “The dominant trend in communications today is not convergence, but divergence.”

Starting a magazine or newspaper has never been easier than it is today, thanks to newly effective communications, computer and press technologies, and relatively lax regulations. Also, specialty products of all kinds are nipping at the heels of many of the lucrative specialties of newspapers: classified ads and international news are two examples. Today, Trader.com (of Bargain Finder and Autotrader fame) is the dominant classified company in Alberta. Its online listings of used cars, for example, dwarf those of its nearest competitor (CarsByNet.com, a partner of Telus’s alberta.com).

In a recent sample, autotrader.ca had 394 used Dodge Caravans listed in all of Alberta, vs. 244 on CarsByNet, 136 in the Bargain Finder (buysell.com) and 105 on the Globe and Mail’s Megawheels. There were only 52 on CanWest Global’s online listings.

This fifth-place finish is startling considering CanWest’s size and supposed influence. The classified business, once a mainstay of the newspaper business, has fragmented into dozens of specialized companies, luring customers with different perks such as free or inexpensive ads, free photos, auctions (i.e. eBay.ca), newsprint distribution, or any combination of these.

No one knows whose model will eventually triumph. But the sophisticated online sites are taking a giant chunk of the market, with their easy-to-use searches, colour photos and convenient ways of sorting listings. There is much revenue to be lost for the biggest classified proprietor in the country, CanWest Global.

Coverage of international news is yet another area where there are more “media companies” than there ever has been before. For traditionalists there will always be TV, radio and newspapers. Albertans’ access to everything from the New York Times, specialty products such as debka.com, which gives a fascinating glimpse into Middle East strife through hawkish Israeli eyes, or the Yemen Times (yementimes.com) gives new depth to our understanding of international events.

The role of regional daily newspapers has unquestionably changed – even daily stock listings are becoming a waste of paper. Such trends will certainly continue.

Newspapers will not disappear, but there has been such a dramatic increase in the number of media companies, including cheap satellite TV, that newspapers will have to find creative ways of cost cutting and adapting. Monopolization or gag orders are laughable threats, as anyone schooled in the plethora of modern media will tell you. Most of us will not miss CanWest Global if the Aspers’ experiments fail.

It has never been easier to start a publication. The small band who started Business Edge a couple of years ago should be an inspiration and encouragement to the 40 concerned ex-Southam leaders who ranted against the Aspers.

We have made this newsmagazine work. We are succeeding in no small part – despite the advertising downturn – because computers are now so cheap, communications technology is robust and inexpensive, and database management and other administrative tools are workable for even unsophisticated software developers such as myself.

We are in the perfect position to know how ridiculous Adam Zimmerman, one of the 40, looks when he tells QR77 and 630 CHED radio that it’s “almost impossible to start a newspaper.”

I don’t think our small group is any better qualified than the 40 highly skilled and experienced editors and publishers who signed that laughable ad. Yet we did it.

Mr. Zimmerman, it just takes a few brains, and a lot of guts.

(Click here to contact Ian van de Burgt.)