Once a month I have an appointment with the readers of the Montreal Gazette. I’ve been a columnist there since 2020. This newspaper, which is celebrating its 245th anniversary this year and is the oldest daily newspaper in Canada, has had a difficult time in recent weeks. First there was the announcement of new layoffs, then last Friday the names of the people who would be leaving the newspaper were announced. Artisans, all deserving of the title they are too humble for: that of legend.
Posted at 9:00 am
You always have to worry when an editorial office is downsized. And since the Montreal Gazette was announced, several elected officials and readers have shared their collective fear that one day this newspaper will disappear and, for the moment, find it has even fewer resources to cover local news in particular. Local news is an important social fabric in all markets. This is no less the case when written in English in a French-speaking province. On the other hand.
A reduction in staff also means fewer resources to create a paper version. It may be my romantic side, but paper is still an important tool for me. In newspaper or magazine format, I still subscribe to it. Of course, not being a dinosaur, I also recognize the importance of the digital. This is also proven by my many subscriptions. Today, the success of a newspaper is measured by the number of its digital subscribers. It is the heart of your sales. And that applies everywhere. For example, the French newspaper Le Monde, which is doing well, has 500,000 subscribers. More than 80% of it is in digital form.
My favorite case study
It’s easy to forget, but 10 years ago the Washington Post was on the brink of financial collapse. Its iconic status and smash hits of yesteryear couldn’t save the paper from questionable management at the dawn of a new consumer reality. In 2013, WaPo hired Marty Baron as editor in hopes he could revitalize the newspaper. It was healthy to think that Baron was prepared, he who had found success as editor of the Miami Herald and then the Boston Globe. But Marty Baron’s experience and skill alone isn’t the lifeline that saved the Washington Post. A few months after Baron took office, Jeff Bezos bought the newspaper. The Amazon founder and space cowboy then brought in a new vision and pumped in $250 million. Before the arrival of Marty Baron and Jeff Bezos, the Washington Post had 42,000 digital subscriptions. Today, with 2.7 million, it is just behind the Wall Street Journal and behind the New York Times, which is number one worldwide with 8.4 million online subscribers.
The Los Angeles Times also experienced difficult times until it was bought by billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong in 2018. Soon-Shiong splashed $100 million in the paper.
Perhaps Montreal resident Mitch Garber has these examples in mind as he recently made beacon calls to the Postmedia Group, owner of the Montreal Gazette and more than 130 other media titles, including the National Post and the Vancouver Sun. Postmedia did not respond to Mitch Garber’s suggestion. But last week, the group set up an advisory committee made up of 11 Montreal community and business leaders to propose bailout strategies.
The formula billionaire + newspaper can work. The Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times are just two examples. It is a marriage that can succeed above all if the check booker does not intervene editorially.
Another requirement for success is to remember that news is a public service and doesn’t have to be profitable, even if it could be. In an interview more than 20 years ago, the late Canadian journalist Peter Jennings recalled that the hardest thing that ever happened to television news was when they started making money.
The advantage of the billionaire newspaper owner is that he or she has other profitable holdings. In the case of Jeff Bezos, these include Amazon, Blue Origin and perhaps soon the Commanders, the Washington football team. For Patrick Soon-Shiong, a surgeon, it’s pharmaceuticals and part of the Lakers, the Los Angeles basketball team.
They can therefore be satisfied with winnings in their respective newspapers for the time being, without necessarily demanding winnings.
There is a civic responsibility to protect local media and a free press. The Bezos and Soon-Shiong of this world seem to understand that, and if buying newspapers is also hunting trophies for them, does it really matter?
It has often been said, with good reason, that a country can be judged by how it treats its elders. I think we can also judge him by his dealings with his journalists and his press. There are many examples of the dangers of a restricted press, and we don’t have to look far to see them. What luck, what a privilege that we have access to free media. You shouldn’t lose any. Democracy dies in the dark. It’s true, and that’s the motto of the Washington Post. Let’s keep more lights on (and long live the Montreal Gazette).