Paperless Sunday for La Presse readers

Montreal's La Presse announced Monday it is ceasing publication of its Sunday edition at the end of the month after 25 years. The company said it will save $3 million annually. Faced with a deficit of $215 million by 2013, the French-language daily is seeking to cut costs by $26 million annually and is asking its 600 unionized employees to make $65 million in concessions over the next five years.

Guy Crevier, chairman and publisher said: “The Internet has turned traditional media upside down.” Crevier is also president of Gesca Ltée., the Power Corp. of Canada subsidiary that owns and publishes La Presse that was founded in 1884.

(There is some question whether the city's major English daily The Gazette may soon follow suit. It was forced to start a Sunday edition in 1988 when a competing English-language daily tabloid, The Montreal Daily News, was launched. After The Montreal Daily News folded in 1989, The Gazette kept its Sunday edition going.)