The 24-page full-colour free newspaper being published by the locked out and striking Journal de Quebec employees in Quebec City is causing major waves.News reports say at least one columnist has pulled her column because of the Sun Media lockout of editorial and office employees and sympathy strike by press room workers. But it wasn't Sheila Copps, a Sun Media columnist from labour-intensive Hamilton, Ontario.
Meanwhile, CUPE members publishing the free Media Matin daily paper say they are considering doubling the press run from 40,000 to 80,000 and soliciting advertising.
A Quebecor spokesman says Quebecor is trying to find a way to halt publication of Media Matin, which hit the streets Monday, a day after the lockout and strike were announced.
The Journal is still publishing, with some of the editorial work being done at the Toronto Sun. (Comment from the Southern Ontario Newsmedia Guild on work being done at the Toronto Sun.)
Updates 1:
The Montreal Gazette reports Quebecor wants to shut down Media Matin and words in the dispute are getting heated.
The Gazette's Kevin Dougherty writes:
"Denis Bolduc, a Journal editor who is spokesperson for the three CUPE affiliates locked out or on strike, is publisher of MediaMatinQuebec. He said the membership is considering selling advertising to make the paper self-sufficient.
"Quebecor spokesman Luc Lavoie charged the union was just waiting for the lockout to spring its rival paper and Quebecor is looking for legal ways to shut it down. "We are seeking legal opinions," Lavoie said.
"Le Journal de Quebec has continued publishing, with mostly black and white pictures and few bylines.
"The newspaper also created a backup newsroom at the Toronto Sun, which also belongs to Quebecor, and shifted its classified advertising operation to Kanata in Ottawa."
The full story
Update 2:
Patricia Best raised an interesting point in her Nobody's Business column in the Globe and Mail on Thursday. She writes:
"The Péladeau family's Le Journal de Québec is embroiled in a nasty lockout/strike labour dispute this week. And that got us to wondering about some of the tabloid's "name" freelance columnists and what they were doing about the tricky situation.
We were thinking of ex-Liberal politician Sheila Copps, for example, who writes for the paper. Or Montreal-based columnist Richard Martineau, who was lured to the Journal to add lustre. Turns out, there was only one conscientious objector among them: Lise Payette, a former key cabinet minister in René Lévesque's government and considered an iconic Quebec feminist.
Chief spokesman Luc Lavoie tells us by e-mail from Quebecor HQ that "Lise Payette asked us not to publish her column in the Journal de Québec and we informed her that it was a contractual obligation to do so. She chose to cease her freelance work for us."
The rest, he says, are being published "as usual." Hmmm. We wonder what blue-collar Hamilton, Ms. Copps's hometown, will think of that. Or, whether Mr. Martineau risks earning the ire of his friends on the Plateau Mont-Royal, where hating the cost-cutting Quebecor is a local obsession."
Lise Payette gets our TSF vote for media backbone.
The Journal is still publishing, with some of the editorial work being done at the Toronto Sun. (Comment from the Southern Ontario Newsmedia Guild on work being done at the Toronto Sun.)
Updates 1:
The Montreal Gazette reports Quebecor wants to shut down Media Matin and words in the dispute are getting heated.
The Gazette's Kevin Dougherty writes:
"Denis Bolduc, a Journal editor who is spokesperson for the three CUPE affiliates locked out or on strike, is publisher of MediaMatinQuebec. He said the membership is considering selling advertising to make the paper self-sufficient.
"Quebecor spokesman Luc Lavoie charged the union was just waiting for the lockout to spring its rival paper and Quebecor is looking for legal ways to shut it down. "We are seeking legal opinions," Lavoie said.
"Le Journal de Quebec has continued publishing, with mostly black and white pictures and few bylines.
"The newspaper also created a backup newsroom at the Toronto Sun, which also belongs to Quebecor, and shifted its classified advertising operation to Kanata in Ottawa."
The full story
Update 2:
Patricia Best raised an interesting point in her Nobody's Business column in the Globe and Mail on Thursday. She writes:
"The Péladeau family's Le Journal de Québec is embroiled in a nasty lockout/strike labour dispute this week. And that got us to wondering about some of the tabloid's "name" freelance columnists and what they were doing about the tricky situation.
We were thinking of ex-Liberal politician Sheila Copps, for example, who writes for the paper. Or Montreal-based columnist Richard Martineau, who was lured to the Journal to add lustre. Turns out, there was only one conscientious objector among them: Lise Payette, a former key cabinet minister in René Lévesque's government and considered an iconic Quebec feminist.
Chief spokesman Luc Lavoie tells us by e-mail from Quebecor HQ that "Lise Payette asked us not to publish her column in the Journal de Québec and we informed her that it was a contractual obligation to do so. She chose to cease her freelance work for us."
The rest, he says, are being published "as usual." Hmmm. We wonder what blue-collar Hamilton, Ms. Copps's hometown, will think of that. Or, whether Mr. Martineau risks earning the ire of his friends on the Plateau Mont-Royal, where hating the cost-cutting Quebecor is a local obsession."
Lise Payette gets our TSF vote for media backbone.
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