Following the lead of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, the corporate print media in Quebec is now the bail-out print media.
According to a late Tuesday afternoon press release, Quebec's minister of culture and communications, Nathalie Roy, is dolling out $2,780,234 to 54 print media outlets to aid in their shift to early 2000s technology: digital online platforms.
The government offered suggestions of what those new-fangled internet thingies might be:
Digital adaptation projects can be, for example, the redesign of a web platform, the implementation of a mobile application, the integration of new journalistic practices and the dissemination of information on digital platforms, such as videos and podcasts.
This is just the latest corporate welfare payment to the mainstream media in Quebec. The provincial government previously announced in October 2019 subsidies of nearly $250 million over five years.
The government announcement noted the scope of the earlier pay-off:
Since the implementation of this program, 92 projects have been supported, providing financial support to nearly 160 media outlets in all regions of Quebec. The total assistance announced amounts to more than $16 million.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also provided bailouts to failing media nationwide, opening the public coffers to the tune of $600 million dollars in direct subsidies, grants and preferential tax treatment.
