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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MONTREAL, Dec. 7, 2001 — Current turmoil in the newsroom at The Gazette in Montreal is part of a clash over freedom of the press that should concern Canadians from coast to coast, the Montreal Newspaper Guild declared today.
"With its new ‘national editorials,’ there exists the strong possibility that Winnipeg-based CanWest Global Communications Corp. will use its increased control over diverse media avenues to propagate its own viewpoints across Canada," said John Belcarz, president of the Montreal Guild.
"The situation highlights the question of diversity of voices," Belcarz declared. "Instead of providing 13 different perspectives reflecting each of the 13 communities and readerships they serve, CanWest Global wants to implant exactly the same words — its own corporate agenda — in The Gazette and in newspapers in Victoria, Vancouver (Sun only), Edmonton, Calgary, Regina, Saskatoon, Ottawa, Windsor, St. Catharines, Charlottetown and St. John’s, as well as in the National Post."
"It is time to bring some clarity to the situation," Belcarz said. The Guild represents 332 employees at The Gazette, including the 187 non-management staff in the newsroom.
On Wednesday morning, CanWest Global instructed The Gazette and 12 of Canada’s other large English-language daily newspapers to henceforth run identical prominent editorials written by CanWest Global. They were told to start with one a week, with an increase to three each week within one year.
Individual journalists at The Gazette had expressed their concerns and had asked that their names be withheld from their stories, as is their individual right under the Collective Agreement. This was being done as an individual protest against this newly imposed Canada-wide order.
However, late this afternoon, Gazette management disagreed with the Guild’s longstanding interpretation of this article and ordered that bylines be reinstated with Saturday’s publication.
"The question of ‘national editorials’ is not a classic union-management issue," Belcarz declared. "This cuts above the traditional union-management line. It’s a question of journalistic principles. It is fundamental to the heart of any newspaper.
"You have to ask yourself the question: What does this mean for the quality and variety of Canadian journalism? Can readers now reasonably expect a wide range of opinions and perspectives? The potential impact is chilling.
"Once the company decrees a new corporate opinion, and there could be up to 156 of them a year, we are concerned that it could become the official Editorial Page policy across Canada from which individual editorial boards could not deviate."
The Montreal Newspaper Guild, founded in 1960, is part of The Newspaper Guild of Canada, which in turn is affiliated with the Communication Workers of America (CWA) and the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ).
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This press release will be posted on our website at: www.montrealnewspaperguild.com