The IFJ Expresses its Solidarity with Byline Strike at Daily 'Le Soleil' in Québec

The International Federation of Journalists today said it is supporting the byline strike by journalists of the Québec daily Le Soleil, which began last week.

This strike was prompted by a decision by the Gesca Group, which has owned Le Soleil since 2001, to publish articles and chronicles from the Montréal daily La Presse, also owned by Gesca, in Le Soleil. Journalistes at Le Soleil are also protesting the fact that they have been working without a contract for 23 months.

The process of media concentration takes place with no regard for quality, maintaining a plurality of views or protecting the rights of media staff, the IFJ said. Guarantees of editorial independence should be part of deals that concentrate ownership in order to protect the identity of individual media outlets, in this case Le Soleil, as well as the working conditions for all of the newspaper’s staff.

“The press is not just a commercial product”, said IFJ General Secretaru Aidan White. “A newspaper is linked with its public through a relation based on trust, and this is what the journalists of the Soleil intend to defend.”.

The IFJ supports the journalists at Le Soleil in their struggle for independance and for a collective agreement, which are the only guarantees for quality journalism at the newspaper.


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The IFJ represents over 500,000 journalists in more than 110 countries