The Aspers, proponents of the conventional wisdom reasoned,may be friends of the Prime Minister, but they were more interested in their newspapers’ bottom line than their content. Then came the CanWest policy of national editorials that all newspapers in the Southam chain were forced to run.

In the last edition of Media magazine,we chronicled the outrage this editorial policy sparked at the Gazette in Montreal where journalists protested by withdrawing their bylines, setting up a website and granting media interviews until they were slapped with a gag order.

In his analysis of the controversy, journalism professor Mike Gasher, tried to explain why the event — clearly a threat to journalistic independence,despite what the Aspers claimed at the time — failed to gain much attention outside Quebec.

Then,some 18 months later, came the surprising dismissal of Ottawa Citizen publisher Russell Mills. Suddenly, the Aspers and their editorial policies were gaining the attention they seemed to escape the previous year — much more than the family anticipated. The first inkling that something was wrong at the Ottawa Citizen, came in a short non-descript notice on the paper’s second page that Mills was no longer the publisher.

The article, treated with the same casual tone that a newspaper would write any other run-of-the mill community event,claimed that there were few details.That claim turned out to be a lie, which became evident the same morning when the ousted publisher appeared on CBC Radio’s Ottawa Morning.

He declared that not only had he been fired, but he was also offered hush money to keep the whole affair quiet. He declined the offer,and went public with fears that his firing had created a “chill” that threatened to put the brakes on aggressive journalism.

Ironically, the firing came the day after he received an honorary doctorate for his many years in the business.He used the address to graduating journalism students at Carleton University to stress the importance of a free press. The next day he was fired.

Why? Not because of what he said to the students, for the address seemed to be the standard fare of a man who was viewed more as a cautious administrator and company man than a firebrand who rocked the CanWest boat.

In measured tones, Mills explained that he was fired because he failed to allow the Aspers to vet an editorial the Ottawa Citizen published at the beginning of June that declared that it was time for the Prime Minister to go. Mills claimed he didn’t know that he was obliged to submit editorials for CanWest’s perusal.

What if he was aware of the vetting policy? Would he have submitted the editorial? What would he have done if the Aspers said tone down the rhetoric,or even worse,don’t run the piece at all? None of those questions mattered. The answers were hypothetical because Mills was no longer the publisher. He claimed he was fired. The claim touched off a media storm.

What were the Asper’s thinking? That this affair, which they steadfastly portray as an internal personnel matter, would just go away. Surely they couldn’t be that naïve. Opposition politicians on Parliament Hill demanded to know if the Aspers met with the Prime Minister before Mills got the axe.

Journalism organizations such as Canadian Journalists for Free Expression and the Canadian Association of Journalists, sounded alarm bells about the threat to freedom of the press. There was a public protest outside the Citizen’s offices.

Still, the Aspers refused to comment. Meanwhile, people continued to cancel subscriptions. There were political calls for an inquiry into media concentration. Suddenly, the Senate’s intention to hold hearings on the topic, announced a few days before Mills got fired and ignored by media outlets, became headline news. The company’s stock prices hit all-time lows.

By the end of the week, CBC Radio spirited host Michael Enright to Ottawa to host a townhall meeting on freedom of the press. The controversy was also receiving international play and attention in influential American newspapers such as the New York Times. The “personnel”issue the Aspers tried to hush up a day after Mill’s firing, had now ballooned into a controversy of nightmarish proportions.

While there was a recognition that owners have always exercised some degree of control over newspapers and other media outlets, the general consensus seemed to be that the Aspers had gone too far. Much farther than Conrad Black would have gone. If a company man like Russell Mills could get fired for allowing his reporters to challenge the Prime Minister, then who would be next on the chopping block? Reporters? Editors? Columnists? Photographers?

The Aspers were forced to break their silence.Leonard Asper promised that CanWest intends to maintain a “very bright and clear line” between opinions published on the editorial pages and the regular stories on the news pages. Journalists at the Ottawa Citizen and in newsrooms across the country were still skeptical.

Proof came in an advertisement, announced at a news conference with representatives from the Gazette in Montreal and the national union that represents journalists in attendance. The ad appeared in the paper the same morning the Asper declaration about bright, clear lines was making front-page news.Under the bold heading “Freedom of the press,” and situated beside a large picture of Russell Mills, were words of concern. The third paragraph was typical of that concern.“We deplore the removal of Ottawa Citizen publisher Russ Mills because of the message it sends about our newspaper and our journalism.”

Rather than diminishing, the dismissal seemed to be picking up steam, meaning that it was too big and important event for Media magazine to ignore.

In his assessment, Joel Ruimy, executive director of Canadian Journalists for Free Expression, writes: “The entire episode has changed many things,including the way journalists do their job,the way readers regard their daily newspapers, and the perception about the integrity and reliability of media in Canada today. “Let's start with the strong chill this sends out through journalistic ranks, both at CanWest and elsewhere.”

Carleton University’s Chris Dornan uses satire -- a mock quizz about media moguls – to launch a stinging criticism against the Aspers.Here’s a sample of question number eight. Members of the public, angered by the conduct of your company, cancel their newspaper subscriptions in droves. You respond by: A) Offering to revisit any policy that would cause such disquiet among otherwise valued customers. B) Publicly disparaging such people as nattering, ill-informed malcontents. C) Doing nothing. Since you know they can’t live without the lottery results, the sports scores and the horoscope, they’ll be back eventually.

And in his Last Word, Nick Russell, Media magazine’s new publisher,makes a case for owners adopting ethical standards. In trying to determine if the Aspers have learned anything from this controversy,he writes: “If the Aspers failed to get the message, then they should trade their media investments for widget factories.The message was brilliantly clear and very loud: DON’T INTERFERE!”

Apart from issues of press freedom,Media has once again featured some of the accounts of the CAJ award winners. Journalists from media outlets such as the CBC, The Hamilton Spectator, The Canadian Bar Association’s National magazine, and Canadian Press, take us inside their investigations for a bird’s-eye view of some of their successes and frustrations.

And please let me know what you think of the stories that appear in this or any other edition of Media.

You can send your feedback to david_mckie@cbc.ca or davidmckie@rogers.com