Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - April 15, 1981, Winnipeg, Manitoba 8 Winnipeg free press wednesday april 15, 1981 criticism upsets Thomson tells Kent inquiry eve Deborah read by Deborah read Winnipeg free press Ottawa Kenneth Thomson defended the Quality of his newspapers to the Kent commission yesterday and suggested his family could take their investments elsewhere if they Are made to feel uncomfortable in Canada. Frankly it upsets me very much to hear people criticize our said Thomson in his final appear Ance before the commission. The Chain s smaller Canad an papers Are vastly differ ent from metropolitan newspapers and Are being judged unfairly he said. And his control of compan ies like Hudson s Bay ltd., of which Thomson owns 73 per cent has no effect at All on the Chain s papers said Thomson. Different hats i definitely have several different hats in my closet and i Wear them All con Thomson a Ruddy faced Man with greying hair told commission chairman Tom Kent. He said it was quite silly to think the family s newspaper Chain could not operate with integ Rity because the family has other corporate holdings. Of course they can my goodness gracious of course they said Thomson striking his hand on the table for emphasis. My compan ies operate totally separately it s a matter of personal Pride they continue to do so. I just cannot control my self when you talk like that because it just does t Hap pen and it in t going to he told Kent. Thomson then asked if it would be better when the family makes future invest ments for us to make that investment in Canada or would it be better that we make it in the United final week the commission formed to look into the concentration of Canadian newspaper ownership after Thomson closed the Ottawa journal and Southam inc. Closed the Winnipeg Tribune on the same Day last August is in its final week of hearings. In other testimony yester Day the commissioners heard from Margaret Hamil ton and Brian Slaight the two chief executives of Thomson newspapers ltd., but the greatest interest was reserved for Thomson who is rarely heard publicly. We be grown As a corporation and since the Hud son s Bay situation and the times of London the family name has come out. That has t been my desire i d like to be others handle details Thomson said yesterday that he leaves the details of the newspaper Chain to Hamilton and Slaight and does t have As much time As he would like to meet with his editors As happened last week when Murray Burt managing editor of the Winnipeg free press came into my office unexpectedly. We started talking and i asked him questions about How his operations were Thomson said he asked Burt if the free press was producing a better product since the takeover and he thought we i did what i could to Send him Back with his Muscles Thomson told the commissioners individual publishers run the Thomson newspapers not head office. Against intervention he said he was against government intervention in the acquisition of newspapers unless it was absolutely and that he would be Able to Tell if Thomson newspapers reached that Point. I Hope i would know when to in response to questioning about Why Thomson closed the up news service last August he said it was not the kind of service our Small Community newspapers de sired or wished we just tvs Cene up to Date listings plus Quick reference prime time charts every saturday. Winnipeg free press Home delivery 957-0550-942-2161 Kent commission could t justify keeping the individual publishers were not consulted said Thomson because we Felt we knew their feelings on this. And at a year. Miss Hamilton or even or. Slaight to respond to these and tory said he was in formed some of the Thomson publishers were not Given a j Puim Iotria Iii Given a the up news service budget full and fair hearing and was out of Thomson said he would rather see the organization augment the existing Thom son news service which has full time reporters in Ottawa and Toronto. Thomson denied that the organization places budget restrictions on its publishers which prevent them from obtaining services or cover age for their readers. It s up to him the pub Lisher and i Hope to Good Ness in All cases he will had been by the commissioners. When pressed for an example he named the publisher of Thomson s Thunder Bay newspaper. Testified at great great answered commissioner Borden Spears. I suggest you read the Thomson was also questioned on the Sale earlier this year of the times and Sun Day times of London to australian newspaper magnate us Tiu have the guts to stand up and Rupert Murdoch. Say this is what i want this is what i demand and if he stands up for it and justifies had it. Then hell fit it lost More than it huge losses the Thomson family had it then hell get when reference was made to comments by the former editorial director of up publications Ted Bolwell Thomson director John tory who sat beside Thomson reacted angrily. He asked if the testimony of a disgruntled sex employee with an axe to grind such As or. Bolwell should be accepted by the commission. It has concerned me that Many of these people have been permitted by our com Mission to make in my Opin Ion unfounded and Irres Pon sible in some cases slanderous statements. I think it s impossible for you to expect or. Thomson or the times since buying it in 1966. Thomson said Murdoch guaranteed to the British Secretary of state he would not tamper with the editorial Content or judgment of the times As a condition of receiving permission to buy it. The times is considerably different from his other sensationalist tabloids which Are at the lower end of the journalistic said Thomson. There was great concern that he has yet to prove himself and i m sure he he said neither he nor his father would have bought the times if the same conditions had prevailed. Throughout his testimony Thomson stressed his dislike of government controls. The pity of it is a judg ment could be passed on just the fact that somebody s too big per be just because some people Don t like other people to get bigger. 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