Every year, in December, I spend part of the morning The Press to call donors. That day, several of us spent a few hours thanking our readers.
I love this exercise. I make it a point of honor to be there. I am given a list with names and telephone numbers, I call, I introduce myself, I say: Thanks for supporting us.
This is often followed by a conversation lasting a few minutes about the reasons that motivate our readers to make a donation…
It revolves around two motivations, I would say.
A, I used to pay when the newspaper was delivered to my door, for me it makes sense to continue paying for my newspaper.
And when people talk to me about The Press and they say “my diary”, there is an insistence steeped in pride, I must say, on the “my” of “my diary”. Sometimes, I am entitled to anecdotes: I delivered The Press when I was little, we read The Press with family, I started with the sports book, I read Foglia, Cousineau, Petrowski, Ouimet…
Two, I find it important to support The Pressit is important to be well informed in a context where misinformation abounds…
Sometimes, the people I call on this December morning apologize: Sorry, I don’t give much, but it’s from the goodness of my heart. And every time, I tell them the same thing: whatever the amount, the important thing is that you are there.
I say the same thing to those who read us but don’t give, for many reasons: the important thing is that you are there.
It’s a pretty difficult time for the media, I don’t need to draw a picture for you. The rise of digital giants has cannibalized the advertising base. Media outlets have made layoffs, such as TVA and certain Bell platforms. Others have closed, such as the platforms of Metro. I hope the ecosystem will stabilize.
HAS The Press, we are lucky. I say it while putting on white gloves. The digital shift has been a success. It took place over several years. It hasn’t been easy. When the Desmarais family gently shed The Pressthe transition to non-profit mode was not easy, let’s say…
And there, President Pierre-Elliott Levasseur said it at the end of January: The Press has an impressive reserve fund and our newspaper – I say again, I will always say a newspaper – made a surplus in 2023 for the fourth year in a row. Surplus which will be reinvested in our mission to inform you.
PHOTO DOMINICK GRAVEL, THE PRESS
Our collaborator Rose-Aimée Automne T. Morin, the journalist Caroline Touzin, our columnist Patrick Lagacé and the journalist Katia Gagnon during the 2023 evening seen by The Press, organized for our donors.
And 56,000 of you made donations last year, for a total of 7.8 million. I write this and I get a little chill.
I have a little chill for lots of reasons.
First of all, you’re not loud, but you’re there. In an era where screaming is a way of existing, 56,000 of you have discreetly made a donation for our mission to inform. There are disinformation people supported by 56 people who think they have more impact than this newspaper. You are proof that it is false, you are proof that screaming, often, is just noise.
Then, life is expensive. Everything is expensive. And there are 56,000 of you who still find space in the family budget because you can’t imagine your information diet without this newspaper. I’m touched.
All this contributes to producing quality journalism, as they say. To separate the true from the false. To disassemble the spin which aims to give a lilac scent to all kinds of nauseating things, in the private sector and in the State. To immerse yourself in reality, in a thousand ways, with the necessary time and resources. To defend ourselves, too: our lawyers work hard, as our journalists disrupt by separating fact from fiction.
It’s Easter. It’s been a long time since I attended church, since I broke away from religion. But Catholicism marked my childhood and my culture, I know well that Easter is the resurrection of Christ… It’s a beautiful story.
And it is no coincidence that I choose this Sunday to thank our readers, whether they contribute financially or not…
I told you above that The Press went through years of turbulence. That’s an understatement: there were times when I watched things go in the media ecosystem, where I watched things go in my newspaper, from retirement programs to discreet cuts in the editorial budget, and I wondered…
My God, are we dying?
Our bosses had a digital vision which paid off, our union leaders had the pragmatism to accept setbacks when necessary to contribute to the survival of the newspaper. The bosses and the unions signed agreements recently at the end of negotiations which were not smooth sailing, but which recognize the sacrifices made by the artisans of this newspaper…
And the shift is made, this newspaper is no longer surviving, it is living. Fingers crossed things can always change.
The Press continues to produce a phenomenal quantity of scoops cited throughout our half-country, to document reality, to keep decision-makers on their heels and to contribute, often, to correcting the situation, in the private and in the public.
And when we are wrong, unlike the misinformants, we admit it, we apologize and we learn from these mistakes.
You will forgive me for being stubborn, once is not customary, dear readers, but I wanted to tell you this, by thanking you on this Easter Sunday: the stories of resurrection are not all in the Bible…
Thank you for contributing to that of your newspaper.