TVA

Journal de Montréal 

Journal de Québec

24 heures

Canoe

Videotron

O Parti Quebecois é um partido soberanista que se opõe fortemente ao governo Liberal do Canadá e do Québec. Por isso, encontramos nestes jornais intensas e insistentes crônicas e notícias que críticam o governo Liberal e suas ações, seja o multiculturalismo ou as políticas de imigração, a forma como conduz a economia e até a postura do primeiro-ministro. Apesar de se opor ao governo atual, a Quebecor se beneficia de subsídios do governo federal de cerca de 14,3 milhões por ano.

Le Soleil

Le Droit

Le Nouvelliste

Le Quotidien

La Tribune

La Voix de l'Est

Martin Cauchon é o único acionista do Groupe Capitales Médias, homem político que ocupou vários cargos no Partido Liberal do Canadá e do Québec, inclusive como Secretário de Estado (Agência de Desenvolvimento Econômico do Canadá para as Regiões do Quebec), Ministro da Receita Nacional e Ministro da Justiça, Procurador Geral do Canadá e Ministro responsável pelo Quebec. Cauchon é mais conhecido por ter pilotado o projeto de lei que permite o casamento entre cônjuges do mesmo sexo. Além disso, para destacar seus esforços, ele recebeu em 2004 o Equality Forum, o mais prestigioso prêmio, o International Role Model Award.

Em 2017, a empresa, enfrentando dificuldades econômicas, recebe um empréstimo de $ 10 milhões do governo do Quebec. 

Radio-Canada/CBC is a government-owned major television, radio and internet media company with channels in English and French and is the oldest broadcaster in Canada.

Impartiality accusations

In the private media, Radio-Canada/CBC is sometimes accused of broadcasting an elitist and leftist message, some have even described it as a "Montreal cultural mafia." In intellectual circles and in the left-wing media, some have accused Radio-Canada/CBC of propaganda for the political ends of the ruling party in Ottawa. In previous decades, Radio-Canada/CBC was said to have favoured the federalist camp and the Liberal Party of Canada.

Radio-Canada/CBC is sometimes accused of unfair market advantages, as it competes with private companies for advertising while receiving government funding. Some claim that journalism favors the political party that would allocate more money to the CBC.

Radio-Canada/CBC has survived several cuts and lock-outs throughout its history.

"The current state of the media in Quebec, particularly French-language print media, is disastrous. Almost 97% of the total circulation is occupied by owners who defend neoliberal ideology in their newspapers and marginalize opposing points of view. Information does not circulate freely , which prevents people from making informed choices about crucial issues." Journalist and author of a dozen books, Jacques Keable critically analyzes the Quebec press, which he considers enslaved to the financial interests and economic ideology of its powerful owners. His most recent book, "Québec-Presse : un journal libre et engagé", reminds us that things weren't always like this.

"The extraordinary adventure of Quebec-Presse lasted 5 unforgettable years, from 1969 to 1974. The newspaper was a common cause among the popular classes and unions to combat the excesses of capitalism and fight for Quebec's independence," he said.

He explains that, at the time, the CSN, the FTQ and the CEQ (the ancestor of the CSQ) financed this newspaper without exerting any control over its content, the workers' best interests trumping their organizational interests. Journalists were completely independent within the tags established in the newspaper's declaration of principles. They could therefore criticize everything, including the trade union centers.

This journalistic freedom is far from being granted today to editorial writers and commentators, whose observations must not be hostile to the companies they work for or contrary to the ideological orientation of their owners, as they are men involved in the political world.

Today's journalists work under the rule of empires. Both Quebecor and Groupe Capitalesmédias Martin Cauchon defend exactly the same neoliberal values, even if they support different parties. Sometimes there can be clear friction between these two companies or in the articles they publish that are clearly partisan. Journalists are therefore under the rule of empires that use their publications and other platforms to discreetly spread their neoliberal, pro-capitalist propaganda and the supposed benefits of economic liberalism, globalization and the social status quo. A battle of ideas and ideals that is not over.

So don't be surprised if unions and social groups, who demand more equality and better wealth sharing, work so hard to get "good press." Their demands go against the ideological interests of the press empires. On the other hand, right-wing ideas reign supreme and are presented as the "truth", which contributes to the emergence of the right-wing current in the population", says the former journalist.

In this context, has the left definitively lost the battle of information and public opinion?

"There are some interesting initiatives on the web now, like the website 'Presse-toi à gauche!' and 'le journal Ricochet'. This is exactly in the spirit of what we were doing, and nothing says that the social environment doesn't lend itself to birth again of a real left-wing paper newspaper.

Pier Karl Peladeau and Martin Cauchon have a direct influence on their journalists and this cannot be denied.

We noticed the appearance of new columnists who clearly show positions to the right, either because they advocate a certain neoliberalism and especially anti-unionism, or because they have a more or less conservative position in terms of values. For example, Mario Dumont, former head of the Action démocratique du Québec party, became a presenter on political affairs programs on TVA, channel "V" and is a columnist for Jornal de Montréal. Quebecor employs other great right-wing columnists such as Éric Duhaime, co-founder of the Liberté Québec Network, a libertarian group, on the Dumont 360 program, and is also a columnist for CHOI and the Journal de Montréal. Other clearly right-wing columnists Nathalie Elgrably-Lévy, Joseph Facal, Mathieu Bock-Côté and Richard Martineau create a certain right-wing sensationalism in today's Quebec media. In addition, entertainers on different Quebec radio stations could be associated with the right. So the right is becoming increasingly present in the media offering.

Against the spread of fake news that mainly seduces internet users, Quebec has launched a training program led by the Quebec Federation of Professional Journalists called "30 seconds avant d'y croire" that serves as an intermediary between high school teachers and volunteer journalists. This is a one-hour training to provide students with tools and make them think about the media they frequently access.

A fake image on Instagram, an influencer who spreads lies, fake news on Facebook... We see it all, every day! Hence the importance of arming new generations of tools to better discern the true from the false. It's just that emotion is often a bad advisor in this matter. When something confirms our opinion, that's when we put our critical sense aside. We all have this cognitive bias, we tend to believe and not pay attention.

The program, supported by a small donation from the Ministry of Education, seeks to instill new habits in this generation so that they are more responsible vis-à-vis the information that circulates on social networks. "30 secondes avant d'y croire" is led by Line Pagé, professor of journalism at the University of Montreal and former director of information at ICI Première, Eve Beaudin and Jeff Yates, journalists at Fact Check.

De fato, sabemos que os meios de comunicação contribuem para estabelecer a agenda política, priorizando os eventos atuais e concentrando-se em certas questões, em vez de outras. Eles também operam um "enquadramento" de informações que define o contexto para os eventos relatados, destacando certas causas ou responsabilidades dos atores políticos. 

Apesar de ler com frequência reportagem de todos esses jornais, sempre passo um filtro e busco ver a intenção por trás da informação. Na minha opinião, o melhor jornal daqui é o "Le Devoir", autônomo: pertence à Imprimerie Populaire ltée e o "La Presse" que neste ano se tornou jornal uma organização sem fins lucrativos aberta à filantropia e subvenções governamentais. 

Podemos concluir que a imprensa é quase sempre o reflexo daqueles que a produzem. Meus artigos são o reflexo do que eu quero exprimir, cabe a quem lê, interpreta-los e usar as informações recebidas da forma que melhor lhe convem. Vale à pena validar as informações em diferentes fontes e ler as referências.