Cardinal editions are hitting hard these days, with Urbania 20a beautiful book of more than 300 pages retracing the genesis of the media to its multiple entities today, passing through a number of portraits that have caused so much discussion, and what can we say about these headlines (Gérald Tremblay, Michèle Richard, Richard Martineau, and of course all those penises, do you remember?) which shook the media universe and above all sold many copies.
Fans of the paper magazine (which went digital in 2020) will be served here, with a quantity of extracts of transcribed texts, anecdotes behind several photos, interviews and other reports, not to mention several juicy gossips (we won’t reveal everything, but just for the photo of Arnaud Soly in bed, let’s say that it’s really worth it, the reminder of the special issue “Ethnies” a little less…). In 20 years, some things age better than others, and it seems…
“Varlop a little”
Tatiana Polevoy worked on the case for a year, interviewing more than 80 people, having worked closely or very far with Urbania, from its founders (Philippe Lamarre and Vianney Tremblay, two primary school friends!) to its most faithful but no less critical observers, including a good number of collaborators (editors, photographers, illustrators). Here she offers a finished product in the vein of her original, in substance, but above all in form, in terms of graphics, visuals, even tone, a bit “sloppy”, by her own admission.
PHOTO PATRICK SANFAÇON, THE PRESS
Tatiana Polevoy
Urbania deserved a bit of a ride! As Urbania so many people went around!
Tatiana Polevoy, journalist
The journalist, columnist and now author has given herself the mandate not to be complacent, to offer a “critical look at a singular object”. And that is exactly what it does – and we understand between the branches that it has not only made people happy, that is certainly part of the game –, following its founder Philippe Lamarre from start to finish to understand: “Concretely, what did you mean? »
“I have always been fascinated by Urbania, she explains. I had lots of prejudices about this media and cultural object. » Like many outside readers no doubt: “I saw a gang of people who make each other laugh and think they’re cool, and I always asked myself the question: are they laughing at the world, or are they laughing with the world? »
IMAGE PROVIDED BY THE PUBLISHING HOUSE
One late evening, in 2004, in the studios where the magazine was born, boulevard Saint-Laurent. Employees from the very beginning are gathered around the founder Philippe Lamarre.
An answer that the reader will undoubtedly make for himself while leafing through this voluminous work, which she skilfully summarizes: “I did not come to the conclusion that they did not think they were so cool, or that they did not laugh of the world, she said, but I came to conclude that at the end of the media spectrum, it was done in a good-natured way, with a lot of coincidences, often… after 43 beers and too much Red Bull! »
It’s a plane in mid-flight, retarded teenagers, on a kitchen table!
Tatiana Polevoy
The little stories behind the big headlines say a lot. We learn in particular that the photo of Gérald Tremblay’s armpits was a montage, and that Passe-Montagne never gave its consent to the publication of Passe-Carreau’s kiss. The photo, moreover, was not the result of much thought at all, but rather of complete chance.
No doubt too many intentions have been attributed to Urbaniawe say to ourselves in the light of all these memories, which illustrate to what extent the container was able to take over the content.
With hindsight, Tatiana Polevoy even wonders if her famous question to Philippe Lamarre was ultimately the right one. Instead of trying to “say something”, perhaps the founder has been trying for 20 years to “do something”? she suggests. “I think they’re trying to be disruptive.” And the Duhaime affair is the culmination of all that…”
One of the media’s less good moves is this, to say the least, controversial passage by the now leader of the Conservative Party of Quebec as a columnist, whose book tells here the ins and outs (basically: a chance meeting, a good joint, an invitation to chronicle on a whim, and the “internal crisis” that followed). A case which made it possible to test the limits ofUrbaniacertainly, but not only that.
[Tester les limites], this is how you note where your media is, the people you work with, and the public. Your audience!
Tatiana Polevoy
Assuaged
Speaking of limits, doesUrbania really still pushes them today? What remains of the slobbering media of yesterday, who seemed to be afraid of nothing? Many are asking the question, among others the former editor-in-chief Catherine Perreault-Lessard, quoted in the book: “The biggest flaw of‘Urbaniais to have become woke. » Has the beast (remember that the symbol of the magazine is a dog, as the cover nicely reminds us) actually calmed down? Tatiana Polevoy does not see the matter from this angle: “I would not say thatUrbania has calmed down, she adds. It’s more that we talk about kindness today, but this concept was not fashionable 20 years ago. 20 years ago, it was all for the gag. »
This is no longer the case today. Let’s just say we don’t laugh at everything like that anymore. “We are more aware of people. » And today’s young employees demonstrate this well. “I would say that it is more the society that has changed… thanUrbania ! »
Urbania 20
Cardinal
300 pages