Should Quebec bail out its print media?

Quebec’s print news media is in a state of emergency, according to the CSN.

They want the government to bail the industry out and say it’s the only way to fight against fake news.

In the past decade, thousands of journalists have lost their jobs, newspapers, radio and television stations have shut down and it continues.

Dozens of more layoffs were announced only in the past several weeks. It’s a disturbing trend, according to two media unions – the Fédération nationale des communications (FNC) and Confédération des syndicats nationaux (CSN) – who’ve proposed an immediate solution.

It will require provincial taxpayer dollars.

The unions are asking for $10 – $13 million dollars in tax credits, which they say is urgently needed to support failing daily and weekly newspapers. The same type of program is also being considered at the federal level.

“For the written press, almost a third of the jobs have been lost between 2010 and 2015. The best way to fight fake news is to have real news,” said Pascale St.-Onge, president of the CSN, which represents 6000 members in 88 unions.

St.-Onge said traditional media is needed more than ever to fact-check false claims on social media.

She said while news, in general, has been suffering from a loss of ad revenue, due to companies like Facebook and Google, print media revenue, in particular, has taken a hit.

“It concerns all written press. We’re thinking also about The (Montreal) Gazette and Postmedia and we know that there’s been a lot of cuts there too,” St.-Onge said.

In addition to tax breaks, the unions are also asking the Couillard government to consider grants programs, similar to what already exists for the film and television series industry.