Montreal's La Presse newspaper threatens to cease publishing Dec. 1

By Andy Blatchford And Sylvain Larocque, The Canadian Press

MONTREAL - It could be a dark 125th anniversary for North America's biggest French-language broadsheet newspaper.

Montreal's La Presse paper, which is considered among the best in Canada for its in-depth and frequent coverage of international and national issues, is threatening to cease operations on Dec. 1. Staff were informed Thursday that management and the union have three months to reach an agreement on cutting costs.

Otherwise, the paper warned, La Presse's print edition and its online version would both be shut down.

Publisher Guy Crevier told employees in an email that La Presse is facing huge challenges from its high-cost structure and collapsing advertising revenues.

"Under its current business model, it has no chance for survival," Crevier wrote in the email, a copy of which was obtained by The Canadian Press.

"As of Dec. 1, La Presse will no longer be able to pursue its activities without significant changes to its costs. If there's no settlement by that date, the publication of La Presse will be suspended, on paper and on (the online edition) Cyberpresse. . .

"Time's passing, the losses are piling up."

Crevier said La Presse also plans to open the books for the union in hope of reaching a resolution.

Through an independent analyst, the newspaper has agreed to share its financial records for the period of Jan. 1 to Aug. 31, 2009.

Unionized workers at the newspaper have been without a contract since Dec. 31, 2008.

A spokeswoman for La Presse's parent company, Gesca Ltee., said Thursday that staffers must contribute to the cutbacks.

She expressed optimism that a deal can be reached - which raises the question of whether the publicly delivered threat was more a harbinger of impending doom or a negotiating ploy.

The president of the union representing editorial employees said she was expecting an announcement from the company.

But it was the ultimatum that surprised her.

"It's the way they did it that we deplore," union head Helene De Guise told reporters outside La Presse's offices in Old Montreal.

The company is asking staff for several concessions, including a move to a five-day work week (35 hours) from its existing four-day week (32 hours), all while taking a six-per-cent pay cut.

La Presse also wants to eliminate 100 jobs.

Asked if she thinks the company and the union can work out deal before the December deadline, De Guise said: "We hope to reach an agreement."

La Presse is, by far, the biggest French broadsheet on the continent.

The publication, founded in 1884, is the flagship newspaper of Gesca Ltee, a wholly owned division of Power Corp. (TSX: POW.TO).

On international news, it expends resources to produce in-depth reports from all over the world.

For example, it has sent reporters around the globe to compare transit systems to Montreal's. After last year's worldwide riots over food prices, the paper sent reporters to different spots to explore hunger.

Closer to home, the award-winning paper covers Canadian politics extensively and frequently scoops its competition on local and provincial stories.

Like other media, and especially newspapers, it has been pounded this year by plummeting ad revenues and the global recession.

In a drive to cut costs, La Presse has already stopped publishing its Sunday edition earlier this summer. The last Sunday edition was published June 28.

At the time, Crevier said he hoped to reduce the newspaper's costs by $26 million, including $13 million in concessions annually from unions.

Last month, it reduced the width of its paper by one inch to save money on paper.

Mike Gasher, who heads the journalism department at Concordia University in Montreal, said the company's threats of closure sound like a heavy-handed approach to negotiations.

But it still raises concerns, he added. He said losing La Presse would have a huge impact on journalism in Montreal and Canada.

"It's certainly the leading newspaper in the city journalistically, and perhaps the leading newspaper in the country," Gasher said.

"They do fabulous journalism and they've invested in journalism."

The newspaper isn't the only Canadian publication that has been reeling.

La Presse's main competitor, Le Journal de Montreal - the top French-language tabloid in Canada - locked out its employees eight months ago.

The National Post, which belongs to CanWest Global Communications Corp. (TSX: CGS-A.TO), cancelled its Monday edition for nine weeks, beginning on June 29.

The Halifax Daily News shut down its operations last year.

Montreal-based Transcontinental (TSX: TCL-A.TO), which owned the Daily News, replaced the paper with another tabloid - a free daily called Metro. The closure ended a 30-year battle between the Daily News and the Halifax Chronicle-Herald.

In St. John's, the Telegram, another newspaper owned by Transcontinental, stopped printing its Sunday edition last September.

About 250 staffers at the daily tabloid, owned by Quebecor Inc. (TSX:QBR.A, TSX:QBR.B), have been without a contract since Dec. 31.

The times have been even more brutal for U.S. papers: one major U.S. newspaper has already folded this year and several others are seeking bankruptcy protection.