Pierre-Elliott Levasseur will always remember a conversation he had in 2010 with Guy Crevier, Editor of La Presse, who was also its president at the time. “The first iPad had just come out. We were both looking at the tablet and, although we didn’t know exactly what to think, we knew we had to do something with this new tool,” says Pierre-Elliott Levasseur, who has been President of La Presse since 2016.
The rest, as they say, is history.
La Presse’s titanic digital transformation and overhaul of its business model became a case study that has been making headlines for almost 15 years.
The last major milestone in this evolution was its change of business model in 2018, when La Presse decided to adopt a not-for-profit structure. This allowed it to diversify its revenue streams by obtaining donations and assistance from the federal and provincial governments, in addition to advertising revenue. Power Corporation would no longer own La Presse, abandoning the business model adopted by the media industry for the past century.
This new model also enabled La Presse to become one of the first news media in the country to obtain Registered Journalism Organization (RJO) status. Thanks to this, La Presse can now issue tax receipts to its donors, thus diversifying its income and ensuring its long-term survival.
All this was a big gamble in uncharted territory, but La Presse was no stranger to risk taking over the years.
Why the change in structure?
In a difficult economic climate for media companies, marked by declining ad revenues and fierce digital competition, La Presse has chosen to remain faithful to the principle of free access, which is deeply rooted in its mission.
Quality information is a public good, and a public good must serve the entire population, for free. We had to find another business model to increase and diversify our revenue streams. If La Presse hadn’t transformed itself, it wouldn’t have survived. We had no choice but to take the risk.
Pierre-Elliott Levasseur
Président, La Presse
Six years later, the gamble has paid off handsomely. Since the launch of the philanthropic model, over 75,000 people have donated to La Presse.
Today, La Presse is the largest independent French-language media in North America, with over 500 employees, including 220 in the newsroom.
Every month, La Presse reaches 4 million readers, or 60% of Quebec’s adult population. “The quality of the product remained at the heart of all our decisions: we never compromised on that,” says Pierre-Elliott.
Human challenges
Getting there wasn’t easy. “The expression we used in 2018 when Power Corporation was no longer our owner was ‘we’re leaving the nest.’ We had to find a solution together, because otherwise we’d have gone bankrupt together.”
The culture of change that La Presse had developed in previous years as part of its digital transformation was the first step towards success. “It wasn’t our first transformation. But it certainly required a lot of communication to reassure people and convince them that we were heading in the right direction.”
Its excellent relationship with the unions was another success factor. “The unions supported us and always acted with us.”
In addition to a $50 million contribution to fund the transition, Power Corporation retained responsibility for past retirement plan obligations, which cushioned the risk and reassured employees.
Legal challenges
On top of the human challenges, there were legal obstacles. In order to convert to a not-for-profit structure, La Presse had to obtain a legislative change from the elected members of the National Assembly. When Power Corporation acquired the newspaper in 1967, the Quebec government passed a law preventing the transfer of ownership to foreign interests. A unanimous vote was required to amend the law.
“It was definitely a period of uncertainty. It was difficult to move forward operationally,” recalls Pierre-Elliott.
In July 2018, the legislative change was approved, and La Presse became an independent, not-for-profit structure.
A few months later, the philanthropic program was launched, and La Presse received its first donations from readers.
At the end of 2020, the tax transformation was completed, with the Canada Revenue Agency granting La Presse its Registered Journalism Organization (RJO) status, enabling it to become a qualified donee and issue tax receipts for donations received.
Committed donors
In 2023, 56,000 donors contributed a total of $7.8 million to La Presse, an increase of 13% over 2022. “We started from zero and have now reached nearly $8 million in donations. This would not have been possible without our loyal donors,” says Pierre-Elliott.
La Presse ended the 2023 fiscal year with a positive balance sheet and a $40 million reserve fund. “This fund is designed to ensure La Presse’s long-term future, allowing us to weather economic downturns or technological changes. The fund also allows us to reinvest in our mission and in journalism in Quebec.”
Never stop innovating
At the same time, La Presse has seen an increase in advertising revenue in a shrinking market. These results can be attributed, in part, to yearly innovations in its advertising product offerings.
“Our advertising products are based on data and careful audience segmentation, in full compliance with the industry’s highest privacy standards. We listen to our customers and advertisers to understand their needs before making business decisions,” says Pierre-Elliott.
In writing its content, La Presse works with tools used by the world’s leading media, including the BBC and The Guardian, to determine angles for its coverage based on readers’ main information needs: to be informed, but also to have context, to be guided in their lives, and to be inspired and entertained.
La Presse’s journalistic mission is supported by a solid business team, a model that few other media outlets in the world use. For example, La Presse employs specialized technology and business intelligence teams. These two teams have nearly 100 employees working on innovative tools that help La Presse compete ethically and locally with some of the solutions offered by American digital giants.
La Presse’s digital transformation and change in business model have been essential to its success. “Our commitment to digital transformation was total. We didn’t compromise.”
Today, La Presse has a competitive and strategic advantage that’s hard to rival.
This year marks La Presse’s 140th anniversary, while La Presse+ celebrates its 11th. Through many storms, independently and without commercial shareholders, La Presse continues to reinvent itself. Not only has its gamble paid off, but La Presse has also remained true to its mission of delivering quality journalism that’s free and accessible to everyone. And that’s something that will never change,” says Pierre-Elliott.
