The Fundamental Role Played by Unionism in the Self-Structuring of Professional Journalists from Québec

Abstract

This article focuses on journalists’ unions in Québec. It illustrates the main role they played in the self-structuring of professional journalists and the construction of a collective and public identity. It details the challenge posed by the Internet to journalists and their unions. To that effect, it digs into history and revisits different key moments, documents, and discourses of self-recognition and public affirmation of the group. That history is looked at in relation to an “event,” the introduction of the Internet, which forced the unions to deal with the potentially disrupting effects of the new practices being developed.