Le Journal de Montréal and TVA bow to the Press Council
The Superior Court ruled against the Journal de Montréal and the TVA Group, in a dispute between the latter and the Quebec Press Council. This decision, rendered Friday by Judge Bernard Jolin, comes to close a legal battle that has been going on for more than ten years.
The media group was notably seeking damages and trying to escape the jurisdiction of the Press Council. A sum of more than $400,000, in compensation for two complaints formulated by the Press Council against the Journal de Montréal and its journalists, was requested.
The group believed that these two unfavorable decisions had damaged its reputation and hindered its freedom not to join the Press Council.
The TVA Group had ceased to be a member of the Press Council in 2008 due to “a disagreement with the decisions and orientations of the Press Council”, reports the judgment of the Superior Court.
“The Council did not commit a fault in that it did not deviate from the behavior that a reasonable person placed in the same circumstances would have adopted,” ruled the judge.
“Nothing forces MédiaQMI and TVA to join the Press Council. The complaints process does not violate their right to freedom of association protected by section 3 of the Charter and more particularly their right not to associate”, he concluded.
The hearings leading to this verdict were held in September 2022.
On Thursday, February 16, Quebecor announced the abolition of 240 positions in its media sector, in accordance to a restructuring plan. The majority of employees affected by these cuts work at Groupe TVA.
