Alarmed at the purchase of six radio stations by a Qub0065c media giant, CUPE has protested the increasing corporate concentration of media ownership in the province.
“If nothing is done, all information in Qub0065c will soon be controlled by two or three large corporations, giving them a disproportionate influence on public opinion,” says Jacqueline Turgeon, chair of CUPE’s provincial council of communications workers (CPSC).
CUPE released a statement after Groupe TVA and Radio Nord Communications announced that they would be purchasing the six stations of Radiomd0069a and CFOM-FM in Qub0065c City. This acquisition, worth over $12 million, must now be approved by the CRTC.
CUPE represents most of the workers at the affected stations, as well as 7,000 journalists and other workers with other Qub0065c media corporations including Quebecor Media, owners of TVA and Videotron, now in its fifth month of a bitter strike.
In addition to its concerns about labour relations, the union is concerned the same news will be offered through different outlets – radio, television, print and the internet – and funding for regional programming will be cut.
“The threat to the diversity of information, different points of view and the independence of newsrooms and journalists is evident,” says Turgeon.