As journalism finds itself in a process of accelerated transformations, Internet seems to be a place where both the reproduction of traditional models and a wide array of journalistic and business models experimentations happen at the same time. Here, at the intersection of changes in news models, job definitions and in career trajectories, the figure of the “entrepreneurial journalist” (BRIGGS, 2011) resurfaced and gradually gained in popularity over the last years in discourses celebrating innovation, flexibility and risk-taking. In this context, how can the figures of the journalist and the entrepreneur co-exist whereas commercial and journalistic activities have been historically strongly separated? How can business development be compatible with independent and objective news gathering when it is done by the same person? How do the notions of independent news writing and respect for the public interest – all strong elements of the journalistic ethics discourses – are negotiated by these actors? In this paper, we wish to explore these issues, first by contextualizing the rise of entrepreneurial journalism before presenting findings of an exploratory study about the ways the links between entrepreneurial and journalistic imperatives have been thought and presented in the existing journalistic literature in France and United States of America.
Different merger and acquisition strategies by Quebecor Media—both vertical and horizontal integration in the news sector, followed in the 90s by a diversification of the group’s media ownership in the Web and television sectors—have led to the implementation of convergence policies for content and journalistic labour in and between each of the chains owned by the conglomerate in Quebec and the rest of Canada, with at the heart of this strategy the Web portal Canoe. These strategies are at their most advanced in the news chain Sun Corporation where in 2009 Quebecor created its own newswire (QMI) and rationalized its coverage of events by journalists.RÉSUMÉ Les stratégies de fusion et d’acquisition du groupe Quebecor Média—intégration verticale, horizontale et, depuis le milieu des années 1990, propriété croisée de canaux de diffusion avec l’acquisition du groupe Vidéotron au Québec-—se sont traduites par la mise en place de stratégies de convergence des contenus et de la main-d’oeuvre journalistique au sein de chacune des filières de l’information et entre les diverses plateformes de diffusion que contrôle le groupe, avec comme point nodal le portail Web Canoë. C’est dans le secteur de la presse écrite que ces stratégies sont les plus abouties avec la création d’une agence de presse interne en janvier 2009 et l’implantation d’un programme de rationalisation de la couverture d’événements par les journalistes.
No contexto de uma dinâmica de mudança do jornalismo, a web se manifesta, simultaneamente, como um lugar de reprodução e de experimentação de diferentes formas de fazer e de conceber o jornalismo. No cruzamento das mudanças de status, de atribuições e de trajetórias de carreiras, a face do jornalismo empreendedor (“entrepreneurial journalism”; BRIGGS, 2011) voltou à tona progressivamente e ganhou popularidade ao longo da última década, nos discursos que celebram a inovação, a flexibilidade e o prazer de correr riscos. Como as figuras do jornalista e do empreendedor podem conviver uma vez que as atividades comerciais e as jornalísticas eram historicamente dissociadas? Como são articulados, de um lado, o imperativo de busca de financiamento, e de outro, o de prática de coleta e de difusão da informação? Como as noções de independência, de liberdade de expressão e de respeito ao interesse público – princípios tão fortes da moral jornalística – são apropriadas por esses agentes? Nosso artigo tem como objetivo situar o jornalismo empreendedor em uma perspectiva histórica e, a seguir, apresentar um estudo exploratório de como os imperativos empresariais e jornalísticos foram conciliados e tratados na literatura profissional francófona e anglófona nos últimos anos.
Cette communication vise à évaluer les impacts de l'institutionnalisation de la convergence chez Quebecor Média sur le travail au quotidien des journalistes. En nous appuyant principalement sur une série d’entretiens semi-dirigés avec des journalistes du groupe, nous examinons (1) les changements antérieurs à l’institutionnalisation du travail multi-plate-forme (2) les principaux changements apportés à l’organisation de la production, puis (3) l’évaluation par les journalistes de ces changements sur la qualité de leur travail.
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