Montreal hopes to keep local newspapers above the fold with $2M investment | Canada News Media
Connect with us

Investment

Montreal hopes to keep local newspapers above the fold with $2M investment

Published

 on

The city of Montreal is hoping to give local printed newspapers a boost through a one-time injection of $85,000.

The $2-million bail out will help about 25 newspapers in the agglomeration. The move comes one year before a Montreal bylaw effectively bans unsolicited Publi-sacs — plastic bags of flyers often used as the primary means of distributing community papers.

Some newspapers say the ban has already affected their revenue as some advertisers lost confidence in distribution and pulled out.

Though a single payment won’t be enough to make up for the losses felt by community papers across the island, some say they are pleased with the program and welcome the investment.

“I think they clearly understood the urgency of the situation and ultimately the program they created today was … to give us the ability to look forward to the future,” said Andrew Mulé, the president of Métro Média, which owns 15 eligible papers.

“As you can imagine, not only are we faced with cost increases with a change in distribution, we’re also being slammed with a revenue decrease,” he said.

Mulé called the $85,000 a lifeline.

Luc Rabouin, who is in charge of Montreal’s commercial and economic development, said he believes local newspapers are essential to democracy and must be protected.

“We know it won’t solve all their problems, but it will help them accelerate their transitions to new modes better adapted to the current reality.”

He pointed out that many papers are moving toward digital formats, though printed copies are still important to the communities they serve. The city will also encourage boroughs to buy space in local papers to publish announcements.

“Our long-term investment in local papers will be becoming their clients,” said Rabouin.

Eligibility criteria straining some newspapers

Not every community paper will benefit from the subsidy program, which has strict eligibility criteria.

As of Dec.1, owners will be able to apply for grants for each local newspaper they produce if their building is in the agglomeration of Montreal, if they distribute their paper door-to-door and they publish at least 3,000 copies per edition.

The papers must also feature journalistic writing, inform a specific audience in the Montreal area, publish at least six times a year and have been incorporated at least one year before the program goes into effect.

Montreal Community Contact, which predominantly serves Montreal’s Black community, will not benefit from the municipal subsidies because it doesn’t distribute its paper door-to-door.

Egbert Gaye, the founder and manager of the paper, says not extending the grants to papers like his is “short-sighted” and the city is missing out on an opportunity to help many papers facing financial shortcomings.

“If we’re going to reach out to community papers, let’s reach out in such a way that more newspapers are eligible for this particular grant and help them move forward in securing a secure distribution,” he said.

The city’s investment is under the Réflexe Montréal $150-million agreement with the provincial government.

Rabouin called on the provincial and federal governments to continue investing in community papers across the country, saying the financial problems they face aren’t restricted to the Montreal area.

Source link

Continue Reading

Investment

Tesla shares soar more than 14% as Trump win is seen boosting Elon Musk’s electric vehicle company

Published

 on

 

NEW YORK (AP) — Shares of Tesla soared Wednesday as investors bet that the electric vehicle maker and its CEO Elon Musk will benefit from Donald Trump’s return to the White House.

Tesla stands to make significant gains under a Trump administration with the threat of diminished subsidies for alternative energy and electric vehicles doing the most harm to smaller competitors. Trump’s plans for extensive tariffs on Chinese imports make it less likely that Chinese EVs will be sold in bulk in the U.S. anytime soon.

“Tesla has the scale and scope that is unmatched,” said Wedbush analyst Dan Ives, in a note to investors. “This dynamic could give Musk and Tesla a clear competitive advantage in a non-EV subsidy environment, coupled by likely higher China tariffs that would continue to push away cheaper Chinese EV players.”

Tesla shares jumped 14.8% Wednesday while shares of rival electric vehicle makers tumbled. Nio, based in Shanghai, fell 5.3%. Shares of electric truck maker Rivian dropped 8.3% and Lucid Group fell 5.3%.

Tesla dominates sales of electric vehicles in the U.S, with 48.9% in market share through the middle of 2024, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Subsidies for clean energy are part of the Inflation Reduction Act, signed into law by President Joe Biden in 2022. It included tax credits for manufacturing, along with tax credits for consumers of electric vehicles.

Musk was one of Trump’s biggest donors, spending at least $119 million mobilizing Trump’s supporters to back the Republican nominee. He also pledged to give away $1 million a day to voters signing a petition for his political action committee.

In some ways, it has been a rocky year for Tesla, with sales and profit declining through the first half of the year. Profit did rise 17.3% in the third quarter.

The U.S. opened an investigation into the company’s “Full Self-Driving” system after reports of crashes in low-visibility conditions, including one that killed a pedestrian. The investigation covers roughly 2.4 million Teslas from the 2016 through 2024 model years.

And investors sent company shares tumbling last month after Tesla unveiled its long-awaited robotaxi at a Hollywood studio Thursday night, seeing not much progress at Tesla on autonomous vehicles while other companies have been making notable progress.

Tesla began selling the software, which is called “Full Self-Driving,” nine years ago. But there are doubts about its reliability.

The stock is now showing a 16.1% gain for the year after rising the past two days.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

Source link

Continue Reading

Investment

S&P/TSX composite up more than 100 points, U.S. stock markets mixed

Published

 on

 

TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was up more than 100 points in late-morning trading, helped by strength in base metal and utility stocks, while U.S. stock markets were mixed.

The S&P/TSX composite index was up 103.40 points at 24,542.48.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 192.31 points at 42,932.73. The S&P 500 index was up 7.14 points at 5,822.40, while the Nasdaq composite was down 9.03 points at 18,306.56.

The Canadian dollar traded for 72.61 cents US compared with 72.44 cents US on Tuesday.

The November crude oil contract was down 71 cents at US$69.87 per barrel and the November natural gas contract was down eight cents at US$2.42 per mmBTU.

The December gold contract was up US$7.20 at US$2,686.10 an ounce and the December copper contract was up a penny at US$4.35 a pound.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 16, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD)

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

Source link

Continue Reading

Economy

S&P/TSX up more than 200 points, U.S. markets also higher

Published

 on

 

TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was up more than 200 points in late-morning trading, while U.S. stock markets were also headed higher.

The S&P/TSX composite index was up 205.86 points at 24,508.12.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 336.62 points at 42,790.74. The S&P 500 index was up 34.19 points at 5,814.24, while the Nasdaq composite was up 60.27 points at 18.342.32.

The Canadian dollar traded for 72.61 cents US compared with 72.71 cents US on Thursday.

The November crude oil contract was down 15 cents at US$75.70 per barrel and the November natural gas contract was down two cents at US$2.65 per mmBTU.

The December gold contract was down US$29.60 at US$2,668.90 an ounce and the December copper contract was up four cents at US$4.47 a pound.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 11, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD)

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

Source link

Continue Reading

Trending

Exit mobile version