By Colin McGregor
“The survival of Quebec community media depends on immediate and concrete measures.”
Maxime Caouette doesn’t mince words when describing the crisis state of provincial government ad buys when it comes to community written media.
“It’s catastrophic – there is a terrible division of media placements when it comes to the community-based written press” says Caouette, an account manager for CPS Média, an association specializing in advertising and sponsorship.
He’s talking about ad buys by Quebec government departments. The percentage of ad placements by these departments for the community media category in 2022-23 reveals a bad situation: only 4% of media buys were in the community sector. And out of those, only 4% went to published media, in comparison with 26% for television and 70% for community radio.
Caouette suggests two theories for why this is happening. First of all, for radio ads, all a department has to do is send a promotional text to the station, and the station will carry out all the production itself to get the ad on the air. An ad placed in a community newspaper can engender extra costs of 30% to 40% to create the ad.
Secondly, it’s much faster to advertise by radio. Delays between the conception of an ad and its publication and distribution can be long. If a minister sends a text to a radio station, it can be heard over the airways almost immediately.
“It’s still possible to think of a Quebec where written media are considered major players in terms of local and regional information. To do this, we have to absolutely count on major ad purchases by the government of Quebec,” argues Yvan Noé Girouard, director general of AMECQ, the Quebec community written media association.
In 1995, Quebec Premier Jacques Parizeau adopted a decree mandating that departments and crown corporations invest 4% of their ad budgets in community media. Caouette would like to see a minimum of 4% of ad budgets go to each sector of community media. The same amount would be spent on radio, TV and written media. This 4% target was never achieved.
Contrary to a radio ad which disappears as soon as it is broadcast, written media is tangible and lasting. Print media is passed around. Print ads can lead readers to go to websites for more information.
Moreover, print media let the reader spend more time considering the ad, or offer the possibility of rereading it. A well-drawn up print ad can leave a lasting impression. A print newspaper or magazine gets passed around. People can cut out an ad and send it to a friend. A newspaper in a dentist’s waiting room or a barbershop can be read by dozens of people.
It’s important that Quebec City bureaucrats are aware of this!
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