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To most people the recent announcement conâ€" cerning the sale of the Toronto Globe and Mail to the Thomson newspaper empire probably meant litte. But to many journalists and other newspaper. types, that news was greeted with little affection and even less optimism. Thomson is a company which already owns 127 newspapers in Canada, the United States and Great Britain. Some of those newspapers â€" such as the esteemed London Times â€" must be good from a journalistic point of view. s But in Canada and especially Ontario, the Thomâ€" son chaim has a less than sterling reputation. Most Thomson papers operate in small to medium sized cities, where no competing publication can gain a foothold. j ‘The result in many cases is shabby manageâ€" ment, below average news content and coverage and little concern for serving the community. Many reporters and editors have a very low opinion of Thomson papers, having worked on one at some Aside from poor journalistic reputation, of this particular company, we must express a real conâ€" cern that any one corporation can control so many newspapers in our province, country and continent. Page 6 â€" Waterioo Chronicie, Wednesday, January 16, 1980 Granted the Globe and Mail hasn‘t been inâ€" dependently owned for many years. But the preâ€" vious owners â€" the FP or Free Press chain â€" owned only eight papers including the Globe whereas Thomson owns 127 papers, numerous radio and television interests as well as other holdâ€" ings. published every Wednesday by Fairway Press, a division of Kitchenerâ€"Waterloo Record‘Ltd., owner o .M‘l’l‘.l.l;”l’.'u address correspondence to Waterioo office: ‘02 King St. South, Waterioo, Ont., telephone 886â€"2830 wmm*-wmwauuw:mw Waterioo Square. Parking on King Street or in Waterioo Square. Open to M 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m And not only has Canada‘s best and most inâ€" fluential newspaper been added to the Thomson collection, but the seven other FP papers were inâ€" cluded in the deal. Among them are some of Canaâ€" da‘s top daily newspapers such as the Winnipeg Free Press, the Vancouver Sun and the Ottawa Journal. Â¥. With Thomson‘s acquisition of the FP papers, the time has come for our governmental represenâ€" tatives to take a serious look at newspaper owâ€" nership in Canada. With the demise of the FP chain, we‘re left with two major chains controlling most of the daily papers in the country. Southam, the company which owns many papers such as the Hamilton Spectator and the Windsor Star, and Thomson Newspapers. While we don‘t want to encourage governmenâ€" tal interference in the private sector, it may be neâ€" cessary to pass some sort of legisiation before newspapers in Canada become little more than small cogs in a large conglomerate wheel. The‘ : : â€" Thomson empire grows Letters to the editor of the Waterloo Chronicle must be signed with the writer‘s name in order to be pubâ€" lished. The name will be published with the letter. The writer should also include his or her address and teleâ€" phone number. Normally, a letter signed with a pseuâ€" donym will not be published. The editor has the right to edit letters for grammar and spelling and to withhold letters which may be deemed defamatory, contemptuous or of questionable The Chronicle welcomes letters to the editor on any subject. Letters should be sent to: The Editor, Waâ€" terloo Chronicle, 92 King St. S., Waterloo. " Letters policy subscriptions : $14 a year in Canada. $16 a year in United States and Foreign Countries Publisher: Pau! Winkier established 1854 Energy saving devices To the Editor: Mr. Trudeau was correct when he refused to participate in a televised leadership debate. Shortly before the last elecâ€" tion our TV programming was inundated with hot air from various politicians who sounded like little boys fighting it out on the baseball diamond. However, it would be great to learn that university laâ€" boratories across the nation were working toward bottling that noise and converting it into useable warmth to meet our household energy needs. This would obviously solve all of our heating problems. There really isn‘t any shortage of energy in Canada. Just a few nights ago, 1 saw a candidate win a nomination with a shovelâ€"full of manure. (raw methane? ) is Trudeau seeking a French Canada Dear Sirs: * Since your election on May 22, 1979, you have been made painfully aware of the economic destruction of Canada brought about by Pierre Trudeau in pursuit of his single goal of a Frenchâ€"speaking Canada. Despite the fact that many, if not most, of the people who elected you are vehemently opposed to bilingualism in Engâ€" lishâ€"speaking Canada, Pierre Trudeau has been resurrected as Liberal leader for the current election. And a Trudeau win would put the seal on permanent French Canadian conâ€" trol not only of Quebec, but of our federal government and our nine Englishâ€"speaking provinces as well. In my naive way, I had always assumed that Canada was a democratic country. It seemed logical to me that if Queâ€" Letters to the editor An open letter to all Progressive Conservative MP‘s Comment Norma Sangoi Canada: Government size: 239,000 (1968) to 345,000 (1977) â€" a 44% increase; Government spending: $13 billion (1968/69) to $49 billion (1978/79) â€" a 277% increase. If you will promise Canadians such a referendum if electâ€" od4, a large P.C. majority would almost certainly be achieved and a future for our country assured. If you won‘t, there can be nothing ahead but chaos for us all. â€"It is my belief that this vital question is one which should be answered by individual Canadians of each Province, by way of a national referendum, and not left to the whims of The economic future of Canada, in my opinion, rests on the Progressive Conservative Party being reâ€"elected, holdâ€" ing a language referendum and carrying out massive cuts to the size and spending of the Federal Government that Truâ€" deau raised as follows in pursuit of the Frenchification of becers, at the suggestion of Mr. Trudeau, had the right to determine that they and all their minorities would henceâ€" forth be Frenchâ€"speaking, then the rest of Canada should also have the right to determine what language or languages it wants to speak and pay for. Our press deadlines have changed! For this reason all news, sports and community calendar items must be submitted to the Chronicle no later than 5 p.m. Monday to ensure publication the following Wednesâ€" day New copy deadlines