Trees don't grow to the sky

"Trees don't grow to the sky." The adage taken from a German proverb is often used by financiers to warn that there are natural limits to upward growth. Growth leads to maturity and, inevitably, decline.

Paul Rivett, CEO and co-owner of Torstar, used it to describe the unsustainable position of the Toronto Star which is struggling to compete in the digital space like most newspapers. Rivett took part in a panel discussion following the premiere of “Viral News”, a TVO documentary film about the challenges facing the Star. Moderated by Steve Paikin, the panel included senator and former journalist Pamela Wallin, Global news anchor Farah Nasser, Associate Professor of Journalism at New York University Jay Rosen, and Publisher of Toronto Star and co-owner of Torstar Jordan Bitove.

It was a very public forum for two men now aiming to settle their dispute privately. Paikin brought up the elephant in the room early on. Both businessmen spoke about the breakdown of their partnership, describing it as a divorce due to irreconcilable differences that should be resolved quickly in the best interest of the child.

The couple remains passionate about the “institution” they were entrusted with - a word they both repeatedly used to describe the Star with reverence. They knew they weren’t just buying a widget factory, but acknowledge that the extent to which the purchase came with an extraordinary corporate social responsibility did not fully sink in at first. This responsibility became painfully evident during the global pandemic.

Soon after the purchase, Jordan Bitove's brother John had told the Toronto Star’s Rosa Saba that “to both Jordan and Paul, making sure the Toronto Star exists for the next generation is just as important as making money.”

While the two haven’t broken their wows, they have different parenting styles and expectations: investing in journalism to serve the public good, or cost-cutting in an attempt to return to profitability.

No tree grows to the sky, but a healthy forest can keep growing.

I am not an arborist, nor am I naive about the business model meltdown caused by digital disruption that is threatening the survival of legacy media. But I am fascinated by the work of Japanese botanist Akira Miyawaki, an advocate for the restoration of natural forests.

The Miyawaki method is used to create native urban forest ecosystems. These fast-growing forests flourish on small plots of land. While it takes about 200 years to let a forest recover on its own, a similar result is achieved in 15 to 20 years. Seedlings are planted densely and randomly, mixing as many native trees as possible. Three years later, natural selection among the seedlings allows the most adapted ones to develop quickly. Fifteen years after planting, the early model of a dense mature forest will be established.

I might sound like Chauncey Gardiner, Peter Sellers’ simple-minded character in the 1979 movie ‘Being There’, but these micro forests could well be another metaphor for a business solution.

When asked about the different business models adopted by newspapers in the U.S. to ensure their survival, Jay Rosen had no silver bullet. Solutions range from not-for-profits funded by wealthy individuals to social enterprises to new business models that have successfully carved a space despite the dominance of big tech.

The Star should plant as many seedlings as possible to distribute its trusted brand of journalism through a wide of innovative platforms. Rather than bet on one seedling as it did when it invested heavily in Star Touch, its ill-fated tablet version, it should scan the world for promising ways of delivering news and commentary in the digital age and plant them. Some will die, but they will help lift others to create a new, dense media ecosystem.

Big tech has changed the media landscape forever. However, Google and Facebook do not create content nor provide readers with trusted investigative journalism that can influence policy and improve lives. As it plants seedlings, the Star should be mindful of not getting caught up in the weeds that could impede growth, or not seeing the forest for the trees: short-term revenue-generating initiatives that could further erode trust such as sponsored content, and the blurring of the lines between journalism and opinion.

Canada needs its “most trusted name in news”. It will even pay for it if it keeps on adapting while remaining true to its founder’s principles.