MONTREAL – A union representing workers at five TVA stations in Quebec has filed a complaint against the Quebecor-owned broadcaster for consolidating its newsrooms with those of the company’s newspapers, contrary to Canadian Broadcast Standards and CRTC policy.
In a statement on Tuesday, Le Conseil provincial du secteur des communications (CPSC) said the move violates the Commission’s Code of Journalistic Independence and compromises the diversity of news available to Quebecers.
"As we specified before the CRTC in December at the hearings for license renewal, our fears about a reduction in the diversity of voices are more vivid than ever”, said CPSC chair Richard Labelle in the statement (translated). “Indeed, in Trois-Rivières, the news director of CHEM-TV is also the publisher of two weeklies recently installed in the premises of the station. Near Sherbrooke, the CEO of CHLT-TV has been replaced by the single manager of the Journal and the Journal de Sherbrooke Magog who now heads the three media".
In a communique on its website dated December 9, 2011, Quebecor described the union’s concerns as “erroneous”, “unnecessarily alarmist”, and in compliance with the Journalistic Independence Code (translated).
“As is done across Canada to all media owned by Quebecor Media, the gathering of information in these markets is coordinated centrally to avoid duplication of assignments, reduce costs and increase coverage of news for the public. Moving into the same premises is part of this same dynamic”, reads the company’s statement.
The CPSC represents 7600 members in the communications sector, including employees at TVA stations in Montreal, Quebec City, Sherbrooke, Rimouski, and Trois-Rivières.
