Every time we talk about the 547 layoffs at TVA, we continue with the list of other workforce reductions in the media, including that of 125 employees at Coops de l’info (The sun, The right, The Daily, The Nouvelliste, The Voice of the East, The gallery And THE Ace of information). It’s true that the crisis affects all media, but things don’t happen the same everywhere and our stories are not all the same. Here is the one from the Coops.
Our members have known since 2022 that the transition to the 100% digital newspaper will lead to departures. The end of printed editions on December 30 has prompted a review of our labor needs. This is the exercise that we have imposed on ourselves over the last few months.
At the start of 2023, we were able to calculate the number of departures necessary, i.e. a third of our workforce. Neither the union nor management had any appetite for a traditional reduction based on seniority and collective agreements. This method would have eliminated young journalists, our future. Hence the voluntary departure program negotiated between management and the union. None of this is desirable or ideal, but the program allows some to retire early and others to redirect their careers. We recognize the contribution of all those who leave, and the Coops are inevitably going through an emotional period.
Unfortunately, the Coops no longer have the means to maintain two distribution systems in parallel, namely paper and the Web, because over the past 10 years, 80% of advertising revenue has flowed to GAFAM. The online news law (C-18) was supposed to restore market balance and could still do so for Google, with whom Canadian Heritage is still negotiating. As for Meta, the social network now embraces a worldview without verified news, where information is sometimes true, sometimes false, who knows?
The Info Coops, which have serious regional information tattooed on their hearts, do things their way, according to their cooperative management structure and the resilience developed over their recent history. At the Coops, we rely on a diversified revenue model made up of advertising, subscriptions, royalties and, soon, philanthropy. We believe in subscription because, no matter how you look at things, producing verified information has a cost, even for a non-profit cooperative, and particularly in the regions, where the population areas served are smaller and economies of scale, more difficult to achieve.
In a free market, each media outlet has its own model and way of reacting to the crisis, but we all have one vital issue in common: that of the survival of our cultural and linguistic identity. The weakening of Quebec’s media ecosystem would also lead to the weakening of institutions, the social fabric, cultural industries and entrepreneurship.
Once again, this is particularly true in the regions, which do not always benefit from the gaze of the so-called national media. Can you imagine a world without diversity of media voices, where all news comes from a single media outlet? A world where we no longer know what information has been verified? Or a world where we only read about Donald Trump and Taylor Swift, because there would no longer be enough media left in Quebec to cover our affairs and our artists?
The media is not perfect, far from it. They are a counter-power which also deserves its own (Press Council, ombudsman, etc.), and they can certainly improve. But there is no doubt about the fundamental role they play in the evolution of our societies. Supporting them today is a societal choice, for the governments that help them, but also for citizens.
And part of the solution is precisely in our hands as citizens: let’s read our local media, subscribe to newsletters, watch our TV bulletins. In other words, let’s do our duty as citizens in 2024.