Buxton, William (1998) - Harold Innis' Excavation of Modernity

Harold Innis' Excavation of Modernity: The Newspaper Industry, Communications, and the
Decline of Public Life

William J. Buxton (Concordia University)
Abstract: In most discussions of Harold Innis'
work on communications, his contributions
have been treated as those of a general media
theorist. His analyses of particular media are
commonly viewed simply as instances of his
broader account of how space- and timebinding media serve to bias societies and
civilizations. This paper argues that Innis'
generalizations about media derived, in fact,
from his examination of how a particular
cluster of media -- namely, printing and
publishing, with particular reference to
newspapers -- was linked to the onset of
modernity. These concerns were evident in his
magisterial unpublished manuscript, History of
Communication. Drawing on its periodization
and overarching themes, this paper examines
Innis' account of the newspaper industry as it
developed between the American Revolution
and the mid-point of the twentieth century.
The historical trajectory that Innis traces, it is
argued, reveals the specific concerns about
printing and modernity that underpinned his
general reflections about time- and spacebinding communications.
Rsum: Dans la plupart des dbats autour de

l'oeuvre
d'Harold
Innis
sur
les
communications, on traite de ses travaux
comme s'ils taient les lments constituants
d'une thorie gnrale des mdias. Aussi, ses
analyses de certains mdias particuliers sont
communment vues comme les applications
d'une rflexion gnrale dont le but est
d'expliquer comment le rapport diffrenci des
mdias, au temps et l'espace, influence le
dveloppement
des
socits
et
des
civilisations. Dans cet article, il est soutenu
qu'en fait, les gnralisations d'Innis rsultent
plutt de sa volont d'tudier comment un
ensemble particulier de mdias, notamment
l'imprim et la publication (avec une attention
toute spciale pour la presse crite), ont
particip l'avnement de la modernit. Ses
proccupations pour le sujet ressortent de
faon vidente dans son imposante
monographie
indite
History
of
Communication. Prenant appui sur la
chronologie et le caractre inextricable des
thmes de cet ouvrage, l'article examine le
point de vue adopt par Innis pour traiter de
l'industrie de la presse et de son
dveloppement entre la rvolution amricaine
et la moiti du 20e sicle. Il est dfendu que la
trame historique dpeinte par Innis met bien en
lumire le fait que ses proccupations, eu
gard l'imprim et la modernit, sont la
base de sa rflexion gnrale sur le rapport au
temps et l'espace des diffrentes formes de
communication.
Harold Innis' Excavation of Modernity: The Newspaper Industry, Communications, and the Decline of Public Life
acknowledged impenetrability of his texts,
Innis and communications theory

Despite the massive amount that
has been written about Harold Innis'
contributions to communications, little
detailed attention has been given to his
analyses of particular media. When his
views
on
specific
communication
technologies (such as paper or papyrus) are

discussed, they are almost invariably
mentioned only in relation to his broader
conception of how media in general exert a
bias on society by virtue of their inherent
properties. This has led to a tendency to
view Innis' examination of particular
phenomena (such as the breakup of
empires) as simply an instantiation of his
account of the general dynamic at work
involving space- and time-binding media.
And when efforts are made to draw on
Innis' thought to examine the nature and
impact
of
particular
aspect
of
communications, they usually involve the

use of his theory as a point of departure
rather than as a detailed guide to carrying
This treatment of Innis as primarily

a general media theorist undoubtedly is
rooted in his recognition as a foundational
thinker in communications. This means
that his work has been read with a view to
generating clearly articulated claims and
propositions. But such efforts have proven
be
difficult
the awkwardness of his style, and the lack

of linearity in his arguments. Since his
body of work in communications does not
easily yield obvious insights, those who
have sought to explain his thought have
largely confined themselves to his bestknown publications in the area, namely,
Empire and Communications (Innis, 1950)
and The Bias of Communication (Innis,
1964), using key sections from these
works as the basis for generating claims
about the meaning of Innis' work4. When
material from other texts is invoked, it is
primarily to illustrate broader themes that
have been adumbrated. Such an approach,
I would argue, has led to a bias in Innisian
scholarship that is rooted in the form,
content, and organization of Innis' two
major treatises on communication. The
Bias of Communication is a collection of
various essays that are presented neither in
the order they were originally written nor
in the chronological order of their subject
matter. More often than not, commentators
out research.
to
given
the
widely
tend to concentrate on the portmanteau

essay in the collection, "Minerva's Owl,"
while ignoring the other pieces. Given that
this work largely focuses on developments
prior to industrialization, this has meant
that Innis has been interpreted as someone
who
worked
out
his
analysis
of
communications in relation to ancient and
Canadian Journal of Communication, 23(3), 321 (1998)
pre-modern societies, and then applied
the claims that he espoused a form of
these to the more contemporary period.
technological determinism (Marvin, 1983).
This pattern has been replicated in
To be sure, if one draws conclusions
discussions of Innis based on Empire and
simply on the basis of his well-known
Communications. While this work offers a
summary statements, then this way of
chronological
the
interpreting Innis has some plausibility.
development of media from ancient times
But if one examines in detail his writings
to modernity, it is only in the final chapter
on a particular set of media, a different
that
way of understanding Innis' thought
Innis
treatment
addresses
of
post-industrial
developments. Hence, there has been a
suggests itself5.
tendency not only to interpret Innis on the
In this paper, I will examine Innis'
basis of a few selective utterances from his
views on one particular complex of media,
major texts, but to treat his discussion of
the newspaper industry, particularly as it
modernity as merely an extension of the
developed
framework that he established on the basis
Revolution and the mid-point of the
of his research on ancient and pre-modern
twentieth century. This will be based on a
societies. In view of the difficulties
close reading of the various works that he
involved
thought
penned on the subject, attempting, as far as
intelligible, it is not at all surprising that
possible, to capture his line of argument
formulaic
statements
dominate
our
in
making
Innis'
have
understanding
between
the
American
come
to
and mode of reasoning. It will be guided
of
his
by themes that he addressed in his massive
contributions to communication studies.
unpublished
manuscript
History
of
While this approach to Innis has a
Communication6. Its title notwithstanding,
certain heuristic value, it has also served to
the manuscript is not about the history of
obscure and distort our understanding of
communication, tout court; it deals with
his writings. It suggests that Innis viewed
the history of printing and publishing from
particular media primarily as embodiments
around the second century (with the
of time- or space-binding communications
coming of paper) to the twentieth century.
technology, that different historical epochs
However, the bulk of the work focuses on
evinced the same general patterns, and that
the
the media operated in the same manner
monopolies of knowledge, and public life
regardless of their contexts. Arguably, this
from the Gutenberg era through to the
way of interpreting Innis is at the basis of
modern period. Given that the manuscript
relationship
between
printing,
consists largely of detailed reading notes,
concerns, effective engagement in the
it is decidedly lacking in interpretive
present required a clear and precise idea of
commentary. But one can still glean from
how patterns and tendencies in public life
it a clear sense of the concerns that
had historically taken form.
underpinned
Innis'
interest
in
communications, namely, to understand
The penetrative powers of the press
the role of printing, publishing, and

newspapers
in
the
development
It is commonly claimed that Innis'
of
interest in newspapers represented nothing
modernity. As such, it provides a much
more than a variation of his original
more insightful guide to Innis' work than
staples thesis. Donald Creighton (1957),
does either The Bias of Communication or
for instance, draws a straight line between
Empire and Communications7.
Innis' early studies of pulp and paper and
While I will not draw directly on

History of Communication in the essay, I
his
later
work
on
journalism
and
beyond
the
newspapers:
will use its periodization and overarching
immediately
themes as the basis for my examination.
manufacture of pulp and paper lay the
Innis' interest in the specifics of the
strange and different world of journalism
American model of newspapers, I argue,
and the newspaper; and obviously the main
was inherently related to his moral
stages
concerns about the decline of public life in
development, so far as the English-
Western civilization. In particular, he
speaking world was concerned, had taken
sought to understand the degree to which
place not in Canada, but in Great Britain
Canada, Britain, and other countries had
and the United States. (p. 112)
in
its
modern
industrial
been deformed by the spread of the
Along similar lines, Melody (1981)
newspaper industry as it had emerged in
notes that on the basis of his earlier work
the United States. If this kind of historical
on the "exploitation of staple resources in
retrieval were to illuminate the present, it
outlying areas" Innis came to conclude that
needed to examine how the newspaper
"the extension of the power of empires
complex was related to printing as a
depended
whole, how it was connected to a range of
communication" (p. 4). This in turn led
other historical factors, and how it
him
operated in relation to particular national
"mechanical communication, beginning
settings. Given his moral and political
with
to
on
give
printing,
effective
greater
systems
attention
publishing,
and
of
to
the
implication of mass communication" (p.
reasoned positions on current events. If
5).
this were the case, those responsible for

While
such
are
making and implementing policy would be
suggestive, they largely assume that the
more likely to operate in a more sensible
driving force behind Innis' work was
and responsible manner8. In effect, Innis'
exclusively that of detached analysis.
exploration of the history of newspapers in
Accordingly,
between
relation to public opinion could best be
Innis' early and late work is assumed to be
viewed as an effort to scrutinize the past in
a concern with how staples, by virtue of
order to more effectively engage with the
their material properties, served to bind
present9.
the
accounts
connection
and bias empires. Analyses of this kind

ignore
an
important
largely
towards recognizing this feature of Innis'
neglected -- body of Innis' work from the
thought in his discussion of the material in
1930s and 1940s, namely, that which
The Idea File of Harold Adams Innis: "For
concerns the relationship between the
Innis the most problematic element of the
production of knowledge and political life,
modern world was mechanization and the
particularly in relation to the social
associated battery of beliefs and practices
sciences and universities (see, for instance,
that mechanization called forth. If he were
Innis, 1935, 1943). Underpinning Innis'
to point to one salient cause of the
interest in this complex of issues was the
character of modern civilization, it would
broader
developing
be the printing press" (p. xiii). Innis,
monopolies of knowledge had served to
however, makes a clear and careful
stifle debate and discussion about public
distinction between printing as a whole
affairs. Innis' later work on newspapers
and newspapers. Approvingly quoting
was not simply derivative from his prior
Stanley Morison, he notes that "the
studies of staples; it was bound up with his
fundamental
concern with intelligence and public
printing is seen at its fullest in the history
opinion as they related to shared cultures.
of newspaper" (Morison, 1932, p. 5, cited
In this sense, the dissemination of accurate
in Innis, 1946c, p. 2). He argues, in effect,
"news" about the world was vital to the
that while the newspaper industry had its
effective
social
origins in printing, it came to develop its
intelligence and public opinion in that it
own distinct character largely through its
allowed
relentless commercialization. This means,
issue
of
--
how
development
citizens
to
and
Christian (1980) goes some way
of
formulate
well-
economic
character
of
in turn, that it came to have a much more
Revolution changed attitude to public to
deleterious impact upon civilization than
point of loud insistence on freedom of
did printing: "the steadying influence of
press....Press appealed to people and
the book as a product of sustained
regarded by aristocracy with contempt -- in
intellectual effort was destroyed by new
itself
developments
aristocracy and destroyed rigidity of class
in
periodicals
and
newspapers.... The Western community
it
undermined
authority
of
structure. (Christian, 1980, p. 7)
was atomized by the pulverizing effects of
Innis argues that the whole basis
the application of machine industry to
for the emergence of the United States
communication" (Innis, 1995, p. 370). In
originated in the efforts of the mother
the same way that printing undermined the
country
"the monopoly of monasticism" (Innis,
restrictions
1950, p. 176), destroyed "the edifice and ...
newspapers were tied in with printing
social institutions" (Innis, 1946a, p. 91),
interests working in tandem with the
and signalled an end to "the age of
legislators and the post office. Particularly
cathedrals" (Innis, 1950, p. 176), the
crucial in this regard was the restrictive
newspaper was destined to annihilate the
Stamp Act of 1765 which provoked a
book. Innis dates the beginnings of this
backlash leading to the revolution. As he
annihilation to the process set in motion by
remarks on the differences between Great
the American War of Independence.
Britain and its American colonies,
In
Innis'
view, the
American
to
The
impose
on
its
its
publishing
colonies,
American
whose
press
was
Revolution signalled a decisive turning
unhampered in its typography and format
point in world history. As he cryptically
by the traditions of book printing of Great
remarked in The Idea File, at the root of
Britain and the Continent. The advertiser
growing tension between the colonies and
was more effective in breaking down the
the mother country were much different
conservatism
conceptions
printer's control was less conspicuous than
of
print
culture
and
newspapers:
of
journalism,
and
the
that of the journalists. (Innis, 1946c, pp.

10-11)
American
Revolution
--
clash
In Innis' view, the newspaper was
between freedom of press in colonies and
to be "regarded primarily as an American
restriction in England...weakness of class
institution." Closely tied to "trade and
in colonies opened way to press. American
advertising," it broke down "European
the primacy of the written word and print
concepts of government":
culture. The freedom of the press was tied
While
it
emerged
under
the
in with mass democracy, but the monopoly
influence of English newspapers it broke
of
through the shackles
ultimately
of government
knowledge
which
served
to
it
ushered
undermine
in
the
restrictions which prevailed in England
democratic impulse represented by the
until 1860. As it developed in the United
American Revolution. Changes occurred
States from a background of trade it
not simply because of the inherent
became a powerful instrument in providing
properties
the background of the revolution which in
capacities to bind space. Rather, Innis
a sense represented a struggle between
emphasized that newspapers formed part
government
or
of a constellation of new media which
government and public opinion. (Innis,
interacted to create particular effects: "the
1945, pp. 129-130)
invention
of
automatic
printer,
and
newspapers
Particularly crucial for the growth
of
newspapers
the
and
their
teletypewriter
the
or
teletypesetter,
of the press in the United States was its
telephotography or wire photo, the electric
"guarantee of freedom under the Bill of
flash lamp, and increased speed and the
Rights" (Innis, 1964, p. 156). Such a
use of numerous colours on the presses
guarantee, Innis stresses, "accentuated the
supported the change" (1946c, p. 29).
printed tradition, destroyed freedom of
Overall, then,
speech and broke the relations with the
the newspaper has been a pioneer
oral tradition of Europe" (1952b, p. 127).
in
the
development
In effect, he claimed, "Freedom of the
communication
press ... has become the great bulwark of
Extension of railroads and telegraphs
monopolies of time. The results of the
brought more rapid transmission of news
American Revolution hang heavily over
and wider and faster circulation of
the world's destiny. It should be clear that
newspapers; and newspapers, in turn,
improvements in communication tend to
demanded further extension of railroads
divide mankind" (Innis, 1952c, p. 108).
and
What Innis suggests is that the American
systems, express systems, aviation lines
Revolution unleashed an age of profound
and radio have been fostered and utilized
technological transformation through the
by newspapers. (Innis, 1946c, p. 32)
telegraph
and
lines.
of
speed
in
transportation.
Cables,
postal
development of newspapers as linked to
The
relationship
between
the
competition,
lowering
of
costs
of
newspaper and the telegraph, was, in Innis'
production, the spread of the price system,
view, particularly significant in that "the
the evolution of a sensitive monetary
telegraph weakened the system of political
structure
control through the post office and the
equilibrium economics have followed the
newspaper exchange. The monopoly over
development of the newspaper. (1946c, p.
news was destroyed and the regional daily
32)
and
the
development
of
press escaped from the dominance of the
Perhaps the central shift that Innis
political and metropolitan press" (Innis,
detects was the decline of news in
1964, p. 169). This meant that "instability
newspapers and the growth of advertising.
weakened the position of a central
He notes that news originally had emerged
authority after 1840" (p. 170)10.
as part of the common law system in
The newspapers and the other new
Britain: "The advantages of the common
means of communication were also bound
law system," he stresses, "are ... seen in the
up with changes in commerce and
emphasis of a common law society on
marketing. Innis noted that "newspapers
news" (Innis, 1952a, p. 56). Initially, news
had served as pioneers in the field of low
was significant as a "device for breaking
prices and rapid turnover, and as they were
down hierarchies" in that it "spreads
followed by periodicals, so they were
information
followed by other types of goods" (Innis,
aristocracy" (Christian, 1980, p. 57).
1946c, p. 25). Indeed, "the use of small
"News," Innis emphasizes, "essentially
coins" that accompanied the growth of the
concerns happenings in the past and serves
penny press "facilitated the sale of low-
as information as to happenings in future.
priced
Improved
goods
to
larger
numbers
of
quickly
and
communication
undermines
hastens
consumers in the small income class" (p.
information and facilitates action after
25). Innis argues that it was by virtue of its
information
rapidity in collecting, producing, and
(Christian, 1980, p. 120). He argues that
distributing information that newspapers
news was directly linked to action in that it
became the motor for economic change:
involves the "Constant search of [the] past
[has
been]
recorded"
Speed in the collection, production
for guidance of action in [the] future" (p.
and dissemination of information has been
120). This made for the "possibility of
the essence of newspaper development.
steadying news with increased emphasis
Widening of markets, the effectiveness of
on [the] immediate through interpretation,

editorial policy, and the like" (p. 120).
In response to the demand of

advertisers for high circulation, not only
However, with the advent of
did the price of newspapers decline but
advertising, news went into a long and
their content was defined by the need to
slow decline. Innis notes that
attract the largest number of purchasers:
commercial
newspaper
society
civilization
is
in
"The newspaper was made responsive to
profoundly
the market. The business office occupied a
influenced by the type of news which
dominant
makes
of
commodity and was sold in competition
particularly
like any other commodity" (Innis, 1952c,
department store advertising, primarily
p. 82). The ultimate consequence of this
demands circulation. Circulation becomes
distortion of the news by advertisers, Innis
largely dependent on the instability of
maintains,
news and instability becomes dangerous.
discontinuity, particularly after 1900. This
Lack of continuity in news is the inevitable
development, in turn, made for the
result of dependence on advertisements for
"success
the sale of goods. (1952b, p. 123)
psychological results of which were rooted
for
wider
circulation
newspapers....Advertising,
position.
was
of
News
an
moving
became
emphasis
pictures,"
upon
the
This meant that "the character of
in "methods of discontinuity" (p. 86). Innis
news, features, and editorial opinions"
was unsparing in his condemnation of how
(Innis, 1952c, p. 103) changed and that
the American press had "distorting effects
journalism
of
itself
underwent
transformation:
industrialism
and
advertising
on
culture" (1952a, p. 14). "In few countries,"
Under the pressure of publishers
he claimed, "could the press illustrate such
and advertisers the journalist has been
venality and subservience to its own
compelled to seek the striking rather than
interests as in the United States" (Innis,
the fitting phrase, to emphasize crises
1949, p. 265).
rather than developmental trends....Success
Innis argues that these trends in the
in the industrialized newspaper depends on
press began to spread from the United
constant
repetition,
States to Europe in the latter part of the
infiltration,
increasing
inconspicuous
appeal
to
the
nineteenth century. It was evident that, in
subconscious mind, and the employment
Innis' view, the transatlantic community
of acts of attrition in moulding public
(Europe and North America) had come to
opinion. (Innis, 1952c, p. 82)
constitute a form of civilization. As he
10
remarked in an enigmatic note in The Idea
features, and editorial opinion, advertising
File, "Contrast Wissler's concept of spread
became monopolistic in relation to a
outward to fringe from centre with trend in
monopolistic
communications with spread fringe to
influence on political, social and economic
centre, i.e. in spread of newspaper
life. The consequent maladjustments were
technique from west to east. Pulitzer,
evident in the boom of the twenties and the
Ochs, Hearst, monopoly of communication
depression and were to an important extent
at centre reverses trends emphasized by
a result of expansion of the press. (Innis,
Wissler"
1952c, p. 103)
(Christian,
1980,
p.
68).
press
and
imposed
its
Challenging Wissler's (1923) influential
One of the most striking indications
contention that major cultural trends
of this trend, as Innis pointed out, was the
diffused from the centre to the periphery,
change that took place in The London
Innis contended that, in the case of press
Times in the latter part of the nineteenth
technology, the trend in the nineteenth
century, after it lost its monopoly position
century was quite the opposite. The major
as a leader of public opinion. Following its
innovations in the development of the
acquisition by Lord Northcliffe in 1908, it
newspaper took place in the United States
was drastically reorganized and had its
(still considered to be a marginal area) and
price lowered, thereby bringing it into line
spread from there to Europe, which still
with modern journalism (Innis, 1946c). It
dominated the world through its colonial
adapted the sensationalist approach to
11
empires . Innis placed particular emphasis
reportage favoured by the American press,
on how newspaper culture in Britain was
abandoning any pretense to contribute to
transformed through what he termed the
the making of informed and reflective
development of the "new journalism,"
public opinion. The demise of The London
which
of
Times was just part of an overall trend in
the
Britain in which newspapers became
represented
institutions
and
the
adaptation
practices
from
12
American newspaper industry .
obsessed with advertising and circulation
The new journalism emphasized a
to the detriment of encouraging an
vast range of interests at the expense of
"intelligent interest in public affairs, and
politics and with the rise of public opinion
[an] effective opposition to foreign policy"
agencies, lost the power to expose abuses,
(Innis, 1952c, p. 100). That newspapers in
particularly abuses from which it gains. As
Britain no longer maintained a critical
a result of its interrelation with news,
distance from the affairs of state was made
transparent
with
"the
creation of a
to
Germany
by
11
scholarships
and
newspaper peerage" which revealed "the
experiments in municipal government.
prestige of the new journalism" (Innis,
(Innis 1952a, p. 17)
1950, p. 206). Because of "the domination
As Innis points out, "the influence
of the book" Britain was able to resist the
of advertising in the United States spread
"ruthless shattering of language, the
to Europe, notably to Germany, before the
invention
the
First World War" (1952b, p. 123). Indeed,
sharpening of words" which had taken
"The weakness of newspapers in Germany
place in the United States (Innis, 1952c, p.
probably accentuated [the] power of
94). However, "the similarity of language
propagandist
favoured
1980, p. 156). It was the profound
of
new
idioms,
rapid
and
borrowing
of
technological developments" (p. 94).
organizations"
(Christian,
differences in orientation attendant upon
Innis emphasizes, however, that the
the book /propaganda culture in Germany
patterns he detected in Britain did not hold
and the newspaper culture of Anglo-Saxon
true for the rest of Europe where "the
societies that ultimately led to conflict:
impact of Anglo-American journalism on
European civilization was
Continental journalism was delayed as a
dominated by the book, and war between
result of differences in language and the
Germany
stronger position of the book" (Innis,
could be described as a clash between the
1952c, p. 100). Advertisers had not made
book and the newspaper....Germany was
major inroads into French newspapers, and
unable to appreciate the power of the
Bismarck's model for the press continued
newspaper in Anglo-Saxon countries, and
to hold sway in Germany. While the
collapse was in fact a result of increasing
American press had little influence on
difficulties of understanding incidental to
Germany, the same was not true for
differences
advertising:
newspaper in the two regions. By the
Young Germans were placed with

American
newspaper
chains
and
advertising and publishing agencies to

learn the art of making and slanting news.
and
Anglo-Saxon
in
development
still
countries
of
the
newspaper, democracy had completely

expelled the book from the normal life of
the people. (Innis, 1952c, p. 101)
This
"distinct
and
possibly
American treatises on advertising and
unbridgeable gap between Anglo-Saxon
publicity were imported and translated.
and other European communities," Innis
American graduate students were attracted
argued, was rooted in the "character of its
12
commercial civilization in the Anglo-
Paper Company (Innis, 1946a). However,
Saxon community, especially in North
"with the enormous advantage of control
America," where trade has been linked to
over publicity, they exercised sufficient
opinion (1946a, p. 122). Innis also pointed
political pressure to secure the reduction
out how the American newspaper industry
and abolition of tariffs on mechanical pulp
came to distort the political, cultural, and
and newsprint from Canada" (Innis, 1952c,
economic development of Canada. But
p. 80). This made for a boom in the
rather than focus on the impact of the
development of the production of the pulp
American press upon Canadian journalism
and paper industry in Canada, which
and newspapers, Innis largely examined
developed in tandem with the exploitation
how Canada was affected by the changes
of hydro-electric sources13. While there
occurring south of the border through its
may have been some short-term economic
ever
the
gains through the export of newsprint and
Canada
pulp to the United States, the expansion of
became implicated in the development of
the American newspaper and periodical
American
its
business also made for an increase in
newsprint, pulp and paper, and hydro-
advertising, which was exported back into
electric industries. This was rooted in the
Canada with disastrous consequences:
increasing
American
integration
empire.
Initially,
newspapers
into
through
large American newspapers' struggle to
Our
problems
have
become
control their sources of newsprint, thereby
difficult as a result of our geographic
ensuring a constant supply at a favourable
background, and because of our immediate
price. The ability of newspapers such as
concern with the success of an industry
the
integrate
which, in its success, makes for greater
themselves vertically through the control
instability of public opinion in the United
of wood pulp and newsprint was "chiefly
States and in Canada. The pressure of the
responsible
production
Chicago
for
Tribune
[the]
to
expansion
of
of
newsprint
from
the
newspapers and [the] reading habit"
Precambrian formation, and the more
(Christian, 1980, pp. 176-177). Above all,
intense
the large American newspapers organized
implies an exaggerated emphasis on the
themselves in opposition to the threat of an
price system and a more unstable public
increase in paper prices that was signalled
opinion precluding a clear appreciation of
by the amalgamation in 1898 of 19
our problems and in turn sustained
newsprint companies into the International
consideration of them. (Innis, 1946b, p. x)
development
of
advertising,
In effect, the border between

Canada and the United States proved to
13
imperialism in all its attractive guises.

(Innis, 1952a, pp. 19-20)
provide little resistance to the "unrestricted

operation of commercial forces and an
The twentieth century and its

discontents
impact of technology on communication"

Innis not only traced in some detail
that was unleashed by "the guarantee of

freedom of the press under the Bill of
Rights in the United States and its
encouragement by postal regulations"
(Innis, 1952a, p. 15). The pulpwood that
had originally been harvested on crown
lands returned to Canada as "the finished
product in the form of advertisements and
reading material ... with a lack of restraint
from
the
reflects
federal
American
government
influence
which
in
an
adherence to the principle of freedom of

the press and its encouragement of
monopoly" (p. 15). The implications of
this relationship for Canadian cultural
identity, as Innis pointed out towards the
end of his life, were extremely perilous14:
We are indeed fighting for our
lives.
The
pernicious
influence
of
American advertising reflected especially

in the periodical press and the powerful
persistent impact of commercialism have
been evident in all the ramifications of
Canadian life....Continentalism assisted in
the achievement of autonomy and has
consequently become more dangerous. We
can survive by taking persistent action at
strategic
points
against
American
how the newspaper and printing industry

emerged and developed, with varying
effects, in Great Britain, continental
Europe, the United States, and Canada, he
also provided a composite picture of what
this
historical
trajectory
implied
for
Western civilization as a whole. While he

did not clearly specify what he meant to
include in the "West," he seemed to use
this as a shorthand term for the general and
world-historical
implications
of
the
developments that he detected within

specific
particular
national
settings.
attention
to
He
gave
distinguishing
between the lines of general patterns of

development
in
the
nineteenth
and
twentieth centuries. Innis argued that the

changes could not simply be traced to the
spread of the market economy and the
price system. Rather, as he suggested, the
spread of the price system was rooted in
changes in communications:
Effectiveness of the price system
will depend on a realization of its
limitations....The
compilation
and
dissemination of information as to prices

has been dependent on the effectiveness of
communication in the newspaper, the
14
radio, and other media. It operates more
nothing to worship but the totalitarianism
intensively in areas where information can
of the modern state. A century of peace
be quickly disseminated -- in urban rather
gave way to a century of war" (p. 55).
than rural areas. (Innis, 1946b, p. ix)
However, with the acquisition by Lord
Indeed, Innis suggested that the
Northcliffe of The London Times and with
increased speed in communication was at
the
the root of economic calamity:
Theodore Roosevelt and his big stick
marked changes in the speed of
American
press
rallying
behind
policy, the equilibrium was disturbed:
communication have far-reaching effects
This
vast
new
instrument
on monopolies over time because of their
concerned with reaching large numbers of
impact on the most sensitive elements of
readers rendered obsolete the machinery
the economic system....The disequilibrium
for
created by the character of technological
characterized
change in communication strikes at the
century....[T]he great evil of democracy
heart of the economic system and has
[sacrificing the past and the future to what
profound implications for the study of
is supposed to be the interest of the
business disturbance. (Innis, 1952c, p.
present] was accentuated by the reign of
108)
the newspaper and its obsession with the

While Innis did not attribute the
changes to capitalism in general, he did

suggest
that
which
the
had
nineteenth
immediate. (Innis, 1995, p. 308)

These trends in the development of
newspapers formed "at least a part of the
newspaper and printing industries were
background of the collapse of Western
crucial to the trends that he observed. He
civilization which begins with the present
suggested that in the nineteenth century a
century. The comparative peace of the
precarious balance in world rivalries had
nineteenth century is followed by a period
been maintained by virtue of the policies
in which we have been unable to find a
of
"The
solution to the problem of law and order,
nineteenth century was a period of
and have resorted to force rather than
transition
to
ballots" (Innis, 1995, p. 307). This trend
irrationalism, and its literature reflects the
towards the use of force was accompanied
character of the change" (Innis, 1946b, p.
by increasing instability of public opinion,
35); "And so we entered the open seas of
which "loses its anchorage because of the
democracy in the twentieth century with
obsession of the press with the immediate"
newspaper
from
in
peace
the
major
developments
maintaining
owners:
rationalism
15
(Innis, 1946c, p. 4). This had profound
weakens their power in other directions.
social implications for, "with the power of
(Innis, 1946b, p. vii)
the press to penetrate to lower strata of
Correspondingly,
the
supposed
literacy, bitterness soaks through every
technological advances in communications
strata
These
only served to exacerbate the trend
tendencies served to solidify the power of
towards less public involvement in public
political regimes: "Instability of public
affairs:
of
society"
(pp.
4-5).
opinion brings the paradox of long life for
Technological
advance
in
administrations because of the fear which
communication implies a narrowing of the
obsesses democracy and the ability to
range from which material is distributed
capitalize on fears. Bureaucracies must
and a widening of the range of reception,
exploit instability in order to show how
so that large numbers receive, but are
essential they are" (Innis, 1946b, p. 61).
unable to make any direct response. Those
The
thrust
of
on the receiving end of material from a
argument, then, was to call attention to
mechanized central system are precluded
how the development of newspapers and
from participation in healthy, vigourous,
periodicals were affecting public life,
and vital discussion. Instability of public
thereby calling into question commonly
opinion which follows the introduction of
held
new
views
of
Innis'
about
the
line
nature
of
inventions
in
communication
contemporary democracy. He claimed that
designed to reach large numbers of people
the notions of "freedom of the press" and
is exploited by those in control of
"freedom
inventions....(Innis, 1952c, p. 102)
of
speech"
were
largely
meaningless. Both of these have become

possible
Innis argued that this debasement

of words, coupled with a decline in public
largely
have
discussion, led to a growing predominance
permitted the production of words on an
of images in communication, most notably
unprecedented scale and have made them
in
powerless. Oral and printed words have
advertising: "The possibility of tapping
been harnessed to the enormous demands
lower levels of income and larger numbers
of modern industrialism and in advertising
of advertisers and recognition of the
have been made to find new markets for
loosening of rules and habits during the
goods.
war favoured the establishment of the
Each
because
new
they
invention
which
enhances their power in that direction
illustrated
tabloids.
tabloids
Pictures
spoke
and
billboard
universal
16
language which required no teaching for
p. 35). As Innis suggested, the advent of
their comprehension" (Innis, 1952c, p. 86).
the radio and more sophisticated image
And along the same lines, "the limitations
technologies
of words have led to resort to architecture
beginning of a new era, one that was
and the rise of skyscrapers as an
characterized by the triumph of advertising
advertising medium" (Innis, 1950, p. 205).
and propaganda in public life.
Parallelling
the
trend
towards
This
effectively
analysis
marked
suggests
the
the
"present-mindedness" as based in a press
fruitfulness of examining Innis' thought in
which insists on "time as a uniform and
relation to a particular set of media, with a
quantitative
thereby
view to shedding light on his methods and
obscures "qualitative differences and its
arguments15. This concern with how
disparate and discontinuous character,"
specific media worked within historically
Innis argues that the dimension of time,
distinct social formations, I argue, was
which had formerly been at the core of the
related to Innis' moral concern with the
oral tradition, had been colonized by
fate
advertisers:
represented to him an "ideal typical"
continuum"
and
of
Western
civilization,
which
Advertisers build up monopolies of
collective experience of certain "Anglo-
time to an important extent through the use
Saxon" countries (Britain, Canada, and the
of news. They are able to take full
United States) along with some Western
advantage of technological advances in
European states (above all, Germany,
communication and to place information
France, and Holland).
before large numbers at the earliest
It was through the process of
possible moment. Marked changes in the
tracing how and to what extent the
speed of communication have far-reaching
American-based
effects on monopolies over time because
development had come to affect the
of their impact on the most sensitive
various national components of "Western
elements of the economic system. (Innis,
civilization" that Innis was able to make
1952c, p. 108)
better sense of the cultural and political
Overall, the twentieth century was

characterized
by
its
"growth
model
of
newspaper
trends of his day, particularly as they
of
pertained to Canada. In line with his
irrationalism, reflected in the interest in
historical analysis of how the American
psychology, advertising, mass propaganda,
conception of publishing was linked to the
totalitarian states and war" (Innis, 1946b,
decline of public life, Innis sought to
17
understand how the interrelated trends in
complex of media -- that is, those
Canada of political centralization coupled
connected to printing, publishing, and
with the lack of cultural and intellectual
journalism -- which Innis believed to be
vitality was
ever-
crucial to the unfolding of modernity along
increasing integration into the American
particular lines. To this end, I have sought
continentalist empire. In view of the
to provide a synoptic account of that
international dynamics that he uncovered
aspect of the printing complex, namely, the
in his analysis of printing and publishing,
American model of newspapers, which
it was not surprising that, towards the end
Innis believed to be particularly decisive
of his life, Innis came to the view that
after the onset of industrialism. This
Canada should seek common cause with
analysis has involved the juxtaposition of a
Britain and continental Europe against
broad
American
cultural
--
newspapers as related to publishing. In
effectively
bringing
historical
doing so, I have attempted to make explicit
engagement with the history of the
how his engagement with the malaise of
newspaper industry in relation to public
modernity informed not only the overall
life full circle.
narrative that he fashioned but also his
connected
to
its
imperialism
his
There is more at issue here than
range
of
Innis'
writings
on
treatment of specific episodes in the
simply demonstrating that Innis had a deep
development
and abiding concern in the history of
journalism.
of
newspapers
and
newspapers, publishing, and journalism.
According to Innis, it was only by
The historical trajectory constructed by
paying close attention to the specificities
Innis reveals the specific concerns about
of time and space that one could
printing and modernity that underpinned
understand the trajectory of the modern
his general reflections about time- and
newspaper
space-binding communications. But as
peripatetic owl which Innis evoked with
long as he is considered primarily as a
evident fondness, the zeitgeist of the
general theorist of media, one is confined
newspaper, as the herald of modernity,
to examining his writings on particular
traced a circuitous and erratic path. Forged
communications phenomena as simply
in the crucible of the British Industrial
embodiments of his broader theoretical
Revolution, it migrated to the United
approach. What is needed, as this paper
States where it metamorphosed into a new
suggests, is more attention given to the
and powerful form. From there, it found its
industry.
Like
Minerva's
18
way back to the mother country assuming
policy, legal frameworks, class structures,
a particularly nefarious semblance in the
power
process. But it failed to make significant
arrangements, not to mention deeply
inroads in continental Europe (particularly
rooted cultural traditions and personal
in Germany), where the earlier domination
megalomania. Given the considerable
of book culture still held sway. Meantime,
variations
back on the new continent, as the
newspapers and the social order -- as
development of the newspaper industry in
linked to a variety of conditions and
the United States gathered steam, it
circumstances -- it makes little sense to
increasingly
distorted
of
discuss their impact as a distortion brought
development
north
American
about by their inherently "space-binding"
border. This took place not so much via
features. Such a line of thinking, which has
the exportation of a new mode of
commonly been attributed to Harold Innis,
journalism -- as with Great Britain -- but
is seriously at odds with the detailed
rather through the merciless exploitation of
historical analysis that he has provided.
Canadian newsprint resources coupled
What he suggests, rather, is that the
with
potential
the
the
of
relentless
the
pattern
dissemination
of
relations,
in
the
capacity
and
commercial
relation
of
between
newspapers
to
advertising and other essentially mindless
connect space and integrate communities
cultural products.
is but one of an array of factors which,
Overall,
the
and
taken collectively, account for how the
consequences of the newspaper industry
printing complex -- in varying ways and
varied
through multiple guises -- has been
enormously
impact
depending
on
bewildering number of factors. These
implicated in the onslaught of modernity.
included not only time and space, but also

technological development, government
Notes
1
This paper is based on papers given at the annual meeting of the International Communication
Association, held in Montreal in May 1997, and at the Colloque annuel de l'Association canadienne
des sociologues et anthropologues de langue franaise, held in Chicoutimi, QC, May 1995. I wish to
thank Manon Niquette for translating the abstract.
2
Such an approach to understanding Innis first gained currency in Marshall McLuhan's influential
introduction to The Bias of Communication in which he made note of how Innis demonstrated "the
19
space-binding power of the eye" (McLuhan, 1964, p. xii). On the basis of this reading of Innis,
McLuhan goes on to state that "the visual power extended by print does indeed extend the means to
organize a spatial continuum" and that "visual technology creates a centre-margin pattern of
organization whether by literacy or by industry and a price system" (p. xiii).
3
See, for instance, Menzies' (1993) discussion of monopolies of knowledge in relation to global
information.
4
The general obscurity of these texts has led many to rely on secondary interpretations of Innis' ideas,
such as the eloquent articulations of his thought offered by Kroker (1984) and Carey (1967).
5
That Innis was concerned to argue for the particularity of media is evident in his review of the
Hutchins Report in which he chided its authors for lumping all of the media together indiscriminately:
"We might ask for separate consideration of the radio, newspapers, motion pictures, magazines, and
books rather than a general blur to the effect that `whereas the word "press" is used in the publication
of the Commission, it refers to all these media' since each medium has its peculiarities and an
appreciation of this fact is the beginning of a study of the press" (Innis, 1949, pp. 265-266).
6
The original manuscript is located in Harold Innis' Faculty Papers held at the Rare Books Room of the
Thomas Fisher Library, University of Toronto: Acc. no. B79-0039, Box 001. A copy on microfiche
can be found at the McLennan Library, McGill University. Evidently, copies of the manuscript were
made available to other university libraries as well. The manuscript is 1,554 pages long and consists
of eight large sections (ranging in size from 43 to 307 pages), accompanied by 12 fragments and short
treatments (ranging in size from 3 to 19 pages). The first five large sections bear chapter numbers
from "IV" through "VIII." The last three large sections appear to correspond to chapters, given their
themes and order, but do not bear chapter numbers. This suggests that Innis had begun the process of
blocking out the work into specific chapters but did not complete this task. The inclusion of the
fragments at the end of the text suggests that he wished to carry through the analysis into the twentieth
century, making particular reference to newspapers. That the first chapter was numbered as "IV " can
be explained by the fact that the first three chapters (devoted to developments prior to the coming of
paper) were for some reason not included in the manuscript. A handwritten version of them can be
found in a different section of Innis' Faculty Papers. For the past few years, I have overseen a project
of transcribing this material so that it might eventually be available in a more accessible form.
7
What has largely gone unrecognized is that Empire and Communications was based extensively on
the first three chapters of History of Communication. In effect, what is commonly considered to be
Innis' grand synoptic vision of communications history can be more accurately viewed as largely a
prelude to the detailed treatment of print and modernity provided in his unpublished manuscript.
8
Innis' conception of public life bears some resemblance to that of Habermas (1992). However, rather
than focusing on speech communities, Innis gives more attention to how the media have shaped the
form and direction of public life.
9
20
This was in line with his efforts to support and encourage vestiges of the oral tradition (such as the
study of humanities in universities and the common law tradition), which he believed could serve as a
counterweight to the pervasive present-mindedness attendant upon massive technological change in
the twentieth century. See Buxton (1997).
10
Indeed, Innis attributed innumerable changes in American life in the nineteenth century to the
newspaper. These included "the concentration of the natural sciences on the problems of physics and
chemistry" (Innis, 1946c, p. 32), the humanities coming under the domination of science (Christian,
1980), the transformation of literacy (Innis, 1946c), and the "powerful influence on the state by
extending the franchise and compulsory education" (Innis, 1946c, p. 17).
11
This was a clear illustration of Innis' claim that "the conservative power of monopolies of knowledge
compels the development of technological revolutions in the media of communication in marginal
areas" (Innis, 1952c, p. 78).
12
What made for this "importation of improvements in techniques in the production of newspapers from
the United States" was the "removal of taxes on knowledge about the middle of the nineteenth
century" (Innis, 1952c, p. 79).
13
This led to a decided bias towards urban-industrial rather than rural development: "In these drastic
reorganizations hydro-electric power assumed a more important position.... Since prices of newsprint
tend to be held down by the strong position of newspapers, attempts will be made to divert hydroelectric power to municipal and industrial purposes" (Innis, 1952c, p. 81).
14
It is instructive that Innis' alarmist views of the role of the press in Canada were almost diametrically
opposed to those of his exact contemporary Victor Barbeau (who was also born in 1894). Working
within the Quebec context, Barbeau believed that the press could serve as an effective form of cultural
critique and mass education. The lack of correspondence between the perspectives, it could be argued,
is rooted in the widely different cultural and intellectual milieux of the two thinkers. See Martin &
Buxton (in press).
15
This is not to say that Innis' historical account was entirely accurate. As Richard Collins (1986) has
pointed out, a number of his claims can be called into question. There are undoubtedly numerous
other assertions of Innis that are either plain wrong, doubtful, or in need of serious qualification. In
order for this sort of assessment to take place, more critical examination of particular aspects of Innis'
communications history is needed, along the lines of the reflections on his account of the fur trade
offered by Eccles (1979, 1981) and Grant (1981). While Collins' commentary offers a useful starting
point in this direction, he has largely confined himself to "nit-picking" about the accuracy of some of
Innis' statements rather than trying to offer any fresh insights into his overall line of argument.
21
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economic history [December 1944], pp. 80-97 [presidential address])
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Buxton, William (1998) - Harold Innis&#39; Excavation of Modernity

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Harold Innis' Excavation of Modernity: The Newspaper Industry, Communications, and the

Decline of Public Life

Rsum: Dans la plupart des dbats autour de

acknowledged impenetrability of his texts,

Innis and communications theory

technologies (such as paper or papyrus) are

communications, they usually involve the

This treatment of Innis as primarily

the awkwardness of his style, and the lack

tend to concentrate on the portmanteau

communications in relation to ancient and

Canadian Journal of Communication, 23(3), 321 (1998)

pre-modern societies, and then applied

the claims that he espoused a form of

these to the more contemporary period.

technological determinism (Marvin, 1983).

This pattern has been replicated in

To be sure, if one draws conclusions

discussions of Innis based on Empire and

simply on the basis of his well-known

Communications. While this work offers a

summary statements, then this way of

interpreting Innis has some plausibility.

development of media from ancient times

But if one examines in detail his writings

to modernity, it is only in the final chapter

on a particular set of media, a different

way of understanding Innis' thought

developments. Hence, there has been a

tendency not only to interpret Innis on the

In this paper, I will examine Innis'

basis of a few selective utterances from his

views on one particular complex of media,

major texts, but to treat his discussion of

the newspaper industry, particularly as it

modernity as merely an extension of the

framework that he established on the basis

Revolution and the mid-point of the

of his research on ancient and pre-modern

twentieth century. This will be based on a

societies. In view of the difficulties

close reading of the various works that he

penned on the subject, attempting, as far as

intelligible, it is not at all surprising that

possible, to capture his line of argument

and mode of reasoning. It will be guided

by themes that he addressed in his massive

contributions to communication studies.

While this approach to Innis has a

Communication6. Its title notwithstanding,

certain heuristic value, it has also served to

the manuscript is not about the history of

obscure and distort our understanding of

communication, tout court; it deals with

his writings. It suggests that Innis viewed

the history of printing and publishing from

particular media primarily as embodiments

around the second century (with the

of time- or space-binding communications

coming of paper) to the twentieth century.

technology, that different historical epochs

However, the bulk of the work focuses on

evinced the same general patterns, and that

the media operated in the same manner

Buxton, William (1998) - Harold Innis' Excavation of Modernity

Buxton, William (1998) - Harold Innis' Excavation of Modernity