Examples of “francophobia” on social media collected and published in a report by the SSJB.
I really don’t want to write this. I hate wading into language issues, because I know nobody’s mind is ever changed in those debates. And I hate giving attention to something so unworthy of it yet so desperate to get it.
But a manifesto published by a group assembled by the Société Saint-Jean-Baptiste that condemns “francophobia” by, among other things, anglophone media in Canada, is way off the mark, and predictable sarcastic responses by people like Don Macpherson will do little to enlighten anyone.
The thing is, there is Quebec-bashing out there, and attention does need to be paid to it. But a factually-incorrect manifesto that has the focus and self-criticism of a blog post comment thread will just lead the other solitude to conclude that the problem does not exist.
So let’s delve into the document that purports to give an update on “recent” examples of francophobia (Mordecai Richler is mentioned three times even though he’s been dead for 12 years).
When asked about the Journal de Montréal lockout, Péladeau’s minions at Quebecor gave the usual response about how the unions don’t understand the seriousness of the financial situation the company is under thanks to the various economic crises it faces (which is forcing it to consider shutting down newspapers).
The Fédération professionnelle des journalistes du Québec magazine Le Trente explores the Journal lockout in its April issue, with an article by Hugo Joncas that talks a bit about the months leading up to the Jan. 24 lockout. It’s mostly union accusations, since the Journal and Quebecor aren’t talking, but it’s clear that Quebecor was planning for a lockout for a long time. Among the things that happened, the Journal:
Hired more managers, ensuring most of them were journalists
Started up new columns by freelancers who could still write in the event of a lockout
Created Agence QMI, a wire service the allows Quebecor-owned media outlets to share stories
Setup a system so page layout could be outsourced to another company under Quebecor control (it’s believed this is on the floor above the Toronto Sun newsroom)
Claudette Carnonneau, the head of CSN who is suing the Journal de Montréal over a misquote related to the Caisse de dépôt, isn’t dropping her case. She’s seeking $250,000 in compensation from the newspaper.
Big advertisers fleeing
The Institut de coopération pour l’éducation des adultes pulled a lucrative ad contract from the Journal because of the conflict (as it did last year for the Journal de Québec) and spent more money having their speecial section printed as part of La Presse.
Neither of these are surprising (both had previously expressed support for locked-out workers), but it highlights some of the advertising pain the Journal is facing. The question is whether the money they save from salaries offsets the loss of ads.
A study shows that – surprise, surprise – the size of the Journal has plummeted since December, leaving the paper less than three quarters of what it was, even counting the usual seasonal variations after the Christmas shopping season.
Is Rue Frontenac sexist? No, argues J.F. Codère in the comments – their columnists are all male because the Journal’s columnists were all male, because there are few femals journalists with columnist-level experience.
It’s springtime. The snow has all melted away, we’re about to get our first 20+ degree days, the Habs are out of the playoffs and the Société Saint-Jean Baptiste has found something to complain about in the Gazette.
I believe they’re also calling for the immediate resignation of editor-in-chief James Moir Ferres.
The Gazette hasn’t commented about the demand yet because, as everyone knows, nobody there speaks French. Staff at the paper are desperately seeking a fourth-grader to translate the release into angloese. (UPDATE: Editor-in-chief Andrew Phillips says the SSJB “should get a life“)
Incidentally, to the people at the SSJB, “entièrement décimé” doesn’t make sense. Perhaps you should go to your dictionary and look up what “décimer” means.
