On this World Press Freedom Day, the president of the Professional Federation of Journalists of Quebec (FPJQ) is once again outraged by the blocking of news on Facebook and Instagram.
Éric-Pierre Champagne continues to defend the Online News Act, Bill C-18, which pushed Meta to block journalistic content from its platforms in retaliation. He recognizes, on the other hand, that it has not generated the expected effects for the moment, and continues to hope that we will find “ways of passage” for the return of news to Facebook and Instagram.
“It required a regulatory framework anyway. We couldn’t let the Web giants do what they wanted. For the moment, it is C-18. I think we should continue with that, even though the law probably wasn’t perfect. But should we try to see ways of reaching agreements? I hope so,” said Mr. Champagne, who was elected president of the FPJQ last November, in an interview.
Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, had blocked journalistic content in Canada three months earlier, thereby hurting many media outlets that relied on these platforms to reach part of their audience. The measure is still in effect almost a year later. This is the way that Meta found to protest against the federal adoption of Bill C-18, which forces digital giants to share part of their revenues from news with the media that produce them.
The new Online News Act has at the very least resulted in an agreement with Google, which undertakes to pay $100 million per year to all Canadian media. This sum, however, remains well below the 172 million that Ottawa initially hoped for.
“I am not prepared to say that the law has been counterproductive. If C-18 had not been adopted, there would have been no agreement with Google. It is therefore important that we continue to hold our own with Facebook,” says Éric-Pierre Champagne.
The battle is not over
The Minister of Heritage, Pascale St-Onge, has let it be known in recent weeks that the federal government still has room to maneuver to bring Meta to negotiate with the media. Otherwise, the American giant could expose itself to heavy penalties, she suggested last week at a press briefing. The minister added that “the battle [n’était] not finished.”
This position gives hope to Mr. Champagne, who notes that the blocking of traditional media leaves the field open to disinformation on Instagram and Facebook. The president of the FPJQ estimates that an agreement with Meta, modeled on that in force with Google, would amount to between 35 and 40 million dollars.
The general public knows too little about the work of journalists. In TV series, journalists rarely have the best role.
“We agree that it is not much when we distribute this amount to all the media in Canada. It wouldn’t solve all the media’s problems, that’s for sure. But for 40 million, I have a hard time understanding why Meta insists on not negotiating with the media. They cannot claim to be good corporate citizens on the one hand, and on the other hand, continue to block the news,” he argues.
Demystifying the work of journalists
At the same time as World Press Freedom Day, the fifth edition of Press and Media Weeks also opens. Throughout the month of May, activities aimed at the general public are organized across Quebec to demystify the work of journalists.
“The general public knows too little about the work of journalists. In TV series, journalists rarely have the best role. It’s very caricatured, and it doesn’t represent what our job is. We don’t see all the work behind the scenes, which consists, among other things, of verifying one’s sources,” underlines Améli Pineda, investigative journalist at Dutywho acts this year as spokesperson for the event.
Trust in the media is eroding, recent studies indicate. A survey by the Léger firm published last October shows that 42% of Quebecers have little or no trust in traditional media publications on social networks.
Améli Pineda responds by rather recalling the importance of journalism in the public sphere. She cites in passing some notable investigations in recent months, such as that of the Quebecor media on the lavish expenses of the staff of the Office de consultation publique de Montréal. These revelations led this fall to the resignation of the president of the city’s executive committee, Dominique Ollivier, and the placing of the organization under supervision.
“I think it shows that there is a use to our work. We can make things happen, both from a social and political point of view. Yes, we can sometimes seem like we’re “kids” like we see on TV shows. But there’s a reason why we are. This is because, without our work, there are things that would pass into the shadows. And we, our job“is to highlight them,” maintains the investigative journalist.