Copps blamed the Internet for what he saw as journalism’s decline, adding that consolidation and “mindless” deregulation of media ownership was undermining democracy.

“We're not only losing journalists, we may be losing journalism,” he said. “Some blame the Internet and bloggers, and that's certainly a part of the story.

“The public interest standard is like a grand old theater that has been badly neglected over the years,” he said. “The structure is sound, and with a little imagination and a lot of hard work we can make it a showplace once again.