It has now become a ritual that needs no explanation: each time an election campaign is launched, journalists board party buses to criss-cross the province until election day. But in the face of exploding prices, with now five parties to follow, more and more media are reducing their presence on board or drawing a line under it.
“It’s a great experience to live as a journalist, it’s also an added value in media coverage, because it gives an inside look. But is the cost worth it? It’s a lot of money for the media,” laments Valérie Gaudreau, editor-in-chief of Sun.
Since the start of the electoral campaign on August 28, no journalist from the daily has boarded the party leaders’ buses. Already in 2018, The sun had drawn a line under its presence in caravans, while its owner at the time, Groupe Capitales Médias – which also owned Le Droit, Le Quotidien, Le Nouvelliste, La Tribune and The Voice of the East — was on the verge of bankruptcy. If the six regional dailies today members of the National Cooperative of Independent Information (CN2i) are doing better, “they are not rolling in gold”, maintains Mme Gaudeau.
“The price of caravans has really become a major obstacle, it’s unaffordable,” she insists. For 36 days aboard their buses, the parties are asking between $5,000 and $10,000 per journalist. This covers, among other things, transport, meals, hotel rooms, but also the technical layout of buses to enable reporters to work on the road. And that’s without counting the overtime for each journalist, notes the editor-in-chief of the Sun.
thousands of dollars
At To have to, the idea of no longer getting into the electoral caravans has also been gaining ground for several provincial elections, without being the chosen option for the moment. “I’m torn,” says editor-in-chief Marie-Andrée Chouinard. It is certain that access to the chef and his team often gives context, behind the scenes, valuable information to understand what is going on. […] But it pays a lot to often have a uniform message in all the media, because it’s hard to stand out and get out of the exclusive news when you’re on the bus. »
This year, the even higher price of caravans finally prompted the daily to “cut the pear in half”. “We sent five journalists to the five caravans, but only for three out of five weeks, the first and the last two, specifies Marie-Andrée Chouinard. Otherwise, it would have cost us close to $50,000, that’s a lot! »
A choice that other media have nevertheless made without hesitation, including The Press, Radio-Canada or even the Diary of Montreal. The Canadian Press, for its part, appeared in all the trailers, except that of the Conservative Party of Quebec, which helped the absent media to complete their coverage.
“It is a very large amount, [et] I understand that can be off-putting. But for those who can afford it, like us, it’s important to go there to tell the campaign from the inside and to question the leaders. Citizens are the first to benefit from it,” says François Cardinal, deputy editor of The Press.
Beyond the game
Radio-Canada’s Director General of Information, Luce Julien, adds that the presence of journalists on board is “fundamental” to force leaders to go beyond their political announcements and to get them to react on issues of concern. news that concerns the public.
She nevertheless recognizes that today, following the caravans of the leaders is no longer “the heart of the coverage of the electoral campaigns” as it could have been the case before. “It is one element among others. It is also fundamental that we go out into the field to meet people, that we deal with the issues in depth and that we are not just following the political game. »
The majority of Quebec media questioned by The duty are of the same opinion. They consider it essential to watch what is happening on the ground when the caravan of leaders is not there, to increase meetings with activists, pressure groups, citizens or even candidates from different constituencies.
Teamwork
At Sun, we also recognize that one of the advantages of being a member of the “Coops de l’info” is being able to follow most of the announcements made by chefs across the province without being on their buses. “We are six newspapers in six major cities of Quebec that exchange articles. It makes a big difference. »
This collaboration is also found in the television media which, for the first time this year at the provincial level, have set up a system to share their images. TVA, Radio-Canada, Noovo Info, Global News, CBC and CTV thus share the costs by sending a single cameraman on board each bus, mandated to ask questions from each network to the chief.
“Ultimately, I would like there to be this form of collaboration between the written media. It would reduce costs and put more energy into our respective media to get out news about health, the environment, education or the economy that would make the leaders react,” says Marie-Andrée Chouinard of the To have tohoping that his idea will perhaps find an echo between now and the next elections.