The Media Crisis (Part 2)

Veteran journalist and filmmaker Pierre Saint-Yves interviews Amélie St-Pierre, who spent a decade working as a community newspaper editor for Icimédias in the Mauricie and Nicolet-Bécancour areas.

Pierre: Does that provide a reason to be a little optimistic? What I mean is that the public is somewhat attached to print, even if the people concerned may be from the older generation. It’s a reality…

Amélie: Yes.

Pierre: One that needs to be recognized.

Amélie: Yes, for sure, there’s a connection to print. People still like the print edition. Icimédias is actually the last publisher in the region to still put out print editions. It definitely appeals to an aging demographic and, with time, that segment of the readership is going to disappear. At very least, it’s definitely going to get smaller. On the other hand, with respect to families and all that, you know, a newspaper… Well, I’m going to talk in terms of community newspapers. They’re free newspapers where you can find out what’s going on this weekend, what’s going on locally. We really dig deep, and we have reporters all over the Mauricie. You don’t see that much anymore. So, we dig deeper into different activities, different events. We also cater to different groups. Of course, young families can find out… discover what’s on the go locally. But we also provide newcomers to the region with a way of learning more about their new home. You can find the same information online, but print is a lot more popular for that sort of thing.

Pierre: You sound like you’re still working in the media industry.

Amélie: That’s what I warned you about before the interview, that I might…

Pierre: It’s a good thing.