Media World To Undergo Radical Changes - The CSN Sounds the Alarm

QUEBEC, May 30, 2014 /CNW Telbec/ - At this morning's press conference, the CSN sounded the alarm about the many recent announcements regarding the future changes to hit Québec's and Canada's media world.

"We are witnessing drastic changes in the media world without there having be any prior reflection or debate on what the future has in store for us. Whether we are talking about the right to information, the plurality of voices, coverage, production and broadcasting throughout Canada, the current changes raise many fundamental questions about public interest and the very foundations of democracy. At a time when we're discussing media convergence, it might be more appropriate to use the expression ultra-convergence, a trend that seems to give an advantage to information coming from  urbanized areas to the detriment of regions," stated CSN President, Jacques Létourneau.

Recent developments include budget cuts at the CBC/Radio-Canada, the announcement that La Presse would cease to print its daily paper and that Gesca's other papers would undergo structural changes, Le Devoir's financial difficulties, forcing it to put more emphasis on its digital platform, the downsizing of The Canadian Press, the constant job insecurity of independent reporters, and Transcontinental's acquisition of Québecor Media's weekly papers.

"We are working closely with people throughout Canada working for a media company that is currently changing its deployment strategy. Technological changes lie at the centre of these transformations, which have a direct impact on the company's structure, as well as on news format and content. Just like we've done in the past with several media owners, we sincerely wish to contribute to the job protection effort and to media coverage outside urban centres, while advocating for the public right to information, which concerns every community," declared Pascale St-Onge, General Secretary of the Fédération nationale des communications–CSN.

"It's high time we have a debate on the future of the media. At the CSN, we've always believed that information is more than a commodity whose fate can be decided on the free market. We therefore make an urgent plea to the powerful forces that support a plurality of voices throughout Québec and Canada," concluded CSN's President.

The Fédération nationale des communications–CSN is composed of 7,000 members working in culture and communications.

Founded in 1921, the CSN is a trade union federation that works towards a cohesive, democratic, just, fair and sustainable society. To this end, the CSN takes part in many debates that concern Quebeckers. The CSN federates almost 2,000 unions and represents more than 300,000 workers on a sectoral or professional basis within eight federations, as well as regionally via 13 central councils, primarily in the province of Quebec.

SOURCE: Fédération nationale des communications (FNC-CSN)

Martin Petit, Department of Communications, CSN, Phone: [phone], [email protected]; Source : Confédération des syndicats nationaux; Syndicat des communications de Radio-Canada-CSN