Thank you, Ms. Prégent.
I am president of the Fédération nationale des communications et de la culture. We represent over 6,000 people working in the media, arts, culture and event planning sector, including theatre designers and festivals.
These individuals have been hit hard by the crisis, including independent journalists, for whom the current crisis comes on top of the crisis in the media. Most media organizations have had to lay off many people, as has been the case in many other sectors. Almost all independent journalists have lost their contracts. That is why the CERB was and still is so important to them. COVID-19 comes on top of a major crisis across the entire media sector, but also the cultural sector, due to competition from the digital giants.
Here are some key facts about the self-employed. In April, 50.2% of self-employed workers experienced a decrease in hours worked, and in May, it was 42.9%. It is even worse in the cultural sector, and it is not going away anytime soon.
Our message today is first and foremost to thank the government for the speed with which it provided assistance to those we represent. We also thank them for extending that support for eight weeks.
We should start thinking now about what will happen after August 31, because in my sector the recovery will not happen right away and it will take a long time. We do not know if the audience will be there. Economic recessions are terrible for media advertising revenue.
I will stop here. Ms. Prégent and I will be happy to answer any questions you may have.
Thank you.