Quebec government outlines $36M plan to help struggling news industry

TheQuebecgovernment released details Monday on how it plans to spend $36.4 million over five years to help the province's struggling print media.

Print news media will have until Jan. 15 to present the government with plans on how they will transition to digital platforms,QuebecCulture Minister Marie Montpetit said.

She said $19.2 million will be dedicated toward helping media with that transition, while another $5.2 million will be set aside for 156 communitynewspapers.

Montpetit said the remaining $12 million will be given to newspaper companies in order to help relieve them of part of the costs of recycling.

The goal of the aid package is to help print media cope with declining advertising revenue as well as competition from social media platforms that offer news free of charge.

The hand-out package had already been allocated in last March's budget.

Montpetit said the subsidies are only the first step and adds the federal government also has a role to play.

Quebecis not ruling out offering print news media tax credits on employee salaries, she added.

• 'Everybody else's news': The Moose Jaw Times-Herald closes its doors after 128 years

The funding announcementcomes after Torstar Corp. and Postmedia Network Inc. said last weekthey will cut nearly 300 jobs and closemore than 30 newspapers across the country, many of them in Ontario.

Postmedia CEO Paul Godfreysaid the company's closureswere prompted by declining ad revenues. He said the bulk of online advertising is being spent onGoogle and Facebook instead of local newspapers.