L'Acadie Nouvelle must shoulder blame for woes

The management of L'Acadie Nouvelle must accept some of the blame for its financial woes that has forced it to request help from the provincial government, according to a journalism professor.

The Caraquet-based French newspaper, which is the only independent daily in New Brunswick,has confirmed it isin financial trouble and has laid off five employees. It has also cut two unfilled jobs and asked employees to reduce their work days.

Marie-Linda Lord, a journalism professor at the University of Moncton, saidL'Acadie Nouvelle's management must take some of the blame for its problems.

Lord said the newspaper calls itself provincial, but focuses on northeast New Brunswick and does not pay enough attention to Moncton and Dieppe, two areas where the francophone population is growing.

"Moncton is a big Acadian cultural centre. It's even more than that. You have all the economic development in Moncton. And I'm not sure that is very well felt by L'Acadie Nouvelle up north," Lord said.

L'Etoile, a weekly French newspaper set up by the Irving-owned Brunswick News Inc., has been challenging L'Acadie Nouvelle, especially in southern New Brunswick.

L'Etoile, which is located in Moncton, boasts a provincial edition that is published every Thursday as well as regional editions in Dieppe, Shediac, Kent County, the Acadian Peninsula, the Chaleur region, the Grand Falls area, the Madawaska region.

L'Acadie Nouvelle gets interest payments from a government trust fund set up in the 1980s to help pay for printing and distribution costs.

The interest made off of that trust account normally generates between $600,000 to $700,000 a year. But Radio-Canada reported the trust account generated only $212,000 for the newspaper last year.

Financial help requested

That revenue shortfall prompted the newspaper to seek financial help. However, the provincial government hasn't responded to L'Acadie Nouvelle's request.

Economic Development Minister Paul Robichaud told Radio-Canada that if a financial contribution was made that he wanted to ensure "taxpayer money is used properly."

The request for provincial help is also raising ethical issues about how the newspaper's reporters will cover the Progressive Conservative government while the appeal for assistance remains.

Francis Sonier, the publisher and chief executive officer of L'Acadie Nouvelle, said in an interview that the newspaper will continue to play an independent journalistic role even if it accepts government money.

Given that L'Acadie Nouvelle is the only French daily in New Brunswick and the only daily newspaper not controlled by the Irving-owned media company the Progressive Conservative government may find itself in a very awkward position as it tries to make a decision.

But Lord said she believes it will be difficult for the provincial government to ante up any more direct financial assistance for the newspaper.

"We know that many newspapers in Canada and the United States have experienced financial difficulties in recent months, and no governments have offered any help whatsoever," Lord said.

L'Acadie Nouvellesaid in a column published on Thursday that its dailyreadership was 60,000.

The newspaper's average daily paid circulation is 20,178, according to statistics provided by Newspapers Canada.

By comparison, the website'scirculation figures saythe Irving-owned Fredericton Gleaner has an average daily circulation of 20,507.

The Telegraph-Journal, which is the Irving company's provincial newspaper,has average daily paid circulation of 32,678.

New Brunswick's largest daily newspaper is the Moncton Times & Transcript,which has aaverage circulation of35,728, according to the website.

Last winter, L'Acadie Nouvelle was restructuring its operations under the name Acadie Media. The company will have three divisions: L'Acadie Nouvelle, the website CapAcadie.com and its printing operation Acadie Presse. Acadie Presse recently bought a new press, which prints the newspaper and also takes on private printing contracts.