Describe the main features of the measure/initiative:
From August 20 to October 21, 2019, the CDCE led a major campaign to protect and promote local and national cultural expression in the digital environment. The campaign was launched ahead of the federal election, aimed to (1) raise awareness of the issues of the development and funding of local and national cultural expressions in the digital age, (2) generate widespread support for the principle that cultural policies should apply online, and (3) ensure that these issues are discussed during the election campaign in order to increase the commitments of various parties and multiply the outreach potential.
Under the slogan “Save Our Culture,” all the players in the sector mobilized to request that the cultural policies in Canada apply to the Web, denounce the favourable conditions available to the Web giants and issue a call to the political class on the importance of reviewing broadcasting, telecommunications and copyright laws.
The campaign was launched through a press release and an open letter that accompanied the material posted on the website and social media (video, animated GIFs, texts, etc.). A variety of broad themes were identified for content production, especially the article on the ties between the media crisis and challenges within the cultural sector, and posts on the positions of various parties. Several strategies have been developed with members, specifically an open letter on the music sector, and a photo op at the ADISQ press conference. Performers showed their support for the campaign through photos, publications and presentations similar to the one made by Pierre Lapointe at the ADISQ awards ceremony.
Presentations were made at the CDCE’s general membership meetings. Many publications were created and shared on social media. Other member organizations made appeals, published open letters and distributed campaign material at events, thereby amplifying the reach of the message. The cultural sector’s challenges were raised several times in the media and the parties made additional commitments to protect our culture online.
What are the results achieved so far through the implementation of the measure/initiative?:
CDCE members wrote several opinion editorials and press releases and granted a variety of interviews to the press. In total, there were 176 campaign-related appearances (radio, television, print, social media, online and reposts), which generated 34,231,234 impressions (impressions are the number of times news is viewed by an individual, including the number of listeners and television viewers). The vast majority of the appearances were positive or neutral. In Québec, Grenier aux Nouvelles ranked the campaign among the top 10 best campaigns in the month of August 2019. On the CDCE’s social networks, the campaign materials and publications generated nearly 150,000 impressions. The campaign messages were also shared by several performers. Photos of 37 performers posing with campaign slogans were shared on social networks. An opinion editorial from the music industry was signed by 228 people in the sector, including many performers. Pierre Lapointe made several presentations (during the Radio-Canada talk show Tout le monde en parle and at the ADISQ awards ceremony) to support the campaign.