On the verge of bowing out, the president of the Quebec Press Council, Paule Beaugrand-Champagne, is sounding the alarm about the financial difficulties of the media court of honor, whose survival is in danger, according to her.
“It’s simple, it’s going badly, immediately drop the ex-journalist in an interview at the To have to. We started to dip into our reserves, which are already not large. If we don’t find more funding, in three years, it’s going to be terrible. It will be difficult to continue. »
The Quebec Press Council (CPQ) ended 2021 with a deficit of $27,591. For five years, the Board has oscillated around financial balance, alternating years with a deficit and years with a surplus. But the surpluses are small, and the CPQ had to dip into its reserve fund — which amounts to approximately $785,000 — in the past year. In 2021, $100,000 was thus withdrawn, and another $200,000 is expected to be withdrawn in 2022 to ensure the proper functioning of the organization.
“I would have liked so much to ensure the financial sustainability of the Council. I am disappointed not to have succeeded in fulfilling this mission, which falls on the shoulders of my successor. This is my biggest regret, ”says Paule Beaugrand-Champagne, who will leave her post after two terms on May 19.
In eight years, we cannot say that she has twiddled her thumbs. The president struggled to bail out the organization’s coffers, her priority upon her arrival in 2014.
She recounts the establishment of a funding committee to review the fee schedule for member media dues. “We were still operating according to ratings and circulation, while several media have abandoned paper. This formula no longer made sense. »
Most of the member media have agreed to “generously” increase their membership fees, she says. A handful still have to be convinced, but they are not overly worried. She is also pleased to have brought certain media back into the organization’s ranks, including Montreal Gazette and the regional media Coops de l’information, which came close to debacle in 2019. The Board is also actively recruiting new members from magazines, including News and Urbania.
In return, she regrets not having convinced the Quebecor media to become a member of the CPQ again. “Not only did I not manage to bring them back, but in addition we end up with a pursuit,” she says.
The Quebecor media accuse the Council of handling complaints concerning them when they have not been members since 2010. By acting in this way, the CPQ violates their fundamental right, that of being free “not to associate”. , as provided for in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Government support
But the main problem, underlines Paule Beaugrand-Champagne, is the lack of support from Quebec. Although the Ministère de la Culture et des Communications (MCC) renews its subsidy to the CPQ each year, it has not been indexed to the inflation rate for more than ten years. “According to our calculations, if [notre subvention] had been at least indexed, we would now receive $50,000 more per year. »
The MCC did not respond to questions from the To have to on this subject.
This money, the CPQ needs to meet the growing demand from the public. In 2021, 684 complaints were received, compared to only 111 in 2010. “I see this as proof that the public has more confidence in our council and better understands its role. […] In this era of fake news, he is also more vigilant and no longer hesitates to file a complaint, ”says Paule Beaugrand-Champagne.
Social networks also have their role to play in the explosion of complaints. She gives the example of the year 2020, where, out of 1,631 complaints received, nearly 1,400 in fact concerned only one and the same file, that of the influencer Élisabeth Rioux. “The first people to complain encouraged people on their social media to do the same. Our email inbox was full. We ended up with hundreds of almost copied and pasted complaints, all of which we had to read. It’s an incredible workload. »
The Council also subsequently decided that only complaints submitted through its official online form would be studied, to limit the number of complaints, and that only ten would be retained to analyze the same case; the other complaints would simply come in support.
“With more money, we could afford to employ more people, and therefore process more requests more quickly,” points out Paule Beaugrand-Champagne.
“I hope that my successor will manage to straighten out our finances, we have to,” she said, recalling the fundamental role of the CPQ. “For the profession of journalist to be respected, you have to set rules and respect them. And it takes a body like us, with the help of the public, to monitor their implementation. […] It is about the public’s right to quality information. »