Discoverability Report | The experts’ view

Well-crafted document to structure government action, or “old-fashioned” speech punctuated by missed opportunities? The report of the Advisory Committee on the discoverability of cultural content tabled on Wednesday is commented on by two experts.

Strong political signal

The findings listed in the expert report are nothing new, first underlines Catalina Briceno, professor at the UQAM Media School, who recalls that Quebec is recognized worldwide as a leader in research. and understanding the issues related to discoverability. “What is interesting in this report is the desire to make it a political issue at a higher level and to underline the international leadership that Quebec can exercise,” she said, emphasizing that 21 of the 32 recommendations made in the report touches on aspects such as cultural diplomacy, policies, legislation and regulations. There is now an understanding that this issue must be tackled head on, on a political level, that it must be part of our cultural diplomacy strategies and interministerial efforts. »

A minister seeking validation

Nellie Brière, digital communications strategist, also notes the “very political” reading of discoverability issues made in the report. “Above all, he wants to impose a balance of power between the provincial and the federal government on cultural issues,” she summarizes. Ottawa has jurisdiction over the “pipes” that transport cultural content through telecommunications and broadcasting, experts reiterate, and Quebec is supposed to have a say on this famous cultural content. What particularly pleased the Minister of Culture and Communications, Mathieu Lacombe, is that they validate the fact that the Quebec government has the means to legislate to protect its culture. “That’s perhaps what he was looking for in this report,” said Catalina Briceno. She finds it understandable that a province wonders what its margin of maneuver is to regulate broadcasting platforms that belong to foreign companies.

A “poor understanding of things”

In addition to deploring the lack of concrete solutions, Nellie Brière considers the report a little outdated in the way it poses the issues. Above all, she finds that he sometimes shows a poor understanding of things. The emphasis placed on the low place occupied by French-speaking Quebec music in online listening particularly annoys him. She believes that we happily confuse the quantitative and the qualitative and that we forget that the place that music occupies in our lives has changed a lot. “What is controversial is Alexandra Stréliski and Jean-Michel Blais because it’s music that can be listened to well in muzak [musique de fond à laquelle on prête peu attention] “, she notes. However, the time we spend listening to an artist is not necessarily a sign of commitment to that artist. She believes that if we want to analyze interest in Quebec culture, we must use something other than this type of listening data. “We won’t have this information without doing qualitative surveys,” she said, while regretting that this aspect was left out of the report.

“French-speaking” content, not “Quebec”

The experts quickly point out that they recommend promoting original French-speaking content, and not specifically “Quebec” content. This aspect makes sense, in the eyes of Catalina Briceno, since the challenge of discoverability that the cultural industries here face is shared by all those who find themselves in the position of linguistic minority in the globalized offer. Is there not a risk that Quebec content will be drowned out by the French offering, through the French-speaking alliance recommended by the report? “Maybe, but in terms of risk management, I think we have to adopt a strategy of small steps. The first is French-speaking consultation,” believes the UQAM professor. She specifies that Quebec is in a better position than it appears internationally because of its expertise. “We are able to play a leadership role in cultural diplomacy,” she says, which could be an asset, we understand, for the promotion of our cultural content.

Missed opportunities

Actions will have to be concerted to face current challenges, judges Catalina Briceno. “There is a lack of coordination and consultation bodies,” she notes. I find that it is a missed opportunity not to have considered the establishment of a national digital culture council or another body capable of converging and coordinating all actions. » Nellie Brière, who harshly criticizes the report in general, deplores that the committee of experts has completely given up and is content to recommend the production of local content, without mentioning the support of local platforms which already exist and which could play a role. a role, even without pretending to compete with Netflix or AppleMusic. She thinks of Tou.tv or even Tënk^⁠1, platform dedicated to documentaries. “I’m not saying that we shouldn’t finance what’s going to end up on YouTube. We have to, because we know that the people are there. It’s not one or the other, she insists, however. It should be one or the other. We should still exist, have our platforms and not have to pay for 18 services to access Quebec’s cinematic heritage. »

1. Nellie Brière clarified to The Press that she was part of the board of directors of Tënk.