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Advises that Thomson Newspapers Corp. put several of its daily papers in Canada up for sale as part of a restructuring plan. Aim of Dick Harrington, president and CEO of Thomson, to transform the company into a marketing and communications company; Names of newspapers on the block.

A special report looks at Canada's newspaper wars over readers, advertisers, and revenue. Clashes between newspapers in various Canadian cities over readership and markets; Famous newspaper rivalries. INSET: The little paper that grew..

The changes have been anything but conservative at Canada's unabashedly right-wing national daily. After months of speculation that CanWest Global Communications Corp. was set to fold its perennially money-losing National Post, the paper was granted a reprieve. Ken Whyte, editor-in-chief, and Martin Newland, his deputy--the duo behind the Post's cheeky mixture of agenda-driven news, pointed commentary and unapologetic fluff, have left to pursue unspecified "opportunities." Leonard Asper, CanWest chief executive, announced a three-year plan to make the paper profitable and appointed his older brother David to oversee the flagship. Matthew Fraser, a media commentator and journalism professor with no previous management experience, was named editor-in-chief. More and more Post reporters have been showing up on TV screens, and the content of the chain's daily papers across the country has become increasingly standardized--a trend that seems sure to intensify as the company struggles to get out from under a $3.6-billion debt load.

Presents information on the plans of Canadian publisher Southam to launch a daily newspaper in 1998. Comments from Don Babick, President and Chief Operating Officer; Lack of hard information on the newspaper; Potential readers to receive little information until the paper is published; Key questions unanswered such as editorial tone, content and cost; Controversial nature of owner Conrad Black.