A group consisting of politicians, businessmen and community organizations calling themselves Friends of the Montreal Gazette has launched a campaign they hope will stop any planned staff cuts at the newspaper.
“Yes, several of us came together to try to promote the Gazette and garner public support in opposing the proposed cuts by Postmedia,” said Montreal communications strategist Jonathan Goldbloom, co-founder of the group.
they launched a online petition Thursday, which had more than 1,400 signatures as of Sunday afternoon.
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Postmedia is looking to cut about 25 percent of its editorial staff, the equivalent of 10 full-time positions, from the paper, according to employees who spoke to Global News on condition of anonymity, which they say the company plans to cut at its other dailies. planning. across the country.
According to Unifor, which represents journalists nationwide, Postmedia announced that 11 percent of its staff would be laid off from member papers.
Friends of the Montreal Gazette say this is unfair because the publication is the only English-language daily newspaper in Quebec.
“The Anglophone community is already in crisis and we need journalists out there,” said Michel Brownstein, mayor of the Montreal suburb of Cote Saint-Luc.
He and other supporters of the paper argue that such drastic staff reductions would hinder the paper from fulfilling an important function, and wonder whether any planned cuts could be made in other areas.
Eva Ludwig, who signed the petition and is president of the English rights lobby group, Quebec Community Groups Network, argued, “Because the Gazette provides perspective for the English-speaking community and all Quebecers.”
“I’ve seen many francophone readers petition.”
Any upcoming staff cuts would be the latest in a series taking place for years now, and group members say the petition is only the first step in a campaign to protect the paper from even more job losses.
They want to lobby the Quebec National Assembly to pass a motion or statement in support of the paper, as well as draft an open letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to intervene.
Neither Postmedia nor the Montreal Gazette responded to a request for a statement by Global News by deadline.