The newspaper 24 hours, distributed free in the Montreal metro, published its latest paper edition on Thursday. The daily has indeed announced that it will now only be accessible in digital format.
Already, in February 2021, Quebecor had announced that the paper format of the 24 hours would only be distributed once a week, on Thursdays. Moreover, its competitor in this type of publication, the newspaper Metrohad reduced its paper edition to three times a week a few months earlier.
It seems that the drop in metro traffic linked to the pandemic, the appearance of wifi in the same place in recent years, and the increase in the price of paper precipitated this decision, according to the professor at the school of journalism of UQAM, Patrick White.
The announcement of 24 hours comes after Quebecor announced the elimination of 240 positions. Still according to Patrick White, several layoffs have occurred in the team of 24 hours.
For him, the golden days of distributing paper newspapers in the subway are simply over.
The end of an era
“It’s the end of an era,” he said. Distribution was very expensive, in a context of labor shortages and rising paper prices. And the readers are not at the rendezvous.
“Even if it is a loss for our team, the future is bright for 24 hours and its community. We will continue to deal with the same themes that fascinate us and that turn you on, on our digital platforms, “wrote Thursday Charles d’Amboise, director of information content at 24 hours.
To mark the occasion, 24 hours published a souvenir issue on Thursday retracing great moments in the history of Montreal reported in the newspaper. The journalist Gabriel Ouimet also cites a study according to which, “today a third (33%) of Quebec adults obtain information mainly on social networks, a proportion which rises to 50% among 25 to 34 year olds and 67 % among those aged 18 to 24, according to the results of a survey published on 1er June 2022 by the Laval University Digital Transformation Academy”.
With exclusively digital content, the 24 hours intends to reach a younger clientele, according to Patrick White, who also says he is worried about the fact that this content may abandon depth in favor of viral content, whose clicks drive up traffic statistics. The weekly version of 24 hours in paper had the particularity, he says, of presenting extensive files, with a selection of articles from other Quebecor publications, often distributed over more than 30 pages.
If the disappearance of 24 hours paper was “written in the sky”, he said, “we will have to continue to deal with social subjects, to talk about climate change”.
The newspaper Metrowhich continues to be distributed free in print, three times a week, did not comment on the news.