(First published Oct. 13/98)

"Newspapers are the Gretzky of the media," says Marc-André Charlebois, named president and chief executive officer of the Canadian Newspaper Association in April/98.

That Charlebois would choose a sports analogy in his new passion for newspapers isn't surprising. When he isn't putting in long days at the office, Charlebois can usually be found doing sports: either sailing aboard one of his two boats or running (10 K every other day). As a professional ski instructor at the international level since 1968, if he could find the time and place, he'd like to get back to skiing, too. Add in his in-line skating, squash and windsurfing, and you figure the man is fit to deliver newspapers coast-to-coast on his own.

When Charlebois embraces a subject, he enters its spirit wholeheartedly. Running, for instance, is part of his schedule.

"It's not a fad," he says. "It's a way to deal with stress. I found that with stress, you can either get into alcohol or drugs, or you can look after yourself. I chose the latter."

Charlebois has held a number of high profile positions, each one bringing its own kind of stress. The newspaper world is no exception.

The Changing Newspaper Scene

"It's a time of metamorphosis for newspapers," he says.

There's the new National Post coming on stream and bound to bring changes in Canada's newspaper scene. There's the Asian flu that is expected to affect advertising lineage. There are the searches for ways to get closer to advertisers and to hold readers. And there's the Internet and convergence of media that leaves newspapers trying to determine their roles in the new media scene.

For Charlebois, who is having his first run within the media business, it has been a fast learning experience. He has been on the other side of the fence, dealing with the media, for most of his career. Prior to his last job as president and CEO of the Canadian Urban Transit Association, where he realigned the association and developed a three-year strategy and workplan, he spent almost his entire career in public affairs and communications.

Starting with editorial services with Canada Post, Charlebois moved into information services with the federal government's public service Commission and then to senior communications positions with various ministries, departments and the Office of the Privy Council. From the position of director general of the communications branch of the Ministry of State for Science and Technology, he moved to VIA Rail as general manager of public affairs, handling both internal and external affairs during one of the rail company's most difficult eras when the government halved its subsidies and VIA had to be essentially reinvented.

He then moved to the Insurance Bureau of Canada as vice-president public affairs where he also played a lead role in the creation of the Coalition Against Insurance Fraud and became its executive director.

Charlebois' natural leadership abilities helped him achieve goals in these positions, during VIA's dark days when he and his department rebuilt the corporate image as the company became a leaner, more effective corporation, and at the Insurance Bureau where he realigned the public affairs department while helping eliminate $3 billion in fraud.

Charlebois' energy spills over into the arts as well, where he also sits on the Board of Directors of I Musici de Montréal, an internationally known chamber orchestra, and is involved in fundraising for the Théâtre français de Toronto. (A native of Hull, he also worked and met his wife in Montreal).

"When I believe in a cause, I embrace it," he says. "Experience in lobbying and issues management is easily transferable, and much more important to an association like the CNA than coming up through the ranks. You come in with a different eye.

"Dailies are a part of Canada's history as well as its future. They've been pioneers. Our industry is now going through a transformation. The dailies are a major economic force in Canada, providing jobs and billions of dollars of advertising revenue. The newspaper industry is a dynamic player. But no figures exist, so we need to gather this type of information that's so important for the industry when it talks to bureaucrats."

"Keep the CRTC Out of the Internet"

That's particularly significant at this time, because the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission wants a piece of the action when it comes to the Internet, and the CNA members, many of whom have websites, say it shouldn't be involved. Says Charlebois bluntly, "We have to keep the CRTC at bay."

The CRTC wants to propose content requirements, he says, and the dailies are among many who feel that the Internet should remain free, with the CRTC having no right to impose rules on content.

There's a difference between content providers and disseminators, says Charlebois. The dissemination of the content is telecommunications, not broadcast. Newspapers are acting as content providers, and the Internet service providers are telecommunications.

"It's unscheduled," he says. "The service is free and driven by the user, as opposed to TV. It doesn't fit the broadcast industry. We're trying to keep the government away from this."

Further, he says, "Newspapers aren't just providing informative stories. They're content specialists. The public is discriminating. People will go to those sites on the Internet that have credibility. Newspapers are setting the pace, offering not only stories but information people go to if they're looking for information about a restaurant, a movie they want to see, on travel.

People don't want to pay to access the Internet. Right now our members see that their sites aren't generating revenue for them, but recognize that it's a cost of doing business. But as the Internet becomes more of a mass medium, the newspapers and the websites will work more in synergy. People will see something on the Internet, read the articles more in depth in the papers, cross-reference between the two.

"There'll be added value to their print, especially with classified advertising. In the U.S., we're already seeing things like Classified Ventures." (Classified Ventures is a network - currently with 135 dailies - that aims to offer a single nationwide source for on-line classified advertising at topic-specific ad sites such as www.apartments.com and www.cars.com.) "Newspaper pools like this will come to Canada."

Newspapers are not only linking to the Internet, but in this era of convergence, to television as well. An example to follow, says Charlebois, may be that of the Orlando Sentinel where the newsroom of all three is merged. In fact, newspaper reporters for the paper go on assignment equipped with camcorders to help record the news for any and all three media.

There's something new every month, he adds. Papers are trying to sort out where they're going. They'll have their paper version and their website version. And they're looking for ways to recoup the money that they're spending with the website offerings.

"Small outfits may throw in the towel, but the big outfits are going way beyond their printed versions to keep things dynamic. Take Canoe, for example. It's so much more. Newspapers are into new business and finding ways to give people the news in any form they want. Some people are talking about a flexible, portable screen that they can carry under their arm."

Effects of the Asian Flu

Despite the exciting growth of new ways to deliver the news, dailies in Canada still have to put up with the day-to-day developments and changes that affect their business, not the least of which is the health of the world economy. Charlebois has to keep his finger on the pulse, if the CNA is to fulfill its role as a trade and service organization for Canada's dailies.

The current difficulties originating in the Asian market are having a domino effect, and Charlebois expects that Canadian papers will see the effects in their lineage reports.

"I'm not optimistic for next year," he says. "When there's a global crisis, companies are interdependent."

As an association, the CNA is trying to get closer to the advertisers and the agencies. Canadian dailies are also being run more and more like businesses, so the papers are trying to find ways to better accommodate advertisers. Agency media buyers have complained of their grids as being non-standardized and non-user-friendly (an 800 line ad in one paper might be 1,200 lines in another), and, Charlebois acknowledges, dailies have a reputation as being inflexible, expensive, and with deadlines that aren't very accommodating.

"Newspapers are beginning to share certain things in workshops, where best practices are revealed and shared, and it's our role at the CNA to promote this cross-pollination. There are a lot of benefits to exchanging good ideas. Our role is to encourage such sharing and to help market newspapers generically, but we don't get involved in selling ads."

National Post Will Make Inroads

Cooperation between papers isn't likely to be very close this fall though, with the National Post coming on stream Oct. 27/98. Chances are more than likely for the daily to make inroads on competitors' advertising base and circulation, even though the Financial Post's purchase and incorporation into the new paper effectively eliminates one national paper from the mix. But it's not likely to affect the actual existence of any other daily, says Charlebois.

"But the launch of a new paper is an unusual turn of events and dynamic for the newspaper industry," he says. "There's room for the read. Newspapers are more targeted. Black will be investing in a product that's upscale, business-oriented, covering travel and the arts, and possibly in sync with a website. Competitors are revamping and spending big dollars in marketing.

"My hunch is that the market will settle, absorb the new paper and make money. And the customers might benefit, both in terms of prices per copy and in advertising rates."

Looking to the future, Charlebois foresees even more convergence for the newspaper world with broadcasters and the Internet, particularly when fibre optics or coaxial cable are widespread. And perhaps more newspaper subscription sales when there is more telecommuting in the workforce, as forecast.

Personally, having now embraced the newspaper world, playing a role in its metamorphosis is Charlebois' new passion.