Canadian press is largely controlled by large media conglomerates which is really no different from the US. Most of our local newspapers and TV/radio have their editorial policies and editorial (vs. news) content set by their owners, who are companies like Corus, Torstar and Bell (Bell owns CTV and The Globe and Mail). The only outlier is the CBC and even they often behave rather like a large private media company anymore. And all of them but CBC are beholden to advertisers for their main revenue stream and thems what pays the piper, calls the tune. We have seen shows cancelled because of advertiser protests many times. And shows that only exist because they drew eyeballs to advertisers. And CBC is becoming more and more beholden to advertisers as well as being somewhat under the thumb of the government.
So the problem of media control and freedom is really the same in both countries: Large companies control the media and therefore set the agenda. Independent media exists but mostly bubbles under the surface and is often beholden to interest groups (e.g. Rebel Media, which has become the news arm of the far right).
In fact, I might argue that the US has one thing that makes its media freer: PBS and NPR. They aren't owned by the government like CBC is, just receive support in various ways, and get much of their revenue from pledges and private foundations, not corporate advertising. They have some corporate sponsorships but seem to be less dependent on and beholden to those sponsors than other networks are to advertisers. They still have their issues and are far from fully free and independent, but from what I see of the editorial stances coming out of NPR in particular, they are definitely freer than most of our media.
(Yes, I just supported WhyCzar. They're right IMHO in this case.)
