The latest paper editions of the six dailies that are members of the Coops de l'information are distributed Saturday mornings across Quebec. The moment marks the end of an era for regional news, but also the loss of many jobs.
good (Gatineau/Ottawa), The Novelist (Trois-Rivières), The Daily (Saguen-lac-Saint-Jean), the sun (Quebec), Gallery (Sherbrooke) and The Voice of the East (Granby) now rely on web and mobile applications to reach their readership.
From March 2020, six regional newspapers have restricted publication of their paper to Saturdays. The pandemic and the loss of advertising revenue hastened the decision to fully dedicate themselves to digital.
There is a bit of nostalgia
Valerie Gaudreau, editor-in-chief of the sunFriday, at the show All in one morning.
She and her team prefer to look to the future rather than mourn the disappearance of the paper edition of their newspaper, which has been established in Quebec City for 127 years.
This is the end of a page, but it is not the end of the information […] Ultimately, it is about securing our future. information, the sun continues to exist.
But for many, such as hawkers and deliverymen, the end of paper publishing meant the loss of their jobs. Some people feel heavy on Saturday morning, after a last night's work.
This is the case of Stephane Cote, who is like a camel the sun About twenty years. Before him, his grandfather worked in newspaper distribution and printing.
For 23 years Camelot, Stéphane Côté has presented the latest edition of the newspaper “Le Soleil”.
Photo: Radio-Canada / Magali Mason
“It's the end of an era,” he said in an interview with Radio-Canada. I have had many clients send me Christmas cards to say thank you; Most customers prefer to keep it. But let's take life for granted and do something else.
His colleague Lynn Lacombe, who has been a delivery person for 28 years, also had a heart attack on Saturday. It's been our job for years, so that's something. But it ended, we had no choice.
A question of survival
The end of the paper edition of daily newspapers that are members of the Information Corps is the result of increasing budget cuts in the media sector. This decision became almost inevitable for the financial survival of these regional newspapers.
A non-profit cooperative like ours no longer has a financial model. Very proud of holding the fort as long as possible with this medium.
As the team of the sun In Quebec, that Gallery Sherbrooke has chosen to mark the end of the paper's edition with a huge special issue marking the newspaper's history in the city, which has reported news for 114 years.
Serge Denis and the “La Tribune” team created the latest paper edition of the Sherbrooke daily.
Photo: Radio-Canada / Arianne Beland
Serge Denis, the paper's edition desk manager, worked on the development of this special issue for his last day on the job. After a 32-year career, he was ready to start anew, just like his newspaper.
No worries, just a little sad. Like when vinyls disappear. Let's see if paper makes a comeback like vinyl.
In 2019, good, The Novelist, The Daily, the sun, Gallery And The Voice of the East underwent significant restructuring and was rebranded as an entirely new organization, the National Independent Information Cooperative (CN2i).
Six dailies were threatened with closure after their owner Group Capital Media was placed under the protection of bankruptcy and insolvency law. The rescue plan made it possible to organize six newspapers by converting them into cooperatives.
With information from Magali Mason, Ariane Beland and Philippe L'Heureux
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