PAGE 28, WHITBY FREE PRESS, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 5,1988 When The Stars Corne UpPrices-Corne Down,! Reach For The Stars And Save'. InducingTHE Ha n d orde/id Decorated Stoneware MICROWAVEDISHWASHEROFREEZER AND OVEN SAFE 5-Piece- SAVE WT Place $6OO-00 2 Setting Includes: Dinner on/y Plate, Cup, Sauce,; Salad Plate & Cereal Bowl COLLECT.MATCHING A CCESSORY PIECES TOO! Here's how it works: Recelve one Saver Stamp with each $10 purchase (20 - 2 stamps, $30 - 3 stamps, etc.) Vou can also purchase Indlvldual place setting pieces wthout stamps. Its stili a great bargain! jSUPER* SPECIAL SUPER * SPECIAL CANADA GRADE "A, FROZEN, EVISCERATED, LILY BRAND OR A&P Basted or Butterbali Turkeys 3.06/kg lbm%9 USUPER * SPECIALI JANE PARKER Pumpkin Pie 625 g SIZE TOMATO CALM OR E.D. Smith Garden Cocktail 7%6 mL BTL LIMIT: 3 BTLS'PERFAMILY PURCHASE SUPER * SPECIAL COKE CLASSIC, REGULAR OR DIET Coca-Cola or Sprite CASE 0F 24-280 mL TINS <UMIT COST 5.9e PER 100 mL> LIMIT: 2 CASES PER FAMILV PURCHASE PRODUCT 0F U.S.A., DELICIOUS WITH TURKEVS Fresh- Cran bernaes 12 oz M 39 COKE CLASSIC, REGULAR OR DIET (UNIT COST 6.5o PER 100 mL> Coca-Cola or Sprite EWTH THISSAVE .0 1 COUPO KEN.~ PORK OR TURKEY 1 I Stove Top 1 Stuff ig 11(4 AID o, 3î 3d EBIh ?9m8 PRICES EFFECTIVE THRU SATURDAY, OCTOBER 8TH, 1988. We rsorve the ught ta lmt quantltleS ta normal family requlrêments. 5uvIngs ahown ln ths ad bam.d on current Mtropotftan Toronto ASP retalle. Plus .40 per btl deosit 750 mL btl .49. WITH THIS RM~ SAV.5 COPNREGUILAR OR FINE GRIND ITaster's Choice I I CoffeeI I ~ 3 0g VAC PACI 1.99 timi 1 P o opon O,ocoupon potIIcIst-re' OF F 1 l VA L.1 0I l 1,Vw3d 8111t 1 i M A&P F000 STORES COLUMN Sornething is ùpÎ The followig column about newspaper ownership in On- tario je by TomryMeConneil of the Tilbury Times weeklY. newspaper. A funny thing is happening in the community newspaper busi- ness these days. Our industry is up for grabs, and to the bidder with the deepest pockets goes theý spoils. The whiff of muli-million dollar deals is in the air everywhere these days, but with one import- ant difference. It's not just the family-owned. single newspaper operations that are being picked off 4y chains that already include four or five similar-sized news- papers. That's been going on for 20 years.' No, with this new development the chains, each usually control- led by one or two people or a fam-' ily, are being consumed holus-bol- us by larger groups and, more of- ten than not, they usually repre- sent the really big players in the communications field in Canada. By my calculations, something like 85 newspapers - not unlike The Tilbury TMmes - have been taken over by media giants in the past five years and that's in southern Ontario alone. Lt ail began when Doug Bas- sett's Jnland Publishing, which controlled about a dozen com- mnunity newspapers in« Metro Toronto's thriving suburbia, was taken over by arch-rival Metro- span. The newly-created Metro- land is still expanding, reaching as far north as Barrie in a recent acquisition. Metroland is owned by Torstar, publisher of The Toronto Star. Lt was then The St. Catharines Standard entered the fray.. The Standard, one of the ýfew Inde- pendent 4;dailies left; min-the.,prov. vince, already owned a haîf-dozen community papers in the Niagara peninsula. But they* then bought up a group of papers in North- umberland County, east of'Osh- awa and, in their boldest stroke, assumed control of Signal-Star Publishing based in Goderich. Signal-Star operates eight com- mnunity newspapers around Hur- on and Perth counties, as well as two printing plants. The next to faîl were the Bra- bant newspapers, a chain of seven community papers in the subur- ban Hmilton market. Metroland went after them, but stepped aside so that Torstar's partner, Southam Inc., which publishes The Windsor Star among a dozen other dailies, could handle the buyout. Southam and Torstar now control every print media outlet in the Hamilton-Burlington market: 10 newspapers and two printing plants. Southam then bought two com- munity newspapers and their printing press in ,Grey County. The newspapers aren't large eith- er: The Durham Chronicle and The Markdale Standard., Toronto Sun ,publishing, the company which operates The.Lit- tie Paper That Grew, then got into the act, acquiring 60 per cent interest in Bowes Publishing which,. among - other holdings, operates The Blenheim News- Tribune and a shopper in Leam- ington. The magazine and broadcast- ing giant, Telemedia, entered the fray, buying out the Marle chain of newspapers around Midland and the Georgian Bay region. And now cornes the lastest big-money player, something cal- led the Newfoundland Capital Corporation, which operates -a large number of newspapers in Atlantic Canada under the ban- ner Robinson-Blackmore. In one fell swoop last month, Newfie Cap bought. out two sep- arate comapnies based in Tilîson- burg and Delhi, and in the pro- cess acquired control of nine com- munity newspapers between In- tersoîl and Port Coîborne, several trade publications and two print- ing plants. The trend is showing no signs of abating. There are four com- munity newspapers in this area alone. that are actively seeking buyers,, and the' big- players are likely to get involved'., Lt remainsý to be seen whether aIl this is good 'or bad. hI the.. past, it was easy to justify the takeover of a single small-toWn newspaper by a chain of four or, fi;ve because it usually meant that, because of economies of scale and pooled expertise, the community-,go,' -beter, more çc onomical à i*eW .èfewspaper ôtit-- ofthe deal. In that sense, maybe that much hasn't change&. -Readersý of The Norwich Gazette aren't likely to see much change in their paper just because it is now owned by a-ý11 group of rich Newfies. And you certainly can't blame the publishers involved for selling out . More oftenthan not, they've got hundreds of thousands, if not millions, tied up in their com- panies that they'd neyer see oth- erwise, because their partners 'or their children could neyer afford, to buy them out. Who wouldn't take the money if Southam show- ed up >at the door with a fistful of cash? But you have to fear for the future of the community newspa- per industry itself. What kind of effect will it have if, in 10 year's time, Ontario's 250 community newspapers are in the hands of a haîf-dozen compani es? Stay tuned. Drop-off locations added Over the summer, Durham Rcycling Centre added new drop-off locations for recyclable materials (newspapers and adver- tising inserts, glass bottles and jars without lids, food and soft drink cans). The following are drop-off locations in Durham Region: Whitby - Town of Whitby works yard, north side of Taunton Rd., just east of Brock St., 7:30 a.m. to 4 1).m. Monday to Friday. Oshawa - Durham Ilegion transfer station on Ritson, Rd., juust north of Taunton Rd., 8 a.m. te 4 p.mý. Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. te noon, Saturday. Ajax - Durham Region works yard at Taunton and Salem Rd., 7:30 a.m. te 4 p.m. Monday to Friday. Piikering (ail open 24 hours every day) - Brougham, on Hwy 7 one block east of Brock Rd.; Claremont, in front of- library; Whitevale, at communitý' centre; Cherrywood, at general store; Greenwood, in front of lihrary on Westney Rd. Scugog - Scugog landfill site, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday to Friday, 19 a.m. te 1 p.m. Saturday; Cartwright transfer station, May te October, Monday, ThursdUy, Friday, Saturday, 7:30 a.m. te, 4:30 p.m. and Tuesdays 8:30 a.m. te 8 p.m. Uxbridge - Goodwood Conser- vation Park (24' fours a day); Centennial Park (24 hours); Scott landfill site, 8 a.m. te 5 p.m. Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday. Newcastle - Bowmanville, Town works depot at Liberty and 401, 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday te Friday; Newcastle, fire station on Hwy 2, 24 hours; Orono, town works yard on Taunton, 24 hiours; Hampton, Town works yard on Taunton. Brock - Brock landfill site, 8 a.m. toi 5 p.m., Monday te Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday. For more information cal 579-5264 or 683-4244. 70 THICKSON RD. S.eWHITBY p r- .00*,à déo 84 t 0*0 .9 f