Commentary on the Commission for the future of news media

 

Montreal, December 1, 2020 – Following the release of the Commission on the Future of News Media’s report at the National Assembly of Quebec, the Association of Creative Communication Agencies (A2C) and the Council of Quebec Media Directors (CDMQ) welcomed the recommendations to support the Quebec media ecosystem. However, they would have liked for the Commission to go further with specific measures.

 

The report recommends, namely, the adoption of a minimum objective for the Quebec government’s advertising investments in local media and an investment limit in the GAFA, as well as evaluating the possibility of reviewing the tax impact of advertising expenses incurred by private companies based on the type of investment. The A2C and the CDMQ consider these initiatives to be a necessary helping hand and would like the tax review for private advertising investments to be reviewed rapidly in order to further encourage advertisers to consider local media in their media plan.

 

“We salute the Commission’s awareness of the media crisis. This is a step in the right direction. However, we would have liked to see concrete actions that go beyond the recommendations, since there is an urgent need to act,” declared Dominique Villeneuve, President and CEO of the A2C. “Incentives must be created for businesses that buy local media in order to stimulate investment and thus contribute to the objective of the Mouvement média d’ici, which is to double the share of digital budgets going to local media in the next three years. This measure would inject more than $200 million annually in local media,” she added.

 

“We will soon be launching a Guide for responsible media and a local media index, adding tools for media professionals and advertisers to further encourage them to join the Mouvement média d’ici. The index can be integrated into all advertisers’ media plans to make them aware of the percentage invested in local media and encourage them to increase this number while ensuring the performance of their investment,” said Véronik L’Heureux, President of the CDMQ and Senior Vice-President, General Manager of Publicis Media. “The tax review to encourage private advertisers to invest more in local media would be a positive and additional incentive to achieve the desired objectives,” she adds.

 

As part of the Mouvement média d’ici, the A2C and the CDMQ launched the Manifesto for responsible media practices. In addition, a Guide for responsible media will be published shortly to support all media professionals and a local media index (an evaluation measure) will also be created to track the progress of digital investments in local media to ensure that the Movement’s goal is being met.

 

 

The A2C is the voice of more than 70 agencies in Quebec of different sizes, configurations, and specialties, but all with one thing in common: a commitment to creative communications. Its members generate more than 80% of the industry’s revenues in Quebec and contribute to the success of companies here and abroad. Our mission is reflected in various initiatives that aim to guide our member agencies when facing issues of an economic, technological, or social nature and in this way, we aim to ensure vitality and excellence within the entire industry. For more information, go to www.a2c.quebec.