North-of-the-Border Publishing Giants Getting Cold Feet

VANCOUVER -- Evolution is never a pretty affair. In the world of media Darwinism, it can be particularly harsh.

The recent trend toward mass consolidation of media outlets, brought on chiefly by the advent of the Internet, has left a number of victims in its wake. In North America, the beaten-up now include readers of small-town newspapers.

That's because two of Canada's leading national publishers, Hollinger International (HLR Quote) and Thomson, have ruffled feathers again by announcing they'll be divesting themselves of a significant amount of their community newspaper assets. ...