1. âA Huge Culture Changeâ
Newsrooms at La Presse and The Montreal Gazette
Reflect on the Shift to Digital-First
Lisa Lynch
Concordia University
2. Initial Observations (2009)
âą In Montreal, Francophone journalists were more
often publicly critical of online news
âą Some Franco Montreal papers â like Le Devoir
â had no interest in moving online at all; bare-
bones site, no archiving, etc.
âą Was this a case of âdigital divide?â
3. Context
âą Anglo and Franco papers both have long
histories in the city
âą Anglo and Franco workers represented by
different communications unions; Francophone
unions traditionally stronger
âą Anglo papers compete with US papers and
ânationalâ Canadian papers
4. Questions
âą Do online staff at The Gazette and La Presse
differ in how they describe the benefits and
disadvantages of online news?
âą Will these differences change over time as both
outlets refine their approach to online news?
5. La Presse
âą Founded in 1884; now the flagship paper
of the Gesca Group
âą Closure crisis in 2009; shift to Ipad-first in 2013
âą La Presse+ is a gamble to ensure the paperâs
survival, relying on a market that is not mature
6. âWe arrived in a paper world where people really
didn't know what the web wasâŠ.â
But a successful integration
within months, due to
efforts of editors and
careful logistical planning.
Interviews in 2010
8. âThere's a new generation in advertising
agencies [deciding] where they put their ads, and
it's definitely not in the print version. That's
exactly why we moved to
the tablet.â
Interviews in 2013
9. âIn 2010, I worked for the dailies. If there was a
fire, or anything, I made an article for the
website, and I'd have to make an article for the
next day's paper⊠Now, I have a lot of time, I
drink coffee and brainstorm.â
Interviews in 2013
10. âThey are all young, hipsters. People who do 5 a
7 (cocktail hours). The new geek IPad,
technology generation ... (who) think they're
cooler than everyone else.â
Interviews in 2013
11. The Montreal Gazette
âą Founded in 1778
âą Heyday in 1960s; still claims profitability but
connected to financially strapped chain
âą Since the 1960s has shifted from Southam to FP to
Hollinger to Canwest to Postmedia
12. âWe rush to get things up quickly and then
there are mistakes and inaccuracies. I do find that
the standards slip.â
A focus on the problems rather than successes
Interviews in 2010
13. âI don't feel it's clear where things are right now
or where they're going; it still feels like we're in
an in-between stage. It's (also) not clear exactly
what this revolution is supposed to be
aboutâŠseems to me more or less similar to
before.â
Interviews in 2010
15. âI feel like if we had a better system, that
could actually free us up to do moreâŠif
only the architecture were not so clunky.â
Interviews in 2013
16. âWeâre still mostly a print paper. We are
doing more things online but the most
dramatic things that have happened here
has been the reduction in staff across the
boardâ
Interviews in 2013
17. Results
âą At La Presse, transition didnât create an
unsustainable workload
âą Staff believed management had made an
investment in the future of La Presse as an
institution.
âą At The Gazette, push towards online resulted in
overwork.
âą Digital decisions reflected the priorities of the
chain and not The Gazette.
18. Limitations
âą La Presse going through unique period
of transition
âą Other Francophone papers (Quebecor
vs Le Devoir) not studied
âą Ipad team not interviewed
19. Conclusion
Rather than confirming
initial ideas of a âdigital
divide,â interviews
demonstrated the
complex interplay
between workplace
conditions and attitudes
towards online work.