La Presse, founded in 1884, is a large-circulation French-language daily newspaper published in Montreal, Quebec. It is owned today by Groupe Gesca, a subsidiary of Power Corporation of Canada.
| Type | Daily newspaper |
|---|---|
| Format | Broadsheet |
| Owner(s) | Power Corporation of Canada |
| Editor | Philippe Cantin |
| Founded | 1884 |
| Political alignment | Federalism |
| Headquarters | 7 rue St-Jacques, Montreal |
| Website | [1] |
Description
La Presse is a broadsheet newspaper, aimed at a middle-class readership. Its main competitor is the tabloid Le Journal de Montreal, which aims at more popular audience. La Presse is comprised of several sections, dealing individually with arts, sports, and other thematic sections.
History
The paper was founded on October 20th 1884 by William-Edmond Blumhart. Trefflé Berthiaume took over in 1889. The fledgling newspaper's circulation would soon pass that of its main competitor of the time, La Patrie
In April of 1901, the paper organised a cruise to Québec City (Croisière de La Presse). It also organised a charity to give Christmas gifts to poor children (L'Oeuvre des étrennes aux enfants pauvres).
A front-page illustration on the December 3rd, 1904 issue celebrated the 50th anniversary of the proclamation of the dogma of Immaculate Conception. The practice of the time was to have an illustration on the front page, rather than a photograph.
The style and presentation of the newspaper have changed immensely during the course of the 20th century. It underwent a complete graphic remodeling in 1986, and again in 2003.
Since 1984, La Presse has every year honoured one "Person of the year". In the past, it has honoured Julie Payette, Daniel Langlois and Gaétan Boucher. That same year, it published a commemorative book in order to celebrate its 100th anniversary. A similar book was published by Éditions La Presse to recap the major events of the 20th century.
In 2001, with the arrival of new editor Guy Crevier, the newspaper began a radical remodeling. The graphic design was modernized, new sections were created, international coverage was greatly increased, and hired many new young, up-and-coming journalists. These changes ahd a significant positive impact on quality and circulation, especially amount young adult readers.
Editorial Line
La Presse has been consistently opposed to Quebec sovereignty over the past 25 years (though individual columnists may sometimes express sympathy). The newspaper endorsed the federalist option in both the1980 Quebec referendum and the 1995 Quebec referendum which were held on the National Question..
Otherwise, the editorial bent is somewhat leftist and liberal, especially on social issues, as is usual in Quebec. It recently supported same-sex marriage legislation in Canada and the student strike, but was opposed to the War in Iraq. It leans somewhat more towards right-of-centre on fiscal issues. In January of 2006, the paper endorsed the Conservative Party in the 2006 election. This was primarily out of a reasoning that the Canadian government is in need of a necessary change after more than 12 years of Liberal rule.
In April of 2006 La Presse endorsed Bob Rae for leader of the Liberal Party of Canada to replace Paul Martin. The endorsement came quite early. Gerard Kennedy and Ken Dryden had yet to even officially declare their candidacies. Some believe Bob's brother John Rae, who sits on the board of directors of Power Corporation of Canada, which owns La Presse, may have exerted some influence in this decision. However, Rae had been popular among the chattering classes in Quebec long before he became a candidate for the leadership.
André Pratte is currently the chief editorialist. Regular columnists include Vincent Marissal, Alain Dubuc, Pierre Foglia and Lysianne Gagnon. Claude Picher and Sophie Cousineau write regular columns on economic issues.
See also
External link
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