24 December 2001
Alert
FPJQ relaunches protest website for journalists at Montreal daily newspaper
(FPJQ/IFEX) - The following is a 21 December 2001 FPJQ press release:
FPJQ relaunches protest website for journalists at the Montreal daily newspaper, The Gazette
The Professional Federation of Quebec Journalists (FPJQ) has relaunched a website that journalists at the Montreal daily newspaper, The Gazette, dismantled after receiving threats from their employer.
The address of the website is www.fpjq.org/canwest
The original website was set up by 70 Gazette journalists to protest the decision made by their employer, CanWest Global Communications Inc., to impose "national editorials" on all of its major metropolitan newspapers. That decision allows the company to set editorial-page policy at head office.
The website was maintained because The Gazette and all other Southam Inc. newspapers imposed a news blackout on the controversy.
It was shut down after Gazette editor-in-chief Peter Stockland and Managing Editor Raymond Brassard issued a memo threatening to dismiss employees who persisted in publicly criticizing the company.
The FPJQ's new website supports the Gazette reporters' protest and right to free speech. It will be regularly updated with links to news reports, commentary and letters of support.
Source:
Fédération professionnelle des journalistes du Québec
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