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Opinion. Investigates the failure of daily newspapers in Canada to take the forefront in news gathering and agenda setting. Possible causes for the poor performance of newspapers, including the rise of the electronic media and the focus on journalistic objectivity; Reference to a story related in the book `Alberta Was My Beat: Memoirs of a Western Newspaperman,' by Fred Kennedy.

Considers ownership changes at several Alberta newspapers. Impending sale of Toronto Sun Publishing Corp., the company that runs the `Calgary' and the `Edmonton Suns'; Other ownership changes in May 1996; The fact that the papers that most Albertans read are owned by a few big chains based outside the province; Opinions about the importance and impact of out-of-province ownership.

Relates that Alberta's `Calgary Herald' and the `Edmonton Journal' newspapers, owned by Toronto-based Southam Inc., are cautiously edging their left-leaning editorial policies toward the right. The `Herald' admitting in September 1995 that many readers feel that the paper's editorial views were out of touch with its home community; Job changes for Southam editor and editorial writer Catherine Ford and Linda Goyette; Satya Das; Other changes.