During the holidays, the editorial team continues its reflection on the individual and collective challenges that will shape our world in the coming years from the perspective of solutions, as far as possible. Today: the media crisis.
The journalistic community is lucky despite the media crisis. He has the possibility of influencing the narrative ritual when he covers issues concerning him, a privilege dreamed of by other civil actors who do not have access to this reservoir of influence. “Holding the pencil” (or the microphone) is a privilege that comes with great responsibilities, the first of which is to exercise discernment in analyzing the problem. The intensity of this crisis varies from one media to another, depending on its positioning in digital transformation, and it is not only the result of external factors attributable to GAFAM companies, too easily portrayed as wicked thieves while they maintain an asymmetrical relationship of complementarity with the media.
In 2023, the closure of daily newspapers Metro, the job cuts at TVA and those planned at Radio-Canada have caused consternation. Private TV and radio, which believed itself to be sheltered from turbulence due to the relative stability of the traditional advertising revenue base, are experiencing difficult times and are now demanding state support, following the example of of the written press. This crisis has been the subject of extensive coverage and delays from the journalistic community worried about its future, not without reason.
This is quite a turnaround from the situation that prevailed barely ten years ago. Enamored of the ideals of separation of political and media powers, journalists and press owners were excessively reluctant to demand government support for their activities. Today, Quebec written media are the most supported in North America, the result of the combined effect of tax credit and subsidy programs from the governments of Canada and Quebec. No other province has had the presence of mind to support its news ecosystem. This is proof that Quebec remains a society distinct by its language, its culture and its institutions.
At a time when the Minister of Culture and Communications, Mathieu Lacombe, is beginning a review of existing programs, we must remember that the media in crisis are now like other links in the cultural industry such as the books, cinema, television, performing arts, etc. None of these clusters would survive without support measures, in a market as small as Quebec. All are essential to the vitality of culture. The media also contribute to reinvigorating the debate of ideas and shaking up democratic institutions. It goes without saying that the programs will have to be renewed, which does not exclude consideration of the possibility of modifying them.
The fact remains that the media sector is destined to ask itself delicate questions. Including the refundable tax credit on the payroll of Quebec (35%) and that of Ottawa (which was recently increased from 25 to 35%) and the royalties expected from Google, which concluded an agreement of 100 million with the Department of Canadian Heritage, the salary of written journalists is almost entirely supported. However, there will be those who say that this is not enough.
Calls for support will become embarrassing and counterproductive without media reflection on their respective business models and strategies in the inevitable transformation that will lead them all to evolve in the same digital arena. Aid will not save media that present three of the following four risk factors: relying too heavily on print (or analog on TV and radio); focus exclusively on free content; operate in a restricted or devitalized market; do without a plan and a vision for digital transformation.
Minister Lacombe makes much of the decline in trust in the media, which is however less pronounced in French-speaking markets. This debate must be placed in a broader context. The decline in trust in the media is part of a global phenomenon of questioning of institutions and the polarization of democratic societies, two phenomena induced by digital transformation.
Trends more insidious than trust are also weighing on the media sector. This is the phenomenon of news content fatigue and the radical transformation of consumption habits on foreign platforms. The first requires media reflection to adapt their content offering to the aspirations of the communities they wish to serve. The second forces us to rebuild a direct relationship with users, limiting dependence on platforms as much as possible. They offer fantastic content amplification levers, to be used in inventive ways to increase brand awareness. But our first duty is to build our future on the relevance of our content and our capacity for innovation.