The golden age of the print magazines...

by Bernard Bujold (LeStudio1.com)- 
Quebecor bought the magazine LA SEMAINE and his editions of books. The book section will be added to other editions of Quebecor. 
The announcement of the sale of La Semaine to Quebecor does not say what will happen to Pierre Bourdon, a mainstay of the Quebec book world, who had agreed to join the group Charron a few months ago in March 2013. One could say that it will be a homecoming for Bourdon if he comme back to Quebecor but no mention has been made about his future. 
I knew very well Claude J. Charron and his management style. Charron is actually a student of media mogul Pierre Peladeau and he has always publicly admitted deeply admiring his mentor and apply his management methods. A close compatibility with a concentrated look at every expense and priority in favor of profit with in addition, an instinct to seize opportunities.
Charron and I were not in very good personal terms! 
If he loved Peladeau, who was also my mentor, Charron was also a close friend of Jean Neveu, who is the one who put an end to my career at Quebecor after the death of Pierre Peladeau for who I was the deputy... 
But beyond my personal feelings about the publisher Charron, it should be noted that the sale of La Semaine means a turning point for the industry of paper magazine in Quebec and one could see a swan song. There is no other independent publishers like Charron to take over and the Internet is taking over into this sector. La Presse+ is an example of the turning that take the media in 2013 in the abandonment of the paper. Fashion is no longer for paper format publications. We will see later what Quebecor do with the structures he just bought from La Semaine group but nothing is won yet in this dying industry. 
Charron's retirement means the end of an era that favored the paper edition, a time when the profit margin of the industry reached easily from 30 to 40%, whereas today it is no more than a few percent, when it is not a loss! 
I wish good luck to Pierre Bourdon and his projects! 
To be continued... 
Photo 1: The Week Magazine and Claude J. Charron;
Photo 2: Claude J. Charron and Pierre Bourdon;
Photo 3: Pierre Peladeau (1925-1997);
See story La Presse sale La Semaine ; 
See story Pierre Bourdon ;