TVA Group’s cuts in the region create a shock among certain elected officials, who are worried about the impact on local democracy. A very real risk, confirms a researcher from the University of Ottawa.
“In the region, the TVA newscast was a classic. We knew that if the news was broadcast on TVA, the majority of people in the area would watch it. We have just lost an important link with our fellow citizens,” laments Bruno Paradis, president of the Regional Table of Municipal Elected Officials of Bas-Saint-Laurent.
TVA Group employees will go from 29 to 6 – three journalists and three camera operators – for the Côte-Nord, Bas-Saint-Laurent and Gaspésie regions. “We cannot imagine that such a small group would be able to cover such a vast territory,” says Mr. Paradis.
However, regional media have an important role in local democracy, according to several studies carried out in the United States, explains Marc-François Bernier, professor in the communications department at the University of Ottawa.
The first impact concerns the good management of public expenditure. If local authorities are not subject to media scrutiny, public funds are less well administered.
Marc-François Bernier, from the University of Ottawa
Second consequence: loss of visibility on regional issues. “The media often echo local needs and demands, so it creates deserts [médiatiques], adds Mr. Bernier. These people become less important in the management of national public affairs. »
According to Bruno Paradis, the TVA announcement was a real “shock” for local elected officials.
“It’s essential that journalists cover the regions, because otherwise, we have gray areas, and there are people who will take advantage of them,” he warns. Journalists challenge our decisions [en tant qu’élus], and highlight our daily realities, often overshadowed by the realities of large centers. »
Media black hole
Deprived of a national media presence even before the cuts at TVA, the Laurentides region is already experiencing these problems, says Scott Pearce, president of the Council of Prefects and Elected Officials of the Laurentides.
“We have issues like mines and health, but we are almost ignored,” he denounces. We already had to go to Montreal for our press conference to be heard! »
However, Quebecor’s cuts extinguish the hope of an increased media presence in the region. “That means there will never be VAT here,” laments Mr. Pearce.
For Jacques Demers, president of the Quebec Federation of Municipalities, the TVA announcement is a hard blow, which comes on top of the loss of many local newspapers and weeklies in recent years.
“We can no longer call it fears, because we are already experiencing it, the loss of regional media,” he says.
This Estrian elected official remembers the time when a journalist from The gallery was assigned specifically to his MRC. “He wrote every day on subjects that affect us,” he notes.
Now, people will have an opinion on public transit in Montreal, or the tramway in Quebec. But the local problems, the difficulties we have in our roads, in our food banks, we don’t talk about them.
Jacques Demers, president of the Quebec Federation of Municipalities
The loss of local information – in quantity and quality – also contributes to the division of discourse, according to Mr. Demers
Indeed, on certain local subjects, citizens can no longer trust verified journalistic information. They have to be content with each other’s opinions. And that sometimes results in harassment or pressure on elected officials, who have resigned in record numbers in recent years, he recalls.
“ [Les citoyens] are not journalists, they do not have neutrality, underlines Mr. Demers. The journalist will put both sides of the coin: the one we want to hear, and the one with which we disagree less. »
A disaster
There is only one word to describe TVA’s decision: “disaster”, says Gérald Savard, prefect of the MRC du Fjord-du-Saguenay.
In this region, only four journalists and two cameramen from Groupe TVA will remain on duty, out of a team of 22. “Journalists, when we hear them, they make us think of things, of ideas. These are people who know a lot of business. [Leur disparition]it’s a catastrophe for democracy, for culture,” said Mr. Savard.
One solution, according to Professor Marc-François Bernier, would be the creation of an independent, but public, Quebec press organ, which would have a regional mandate, for example through Télé-Québec. “It exists in other countries, like France,” he says. And this would be a way for the Quebec state to compensate for an economic model [des médias privés] which no longer works. »
The story so far
February 2023: Quebecor announces 240 layoffs, including 140 at Groupe TVA.
November 2, 2023: Pierre Karl Péladeau announces the dismissal of 547 TVA Group employees, or nearly a third of its workforce.
Of this number, 300 people worked on internal production, 98 were mainly linked to the activities of the regional stations and 149 worked in other sectors.